OpenRouter

OpenRouter is the AI gateway that gives Kaizen access to models from multiple providers through a single API.

Setup

1. Go to openrouter.ai and create an account

2. Generate an API key from your dashboard

3. On first launch, Kaizen prompts you to enter the key

4. The key is stored in your local encrypted vault

You can also add or update the key in Vault (/secrets).

Supported Models

OpenRouter gives access to 100+ models from various providers. Some commonly used ones:

Provider	Models
Anthropic	Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus
OpenAI	GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo
Google	Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 3 Flash
DeepSeek	DeepSeek V3, DeepSeek R1
Meta	Llama 3.x

Multi-Model Architecture

Kaizen uses different models for different agents. Each agent can be configured with its own model in Settings > Agents:

Agent	Default Model	Why
Router	Claude Sonnet	Fast classification
Executor	Claude Sonnet	Reliable tool use
Developer	Claude Sonnet (with thinking)	Complex code reasoning
Planner	Gemini Flash	Lightweight research
Reviewer	Varies by modality	Image/audio/video analysis

You can override any agent's model in the settings. OpenRouter handles routing to the correct provider.

Multimodal Support

Through OpenRouter, Kaizen supports:

• Text input and output

• Image input (base64 or URL) and generation

• Audio input for voice transcription

• Video input for analysis

• File input for document processing

Cost Tracking

Kaizen tracks token usage and costs per model and per agent. View your usage breakdown in Usage (/usage):

• Total cost and token usage

• Daily cost trend chart

• Cost breakdown by model

• Cost breakdown by agent

Extended Thinking

Some agents (like the Developer) use extended thinking mode, which gives the model more reasoning time for complex problems. This can be toggled per agent in the settings.