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ngrok.ai maintains a catalog of known providers and models. This catalog enables automatic model resolution, routing, model validation, and rich metadata for selection strategies.

How the catalog works

When you send a request with a model name like gpt-4o, the gateway automatically:
  1. Resolves the model using the catalog
  2. Determines the correct provider (for example, OpenAI) and applies the appropriate upstream credentials
  3. Routes the request to the provider’s endpoint
If you want to explicitly select a provider, use the provider:model format in the model string. For example:

Built-in providers

The catalog includes built-in providers—public AI APIs with known models and routing metadata. You can manage them on the Providers page.

Authentication

Send traffic using an access key. This key authenticates your requests to the gateway, not to the upstream provider.

Billing and provider credentials

The AI Gateway splits billing into two parts: using the gateway and paying the model provider. Some built-in providers don’t need a provider key. You can spot them in the tables above—if “Provider key required” says “No,” you can start using them right away as long as you have credits. The gateway takes care of authentication and charges your credits. Other providers do need a key. For those, add your provider key in app.ngrok.ai. The provider will bill you directly for model usage, and your credits will cover the gateway fee. This is often called BYOK (bring your own key).

OpenAI

How to use OpenAI →

OpenAI models


Anthropic

How to use Anthropic →

Anthropic models


Google

How to use Google →

Google models


DeepSeek

How to use DeepSeek →

DeepSeek models


Groq

How to use Groq → Groq provides AI inference powered by their custom LPU (Language Processing Unit) hardware.

Groq models


OpenRouter

How to use OpenRouter → OpenRouter is a unified API that provides access to multiple AI models from various providers through a single endpoint.

Hyperbolic

How to use Hyperbolic → Hyperbolic provides high-performance inference for open-source models.

InceptionLabs

How to use InceptionLabs → InceptionLabs develops diffusion-based language models for fast, efficient text generation.

Inference.net

How to use Inference.net → Inference.net provides a distributed inference network for running AI models at scale.

Using models from the catalog

Simple model reference

Reference models directly by their ID:

Explicit provider

Use the provider:model format for explicit routing:

Custom providers

Built-in providers cover major public APIs. For self-hosted models (Ollama, vLLM, LM Studio) or other endpoints, create a custom provider in the Custom tab in app.ngrok.ai. Custom providers always require a provider key when the upstream needs authentication. See Custom providers to add one.

Catalog updates

The model catalog is updated periodically to include new models and providers. For immediate access to models not yet in the catalog, add them explicitly to your provider configuration.

Aliases reference

Model and provider names are not case-sensitive. For example, gpt-4o, GPT-4o, and Gpt-4O all resolve to the same model. The following aliases are available in addition to the primary IDs listed above.

Provider aliases

OpenAI model aliases

Anthropic model aliases

Google model aliases

Meta model aliases

Moonshot AI model aliases