Provider Configuration

Multi-Provider Setup

Configure multiple providers to seamlessly switch between them. This example shows how to configure OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral providers.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Go to http://localhost:8080
Navigate to “Model Providers” in the sidebar
Select provider and configure keys

# Add OpenAI provider
curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ]
}'

# Add Anthropic provider
curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "anthropic",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "anthropic-key-1",
            "value": "env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ]
}'

# Add vLLM (self-hosted OpenAI-compatible server)
curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "vllm-local",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "vllm-key-1",
            "value": "dummy",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "network_config": {
        "base_url": "http://vllm-endpoint:8000",
        "default_request_timeout_in_seconds": 60
    },
    "custom_provider_config": {
        "base_provider_type": "openai",
        "allowed_requests": {
            "chat_completion": true,
            "chat_completion_stream": true
        }
    }
}'

Each key in a provider needs to have a unique name.

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ]
    },
    "anthropic": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "anthropic-key",
          "value": "env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ]
    },
    "vllm-local": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "vllm-key",
          "value": "dummy",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "network_config": {
        "base_url": "http://vllm-endpoint:8000",
        "default_request_timeout_in_seconds": 60
      },
      "custom_provider_config": {
        "base_provider_type": "openai",
        "allowed_requests": {
          "chat_completion": true,
          "chat_completion_stream": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Kubernetes DNS (only for custom endpoint): When running in Kubernetes, use fully qualified domain names (FQDN) like http://<service>.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local:8000 for cross-namespace custom endpoints. Short names like http://<service>:8000 only work within the same namespace.

Air-gapped or self-signed certificates: If your custom provider uses HTTPS with a self-signed or internal CA certificate, add "insecure_skip_verify": true or "ca_cert_pem": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n...\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----" to network_config. See Custom Providers - TLS for details.

Making Requests

Once providers are configured, you can make requests to any specific provider. This example shows how to send a request directly to OpenAI’s GPT-4o Mini model. Bifrost handles the provider-specific API formatting automatically.

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
    "messages": [
        {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}
    ]
}'

Environment Variables

Set up your API keys for the providers you want to use. Bifrost supports both direct key values and environment variable references with the env. prefix:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-openai-api-key"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-anthropic-api-key"
export MISTRAL_API_KEY="your-mistral-api-key"
export CEREBRAS_API_KEY="your-cerebras-api-key"
export GROQ_API_KEY="your-groq-api-key"
export COHERE_API_KEY="your-cohere-api-key"

Environment Variable Handling:

Use "value": "env.VARIABLE_NAME" to reference environment variables
Use "value": "sk-proj-xxxxxxxxx" to pass keys directly
All sensitive data is automatically redacted in GET requests and UI responses for security

Advanced Configuration

Weighted Load Balancing

Distribute requests across multiple API keys or providers based on custom weights. This example shows how to split traffic 70/30 between two OpenAI keys, useful for managing rate limits or costs across different accounts.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → “OpenAI”
Click “Add Key” to add multiple keys
Set weight values (0.7 and 0.3)
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY_1",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 0.7
        },
        {
            "name": "openai-key-2",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY_2",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 0.3
        }
    ]
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY_1",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 0.7
        },
        {
          "name": "openai-key-2",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY_2",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 0.3
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Model-Specific Keys

Use different API keys for specific models, allowing you to manage access controls and billing separately. This example uses a premium key for advanced reasoning models (o1-preview, o1-mini) and a standard key for regular GPT models.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → “OpenAI”
Add first key with models: ["gpt-4o", "gpt-4o-mini"]
Add premium key with models: ["o1-preview", "o1-mini"]
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["gpt-4o", "gpt-4o-mini"],
            "weight": 1.0
        },
        {
            "name": "openai-key-2",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY_PREMIUM",
            "models": ["o1-preview", "o1-mini"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ]
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["gpt-4o", "gpt-4o-mini"],
          "weight": 1.0
        },
        {
          "name": "openai-key-2",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY_PREMIUM",
          "models": ["o1-preview", "o1-mini"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Custom Base URL

Override the default API endpoint for a provider. This is useful for connecting to self-hosted models, local development servers, or OpenAI-compatible APIs like vLLM, Ollama, or LiteLLM.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → “OpenAI” → “Provider level configuration” → “Network config”
Set Base URL: http://localhost:8000/v1
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "network_config": {
        "base_url": "http://localhost:8000/v1"
    }
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "network_config": {
        "base_url": "http://localhost:8000/v1"
      }
    }
  }
}

For self-hosted providers like Ollama and SGL, base_url is required. For standard providers, it’s optional and overrides the default endpoint.

Managing Retries

Configure retry behavior for handling temporary failures and rate limits. This example sets up exponential backoff with up to 5 retries, starting with 1ms delay and capping at 10 seconds - ideal for handling transient network issues.

For a full explanation of how retries work, key rotation on rate limits, and how retries connect with fallbacks, see Retries & Fallbacks.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → “OpenAI” → “Provider level configuration” → “Network config”
Set Max Retries: 5
Set Initial Backoff: 1 ms
Set Max Backoff: 10000 ms
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "network_config": {
        "max_retries": 5,
        "retry_backoff_initial": 1,
        "retry_backoff_max": 10000
    }
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "network_config": {
        "max_retries": 5,
        "retry_backoff_initial": 1,
        "retry_backoff_max": 10000
      }
    }
  }
}

Custom Concurrency and Buffer Size

Fine-tune performance by adjusting worker concurrency and queue sizes per provider (defaults are 1000 workers and 5000 queue size). This example gives OpenAI higher limits (100 workers, 500 queue) for high throughput, while Anthropic gets conservative limits to respect their rate limits.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → → “Provider level configuration” → “Performance tuning”
Set Concurrency: Worker count (100 for OpenAI, 25 for Anthropic)
Set Buffer Size: Queue size (500 for OpenAI, 100 for Anthropic)
Save configuration

# OpenAI with high throughput settings
curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "concurrency_and_buffer_size": {
        "concurrency": 100,
        "buffer_size": 500
    }
}'

# Anthropic with conservative settings
curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "anthropic",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "concurrency_and_buffer_size": {
        "concurrency": 25,
        "buffer_size": 100
    }
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "concurrency_and_buffer_size": {
        "concurrency": 100,
        "buffer_size": 500
      }
    },
    "anthropic": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "anthropic-key-1",
          "value": "env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "concurrency_and_buffer_size": {
        "concurrency": 25,
        "buffer_size": 100
      }
    }
  }
}

Custom Headers

Bifrost supports two ways to add custom headers to provider requests: static headers configured at the provider level, and dynamic headers passed per-request.

Static Headers (Provider Level)

Configure headers that are automatically included in every request to a specific provider. This is useful for provider-specific requirements, API versioning, or organizational metadata.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → “OpenAI” → “Provider level configuration” → “Network config”
Add headers in the “Extra Headers” section
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "network_config": {
        "extra_headers": {
            "x-custom-org": "my-organization",
            "x-environment": "production"
        }
    }
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "network_config": {
        "extra_headers": {
          "x-custom-org": "my-organization",
          "x-environment": "production"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Dynamic Headers (Per Request)

Send custom headers with individual requests using the x-bf-eh-* prefix. Headers are automatically propagated to the provider after stripping the prefix. This is useful for request-specific metadata, user identification, or custom tracking information.

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-bf-eh-user-id: user-123' \
--header 'x-bf-eh-tracking-id: trace-456' \
--data '{
    "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
    "messages": [
        {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}
    ]
}'

The x-bf-eh- prefix is stripped before forwarding, so x-bf-eh-user-id becomes user-id in the request to the provider. Example use cases:

User identification: x-bf-eh-user-id, x-bf-eh-tenant-id
Request tracking: x-bf-eh-correlation-id, x-bf-eh-trace-id
Custom metadata: x-bf-eh-department, x-bf-eh-cost-center
A/B testing: x-bf-eh-experiment-id, x-bf-eh-variant

Security Denylist

Bifrost maintains a security denylist of headers that are never forwarded to providers, regardless of configuration:

denylist := map[string]bool{
    "proxy-authorization": true,
    "cookie":              true,
    "host":                true,
    "content-length":      true,
    "connection":          true,
    "transfer-encoding":   true,

    // prevent auth/key overrides via x-bf-eh-*
    "x-api-key":      true,
    "x-goog-api-key": true,
    "x-bf-api-key":   true,
    "x-bf-vk":        true,
}

This denylist is applied to both static and dynamic headers to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Beta Header Overrides

For Anthropic-family providers (Anthropic, Vertex, Bedrock, Azure), Bifrost maintains a default support matrix for anthropic-beta headers. You can override these defaults per provider when upstream support changes before Bifrost updates its defaults.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → select your provider → “Beta Headers” tab
Each known beta header shows its default support status
Use the override dropdown to set Enabled, Disabled, or Default (use built-in defaults)
Save configuration

curl --location --request PUT 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers/vertex' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "network_config": {
        "beta_header_overrides": {
            "redact-thinking-": true,
            "fast-mode-": false
        }
    }
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "vertex": {
      "network_config": {
        "beta_header_overrides": {
          "redact-thinking-": true,
          "fast-mode-": false
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Override keys are beta header prefixes (e.g. "redact-thinking-"), not full header values. This ensures overrides apply regardless of date-versioned header bumps. See the full support matrix in the Anthropic provider docs.

Setting Up a Proxy

Route requests through proxies for compliance, security, or geographic requirements. This example shows both HTTP proxy for OpenAI and authenticated SOCKS5 proxy for Anthropic, useful for corporate environments or regional access.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → → “Provider level configuration” → “Proxy config”
Select Proxy Type: HTTP or SOCKS5
Set Proxy URL: http://localhost:8000
Add credentials if needed (username/password)
Save configuration

# HTTP proxy for OpenAI
curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "proxy_config": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "http://localhost:8000"
    }
}'

# SOCKS5 proxy with authentication for Anthropic
curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "anthropic",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "anthropic-key-1",
            "value": "env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "proxy_config": {
        "type": "socks5",
        "url": "http://localhost:8000",
        "username": "user",
        "password": "password"
    }
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "proxy_config": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "http://localhost:8000"
      }
    },
    "anthropic": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "anthropic-key-1",
          "value": "env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "proxy_config": {
        "type": "socks5",
        "url": "http://localhost:8000",
        "username": "user",
        "password": "password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Send Back Raw Response

Include the original provider response alongside Bifrost’s standardized response format. Useful for debugging and accessing provider-specific metadata.

You can override this per request using the x-bf-send-back-raw-response header ("true" or "false"), regardless of the provider-level config. See Request Options for details.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → → “Provider level configuration” → “Performance tuning”
Toggle “Include Raw Response” to enabled
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "send_back_raw_response": true
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "send_back_raw_response": true
    }
  }
}

When enabled, the raw provider response appears in extra_fields.raw_response:

{
    "choices": [...],
    "usage": {...},
    "extra_fields": {
        "provider": "openai",
        "raw_response": {
            // Original OpenAI response here
        }
    }
}

Send Back Raw Request

Include the original request sent to the provider alongside Bifrost’s response. Useful for debugging request transformations and verifying what was actually sent to the provider.

You can override this per request using the x-bf-send-back-raw-request header ("true" or "false"), regardless of the provider-level config. See Request Options for details.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → → “Provider level configuration” → “Performance tuning”
Toggle “Include Raw Request” to enabled
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "send_back_raw_request": true
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "send_back_raw_request": true
    }
  }
}

When enabled, the raw provider request appears in extra_fields.raw_request:

{
    "choices": [...],
    "usage": {...},
    "extra_fields": {
        "provider": "openai",
        "raw_request": {
            // Original request sent to OpenAI here
        }
    }
}

You can enable both send_back_raw_request and send_back_raw_response together to see the complete request-response cycle for debugging purposes.

Store Raw Request/Response

Persist the raw provider request and response in the log record. This is orthogonal to send_back_raw_request and send_back_raw_response - enabling this does not affect whether raw data appears in the API response, and enabling send-back does not automatically store raw data in logs. Enable both to do both.

Using Web UI
Using API
Using config.json

Navigate to “Model Providers” → “Configurations” → → “Provider level configuration” → “Performance tuning”
Toggle “Store Raw Request/Response” to enabled
Save configuration

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/api/providers' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "provider": "openai",
    "keys": [
        {
            "name": "openai-key-1",
            "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
            "models": ["*"],
            "weight": 1.0
        }
    ],
    "store_raw_request_response": true
}'

{
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "keys": [
        {
          "name": "openai-key-1",
          "value": "env.OPENAI_API_KEY",
          "models": ["*"],
          "weight": 1.0
        }
      ],
      "store_raw_request_response": true
    }
  }
}

store_raw_request_response only has effect when the logging plugin is active - raw data is written to the log record by the logging plugin. Without it, enabling this flag captures the data but nothing persists it.You can override this per request using the x-bf-store-raw-request-response header ("true" or "false"), regardless of the provider-level config. See Request Options for details.

Passthrough Extra Parameters

Enable passthrough mode for extra parameters. When enabled, any parameters in the extra_params field (or provider-specific extra parameter fields) will be merged directly into the request sent to the provider, bypassing Bifrost’s parameter filtering.

curl --location 'http://localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-bf-passthrough-extra-params: true' \
--data '{
    "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
    "messages": [
        {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}
    ],
    "extra_params": {
        "custom_param": "value",
        "another_param": 123,
        "nested_param": {
            "nested_key": "nested_value"
        }
    }
}'

When enabled, the extra parameters are merged into the JSON request body sent to the provider. This allows you to pass provider-specific parameters that Bifrost doesn’t natively support.

This feature only works for JSON requests, not multipart/form-data requests
Parameters already handled by Bifrost (like addWatermark, enhancePrompt) are not duplicated - they appear in their proper location
Nested parameters (e.g., parameters.custom_field) are merged recursively with existing nested structures
See Supported Headers for a complete list of all Bifrost headers

Next Steps

Now that you understand provider configuration, explore these related topics:

Essential Topics

Streaming Responses - Real-time response generation
Tool Calling - Enable AI to use external functions
Multimodal AI - Process images, audio, and text
Integrations - Drop-in compatibility with existing SDKs

Advanced Topics

Core Features - Advanced Bifrost capabilities
Architecture - How Bifrost works internally
Deployment - Production setup and scaling

Documentation Index

​Multi-Provider Setup

​Making Requests

​Environment Variables

​Advanced Configuration

​Weighted Load Balancing

​Model-Specific Keys

​Custom Base URL

​Managing Retries

​Custom Concurrency and Buffer Size

​Custom Headers

​Static Headers (Provider Level)

​Dynamic Headers (Per Request)

​Security Denylist

​Beta Header Overrides

​Setting Up a Proxy

​Send Back Raw Response

​Send Back Raw Request

​Store Raw Request/Response

​Passthrough Extra Parameters

​Next Steps

​Essential Topics

​Advanced Topics

Multi-Provider Setup

Making Requests

Environment Variables

Advanced Configuration

Weighted Load Balancing

Model-Specific Keys

Custom Base URL

Managing Retries

Custom Concurrency and Buffer Size

Custom Headers

Static Headers (Provider Level)

Dynamic Headers (Per Request)

Security Denylist

Beta Header Overrides

Setting Up a Proxy

Send Back Raw Response

Send Back Raw Request

Store Raw Request/Response

Passthrough Extra Parameters

Next Steps

Essential Topics

Advanced Topics