Configuration

This guide covers the various ways to configure Chimeric for your specific needs.

API Key Configuration

Environment Variables (Recommended)

The simplest way to configure API keys is through environment variables:

# OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# Anthropic
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

# Google (supports both variable names)
export GOOGLE_API_KEY="AIza..."
# or
export GEMINI_API_KEY="AIza..."

# Cohere (supports both variable names)
export COHERE_API_KEY="your-key"
# or  
export CO_API_KEY="your-key"

# Groq
export GROQ_API_KEY="gsk_..."

# Cerebras
export CEREBRAS_API_KEY="csk-..."

# Grok (supports both variable names)
export GROK_API_KEY="xai-..."
# or
export GROK_API_TOKEN="xai-..."

Direct Initialization

You can also provide API keys directly when creating the client:

from chimeric import Chimeric

client = Chimeric(
    openai_api_key="sk-...",
    anthropic_api_key="sk-ant-...",
    google_api_key="AIza...",
    cohere_api_key="your-key",
    groq_api_key="gsk_...",
    cerebras_api_key="csk-...",
    grok_api_key="xai-..."
)

Mixed Configuration

Combine environment variables with direct initialization:

# Some keys from environment, others provided directly
client = Chimeric(
    openai_api_key="sk-...",  # Explicit key
    # anthropic_api_key will be read from ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var
    # google_api_key will be read from GOOGLE_API_KEY env var
)

Provider-Specific Configuration

Pass any provider-specific configuration options directly to Chimeric. Chimeric uses signature introspection to automatically filter kwargs, ensuring each provider only receives parameters its constructor accepts:

# All kwargs are passed to every provider, but automatically filtered
client = Chimeric(
    openai_api_key="sk-...",
    anthropic_api_key="sk-ant-...",
    # Google-specific parameters (ignored by other providers)
    vertexai=True,
)

Common Configuration Options

Parameters that work across multiple providers:

client = Chimeric(
    openai_api_key="sk-...",
    anthropic_api_key="sk-ant-...",
    google_api_key="AIza...",

    # HTTP/Connection settings (widely supported)
    timeout=60,                    # Request timeout
    max_retries=3,                # Retry configuration

    # Custom endpoints (where supported)
    base_url="https://api.your-company.com/v1",

    # Headers (where supported)
    default_headers={"User-Agent": "YourApp/1.0"},
)

Key Benefits: - Signature-Based Filtering: Uses Python introspection to validate parameters - No TypeErrors: Invalid parameters are automatically filtered out - Cross-Provider Compatibility: Same parameters work where applicable - Unified Configuration: Configure all providers with one constructor call

Provider Configuration

Provider Information

Get information about configured providers:

client = Chimeric()

# List all configured providers
print("Available providers:", client.available_providers)

# Check capabilities across all providers
print("Merged capabilities:", client.capabilities)

# Check capabilities for a specific provider
if "openai" in client.available_providers:
    openai_caps = client.get_capabilities("openai")
    print(f"OpenAI capabilities: {openai_caps}")

Model Configuration

Model Discovery

Discover available models across providers:

# List all models from all providers
all_models = client.list_models()
for model in all_models:
    print(f"{model.id} ({model.provider})")

# List models from a specific provider
openai_models = client.list_models("openai")
for model in openai_models:
    print(f"OpenAI: {model.id}")