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Open WebUI is a modern, open-source chat interface that supports OpenAI-compatible APIs. By adding Bifrost as a connection, you get access to any model configured in Bifrost through a familiar ChatGPT-like interface, plus governance features like virtual keys and built-in observability.

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Setup

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1. Install Open WebUI

Follow the Open WebUI documentation for installation. Open WebUI can run via Docker, Docker Compose, or Kubernetes.

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2. Add Bifrost as a Connection

If running Open WebUI in Docker and Bifrost is on the host machine, use http://host.docker.internal:8080/v1 instead of localhost.
  1. Open Open WebUI in your browser
  2. Go to ⚙️ Admin Settings → Connections → OpenAI
  3. Click ➕ Add Connection
  4. Configure the following:
FieldValue
URLhttp://localhost:8080/v1 (or your Bifrost host, e.g. https://bifrost.yourcompany.com/v1)
API KeyYour Bifrost virtual key if authentication is enabled; otherwise leave empty or use dummy
  1. Click Save
Adding Bifrost as a connection in Open WebUI Admin Settings

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3. Model Discovery

Open WebUI fetches available models from Bifrost’s /v1/models endpoint. If auto-detection fails or you want to filter which models appear, add model IDs to the Model IDs (Filter) allowlist in the connection settings. Use Bifrost model IDs in provider/model format (e.g. openai/gpt-5, anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929). Bifrost models listed in the Open WebUI model selector

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4. Start Chatting

Select your Bifrost connection’s model from the chat model selector and start chatting. Image generation and chat in Open WebUI powered by Bifrost

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Virtual Keys

When Bifrost has virtual key authentication enabled, set API Key in the connection to your virtual key. This lets you enforce usage limits, budgets, and access control per user or team. For team deployments, create separate Open WebUI connections (or use different API keys per connection) — each virtual key can have its own rate limits, budgets, and provider access rules configured in the Bifrost dashboard.

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Model Selection

Open WebUI displays models fetched from Bifrost or those you add to the Model IDs allowlist. Use Bifrost model IDs in provider/model format to access any configured provider:
  • Use powerful models like openai/gpt-5 or anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 for complex conversations
  • Use fast models like groq/llama-3.3-70b-versatile for quick responses

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Using Multiple Providers

Bifrost routes requests to the correct provider based on the model name. Use the provider/model-name format to access any configured provider through the single /v1 endpoint: 
anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929
openai/gpt-5
gemini/gemini-2.5-pro
mistral/mistral-large-latest

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Supported Providers

Bifrost supports the following providers with the provider/model-name format: openai, azure, gemini, vertex, bedrock, mistral, groq, cerebras, cohere, perplexity, xai, ollama, openrouter, huggingface, nebius, parasail, replicate, vllm, sgl
Open WebUI connects to Bifrost via a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Bifrost handles routing to the correct provider based on the model name — no per-provider configuration needed in Open WebUI.

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Multimodality

Open WebUI supports image generation and vision (image understanding). You can use Bifrost for both.

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Image Generation

Set a Bifrost provider/model as your image inference engine for DALL·E-style image generation:
  1. Go to ⚙️ Admin Settings → Settings → Images
  2. Set Image Generation Engine to Open AI
  3. Configure:
    • API Endpoint URL: http://localhost:8080/v1 (or your Bifrost host + /v1)
    • API Key: Your Bifrost virtual key if authentication is enabled
    • Model: Bifrost model ID in provider/model format (e.g. openai/dall-e-3, openai/gpt-image-1)
Bifrost routes image generation requests to the configured provider. Use any image-capable model in your Bifrost configuration (OpenAI DALL·E, GPT-Image, or other providers that support /v1/images/generations). Image generation setup in Open WebUI Admin Settings

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Vision (Image Understanding)

Chat models that support vision (e.g. openai/gpt-4o, anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5) work through your main Bifrost connection. When you select a vision-capable model in the chat selector, you can attach images to your messages — Open WebUI sends them to Bifrost, which routes to the correct provider.

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Docker Networking

Choose the correct URL for your setup:
SetupURL
Open WebUI and Bifrost on same hosthttp://localhost:8080/v1
Open WebUI in Docker, Bifrost on hosthttp://host.docker.internal:8080/v1
Both in same Docker networkhttp://bifrost-container-name:8080/v1

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Environment Variables (Alternative)

You can also configure Bifrost via environment variables when running Open WebUI: 
# Single connection
OPENAI_API_BASE_URLS="http://localhost:8080/v1"
OPENAI_API_KEYS="your-bifrost-virtual-key"

# Multiple connections (semicolon-separated)
OPENAI_API_BASE_URLS="http://localhost:8080/v1;https://other-gateway.com/v1"
OPENAI_API_KEYS="key1;key2"

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Observability

All Open WebUI traffic through Bifrost is logged. Monitor it at http://localhost:8080/logs — filter by provider, model, or search through conversation content to track usage across your team.

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Next Steps