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Use SteadyRouter with Kilo Code

In Kilo Code, add SteadyRouter as a custom provider. Add it twice if you use Claude: once with the Anthropic Messages API for Claude models, so prompt caching and extended thinking work as they do with Anthropic's API, and once with the OpenAI Compatible API for every other model. Both use the same key.

Before you start

  1. Create a SteadyRouter account.
  2. In the console, open API Keys and copy your key. New accounts come with one called Default Key, on Lowest price (see below). To make another, click Create API Key. Keep Smart routing on: if a group fails, the request is retried in the next group within the same call. A new key starts on Auto, or on Lowest price if your balance is under US$1.
  3. Find the model names you want on Model Square. Model names have no vendor prefix, for example claude-sonnet-5-5 or gpt-5-mini.

Add the provider (VS Code)

  1. Open Settings (the gear icon) and go to the Providers tab.
  2. Below the popular providers, find Custom provider and click Connect.
  3. Fill in the dialog:
    FieldClaude modelsOther models
    Provider IDsteadyrouter-claudesteadyrouter
    Display nameSteadyRouter (Claude)SteadyRouter
    Provider APIAnthropic MessagesOpenAI Compatible
    Base URLhttps://api.steadyrouter.com/v1https://api.steadyrouter.com/v1
    API keyyour SteadyRouter keyyour SteadyRouter key
    Modelsclick Add model and enter names such as claude-sonnet-5-5 (Fetch models isn't available for Anthropic Messages)click Fetch models, or add names such as gpt-5-mini
  4. Click Submit. The models now appear in Kilo's model picker.

Kilo can't detect context window or output limits for a custom provider. To set them, edit kilo.jsonc as described in Kilo's custom models guide.

Trying it on a small balance

New accounts currently start with US$0.05 of credit. Before each request, the gateway reserves balance based on the input plus the maximum output the client asks for, and coding clients ask for a lot: often around 20,000 tokens of context and 32,000 or more output tokens. With a small balance:

  1. Use Lowest price under Smart routing on your API key. Default Key is already on it; for another key, choose it when you create the key or later by editing it.
  2. Start with a smaller model. On Lowest price, a request to claude-haiku-5-5 or gpt-5-mini costs a small fraction of the same request to larger models such as claude-sonnet-5-5, gpt-5.5 or claude-opus-5-5.
  3. If you set an output limit in kilo.jsonc, keep it low (for example 8192). This lowers the amount reserved per request.

Once you've confirmed everything works, add funds to use larger models, and switch the key back to Auto if you prefer.

Lowest price often puts Pool groups first: usually cheaper, sometimes less stable. In every smart routing mode, Pool and Mixed groups can be used, so for stability-critical work, turn smart routing off and list only cloud or API groups on the key. See Models and groups.

If something goes wrong

What you seeWhat to do
404, or Fetch models finds nothingCheck the base URL, then the key.
401 Invalid tokenThe key is wrong, disabled, expired or out of its spending cap. Check it under API Keys.
403 insufficient_user_quotaYour balance can't cover the request. Top up, or follow the small-balance steps above.
503 model_not_foundThe model name is wrong, or the groups your key uses don't offer it. Check the name on Model Square.
408, 504 or 524An upstream timeout. These are not moved to another group automatically, so retry.

Every error message ends with a request id. Include it when you email support@steadyrouter.com.

More: API docs · Model Square