Obtain an OpenRouter API key and configure your client to send requests to the OpenRouter base URL using the OpenAI-compatible API format
Select a model by its OpenRouter model ID and include a provider object in the request body to customize routing behavior
Set the order field within the provider object to an array of provider names to prioritize them in sequence for the selected model
Use the allow_fallbacks field (true or false) to control whether OpenRouter may route to unlisted providers when all ordered providers are unavailable
For throughput-optimized routing, append the :nitro variant suffix to the model ID; for cost-optimized routing use the :floor suffix
Inspect the x-openrouter-provider response header to confirm which provider served each request for observability and debugging
Known gotchas
Setting allow_fallbacks to false while specifying a narrow provider list can result in request failures if all listed providers are unavailable or rate-limited — always plan for fallback paths in production
The :nitro and :floor routing variants are dynamic and rely on OpenRouter's real-time telemetry; the actual provider selected can change between requests based on current provider performance
Provider data privacy policies vary; if you need to prevent data from being sent to specific providers, use the ignore field to exclude them rather than relying on the ordered list alone
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp