CrossModel

Quickstart

This page walks you through your first request on the OpenAI-compatible endpoint. If you already have an OpenAI SDK project, you usually just swap the base_url, API key, and model ID.

1. Get an API key

Sign in to the console and create a key on the API Keys page. Keys start with cm-.

An API key is shown only once, at creation. Store it somewhere safe — if you lose it, you'll have to generate a new one.

Keep the key in a server-side environment variable:

export CROSSMODEL_API_KEY="cm-YOUR_KEY"

2. Send your first request

curl https://api.crossmodel.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CROSSMODEL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro",
    "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Hello" }]
  }'

3. Use the OpenAI SDK

Install the SDK:

pip install openai
import os
from openai import OpenAI
 
client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["CROSSMODEL_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://api.crossmodel.ai/v1",
)
 
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

TypeScript:

npm install openai
import OpenAI from "openai";
 
const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.CROSSMODEL_API_KEY,
  baseURL: "https://api.crossmodel.ai/v1",
});
 
const completion = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }],
});
 
console.log(completion.choices[0].message.content);

4. Choose a model

CrossModel model IDs use the vendor/model format, for example:

TierExample model IDGood for
Cost-efficientdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flashHigh-volume Q&A, summarization, classification.
Heavy liftingdeepseek/deepseek-v4-proComplex reasoning, code, long-running tasks.
Anthropic ecosystemanthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6Claude Code, tool calling, long-context work.

See the full list in the model catalog — every model supports OpenAI-compatible calls.

5. Where to go next