Run `LLMClient.stream(request)` instead of `generate` when you want incremental `LLMEvent`s. The event stream is provider-neutral — same shape across OpenAI Chat, OpenAI Responses, Anthropic Messages, Gemini, Bedrock Converse, and any OpenAI-compatible deployment.
The hosted result is represented as a provider-executed tool call and tool result. Its image is a `file` content item with a data URI, so retaining `response.message` preserves the generated image for continuation.
- **`Message.user(...)` / `Message.assistant(...)` / `Message.tool(...)`** — message constructors from the canonical schema model.
- **`Model.make(...)` / `ToolCallPart.make(...)` / `ToolResultPart.make(...)` / `ToolDefinition.make(...)`** — model and tool-related constructors from the canonical schema model.
- **`LLMClient.prepare(request)`** — compile a request through protocol body construction, validation, and HTTP preparation without sending. Useful for inspection and testing.
Prompt caching is **on by default**. Every `LLMRequest` resolves to `cache: "auto"` unless the caller opts out with `cache: "none"`. Each protocol translates `CacheHint`s to its wire format (`cache_control` on Anthropic, `cachePoint` on Bedrock; OpenAI and Gemini do implicit caching server-side and don't need inline markers — auto is a no-op there).
`"auto"` places up to four breakpoints — the last tool definition, the first system part, the last system part when distinct, and the final message boundary. These expose successively larger reusable prefixes for tools, the base agent, project instructions, and the active conversation. The rolling final-message boundary is the load-bearing detail in tool loops: it advances on every request so the previous cache entry stays within Anthropic's 20-block lookback.
Tools precede every system and conversation block in the provider prefix, so tool definitions must remain byte-stable and deterministically ordered for downstream breakpoints to remain reusable.
The math justifies the default: Anthropic's 5-minute cache write is 1.25× base, read is 0.1×, so a single reuse within 5 minutes already wins. One-shot completions below the per-model minimum-cacheable-token threshold silently no-op on the wire, so the worst case is harmless.
Inline `CacheHint` on any text / system / tool / tool-result part overrides automatic placement. The auto policy preserves manual hints, counts them against Anthropic and Bedrock's four-breakpoint limit, and only fills the remaining slots.
Provider facades configure endpoint/auth/deployment details first, then expose model selectors that take only a model or deployment id. The selected model carries the executable route value used at runtime.
Included providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google (Gemini), Google Vertex Gemini and Anthropic, Amazon Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Cloudflare AI Gateway, Cloudflare Workers AI, GitHub Copilot, OpenRouter, xAI, Z.ai, plus generic OpenAI-compatible Chat and Responses entrypoints and an Anthropic Messages-compatible entrypoint.
Native catalog integrations load provider behavior through package-like entrypoints. These are export paths from the same `@opencode-ai/ai` npm package, not independently published packages. Each entrypoint exports the same `model(modelID, settings)` contract, and `settings` contains serializable provider configuration plus common `headers`, `body`, and `limits` overlays.
Responses HTTP versus WebSocket is a scoped `transport` setting on the OpenAI Responses entrypoint, not another entrypoint. Azure follows the same Chat/Responses split at `providers/azure/chat` and `providers/azure/responses`. Generic OpenAI-compatible Chat remains at `providers/openai-compatible`; the Responses adapter at `providers/openai-compatible/responses` uses the provider-neutral Open Responses protocol. OpenAI Responses extends that baseline with OpenAI tools, event variants, metadata, defaults, and transports. Generic Anthropic Messages-compatible providers use `providers/anthropic-compatible`, which the named Anthropic provider composes. Google Gemini and Amazon Bedrock expose their single native API through their existing provider paths.
Vertex Gemini, Vertex Chat, Vertex Responses, and Vertex Messages are separate API entrypoints. All accept `project`, `location`, and an optional `accessToken`; when no explicit token or auth override is supplied they lazily use Google Application Default Credentials. Vertex Gemini instead selects express mode when `apiKey` or `GOOGLE_VERTEX_API_KEY` is present. Vertex Chat targets MaaS models through the OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions endpoint, while Vertex Responses targets Grok models and defaults `store` to `false` as required by Vertex. `providers/google-vertex` remains the default alias for `providers/google-vertex/gemini`.
Tuned Vertex Gemini deployments use model ids shaped like `endpoints/1234567890` and require OAuth or ADC; Vertex express-mode API keys support publisher models only.
Provider facades such as `OpenAI.configure(...).responses(...)` remain the direct application API. Package-like entrypoints are the self-similar loading contract used when a catalog selects behavior by export path.
Other provider exports listed above remain direct facades until they explicitly implement the package-like contract. Exporting a provider facade does not implicitly make it a catalog-loadable provider package.
3.**`http: { body, headers, query }`** — last-resort serializable overlays merged into the final HTTP request. Reach for this only when a stable typed path doesn't yet exist.
Adding a new model or deployment is usually 5-15 lines using `Route.make({ protocol, endpoint, auth, framing, ... })`. The route owns endpoint/auth/framing and the protocol owns body construction plus stream parsing. Transports are reusable IO templates that receive route endpoint/auth at compile time. Capability/catalog metadata lives outside this low-level package; unsupported request shapes fail during protocol lowering. See `AGENTS.md` for the architectural detail.
This package is built on Effect. Public methods return `Effect` or `Stream`; provide `LLMClient.layer` for LLM dispatch and `ImageClient.layer` for image dispatch, then import the provider/protocol modules for the routes you use. The example at `example/tutorial.ts` is a runnable walkthrough.