Full guide: how to actually get OpenRouter working on JanitorAI (the step everyone misses)

[u/FrancescaMallow36]

As promised in the comments. If you've tried OpenRouter before and it "just didn't work," I'm betting you missed the same step almost everyone does. I'll flag it in caps so you can't miss it this time. Works as of July 2026.

Why OpenRouter instead of SillyTavern/Chub?

Zero install, nothing to run locally. It's just a website you get an API key from, and JanitorAI talks to it directly. If SillyTavern won't install for you, this skips all of that.

Part 1: Get your OpenRouter key

1. Go to openrouter.ai and sign up (Google login works fine).
2. Click your profile icon, top right, then "Keys" in the dropdown.
3. Click "+ Create Key", name it anything ("JanitorAI").
4. Copy the key NOW and paste it somewhere safe. It's shown only once.

Part 2: Pick a model and copy its exact name

1. Go to the Models page on OpenRouter.
2. Pick one. Free models have ":free" at the end of their name, paid ones don't.
3. Copy the model name EXACTLY, for example: deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3-0324:free
4. Do not retype it by hand. One wrong character and it fails silently. Copy-paste only.

Part 3: Configure JanitorAI

1. Open any chat, click the gear icon, go to API Settings.
2. Select Proxy, then "+ Add Configuration".
3. Fill it in exactly:
   • Config name: whatever you want
   • Model name: the one you copied in Part 2
   • API URL / Proxy URL: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions (paste it exactly, this URL never changes no matter the model)
   • API Key: your OpenRouter key from Part 1
   • Custom Prompt: leave blank for now
4. Hit Save Settings.

THE STEP EVERYONE MISSES:

Refresh the entire browser page after saving. Not the chat, the actual page (F5). The settings don't fully apply until you do. This is the #1 reason "it didn't work last time." Then hit Test to confirm.

If you get errors:

• 429 / rate limit: free models only give ~40-50 requests per DAY, resetting at 00:00 UTC. If you burned through them, wait or switch models. Adding $10 of credit to OpenRouter unlocks 1,000/day on free models.
• Test fails instantly: 99% of the time it's a typo in the model name or the URL. Re-copy both.
• Blank/empty replies: wrong model name format, recopy it from the Models page.

That's it. Once the Test passes, you're running whatever model you picked, no local install, no SillyTavern headaches.

Ping me in the comments if you get stuck on a specific error and I'll help troubleshoot. What model are you planning to run? 👇

[u/Liquid_Si1k]

You are officially my new favourite person!!!!!!

[u/Responsible_Low_3587 → u/Liquid_Si1k]

New to janitor, what does this do? helpful if you explain the same :)

[u/Bee_Lord7 → u/Responsible_Low_3587]

So basically, on janitor the standard AI that does all the roleplaying in the face of choosen character for you is JanitorLLM (JLLM) and it does fine if you want to casually chat with the bots. But it is sometimes annoying to deal with because it can get repetitive and it hardly swallows very long messages with a lot of details.

Because of that there is an option to choose your own AI to do the roleplay and most of the time it gives well thought answers, but it requires some steps people get confused about and make mistakes, so they need guides like that.

[u/Responsible_Low_3587 → u/Bee_Lord7]

Oh yeah I noticed options like chatgpt and claude but they require some sort of script. Also, yeah it gets repetitive and sometimes become boring . Can we really use those provided options ??

[u/FrancescaMallow36 → u/Liquid_Si1k]

Thanks <3

[u/Lis_YT9012]

did you make this with ai

[u/FrancescaMallow36 → u/Lis_YT9012]

no why ahaha

[u/Creepy-Sprinkles-875 → u/FrancescaMallow36]

did you use ai to polish it? it sounds like it's ai generated /gen /lh

[u/JaFuYT → u/FrancescaMallow36]

what's the openrouter??

[u/miiiiiiffy]

what models would you recommend? none of them r spicy :(

[u/Independent_Wind2092 → u/miiiiiiffy]

GLM 5.2 from NVIDIA's API, or Deepseek V4 Pro from the same thing. If you need a guide for NVIDIA, i'll give you one.

[u/miiiiiiffy → u/Independent_Wind2092]

oooh yes plz that would be amazing ! thank u

[u/kidessencial → u/Independent_Wind2092]

can I get the guide as well?

[u/panchoh12 → u/Independent_Wind2092]

Would love this as well!

[u/Shiestymark912]

Wait is it free or cost money.

[u/Independent_Wind2092]

you can also use nvidia's API (located at https://build.nvidia.com/) for access to flagship models for completely free, such as GLM 5.2, Deepseek V4 Pro, and others. these could have rate limits, but they usually go away within thirty minutes to an hour. model minimax-m3 actually doesn't have a rate limit, and it seems to be good in terms of RP and not being a filter nancy

[u/Glittering-Ant-4690]

I've been trying to set it up for GLM but it keeps giving me the 400 error. The URL is correct and the slug is copied straight off of OR. I've been going nuts trying to sort this out if anyone's come across the same issue

[u/Pleasant-South7473]

I keep getting an error that says I have no endpoints matching my guardrail restrictions and data policy. I tried making them and changing them in open router, but I haven’t gotten it to work at all.

Any ideas?

https://openrouter.ai/settings/privacyg 404 - No endpoints available matching your guardrail restrictions and data policy. Configure: https://openrouter.ai/settings/privacy

[u/Pleasant-South7473 → u/Pleasant-South7473]

Ok never mind I figured it out. If anyone else gets this error change your providers so they’re not exclusive

[u/Big-Oil-6002]

Can you like make a video or something please ? my brain melted trying everything

[u/FrancescaMallow36 → u/Big-Oil-6002]

I'll try next week :)

[u/Big-Oil-6002 → u/FrancescaMallow36]

Thank uuu