> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.portix.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Use the OpenAI SDK with Portrix to Access 400+ Models

> Portrix is a drop-in replacement for the OpenAI API. Change two lines of code to route all OpenAI SDK calls through Portrix and access 400+ models.

Because Portrix implements the full OpenAI API specification, the official OpenAI SDKs work with Portrix out of the box — no monkey-patching, no custom wrappers. Point the client at Portrix's base URL, swap in your Portrix API key, and every model on the platform becomes available through the same interface you already know.

## Python

Install the `openai` package if you haven't already:

```bash theme={null}
pip install openai
```

Change the two highlighted lines to redirect all SDK calls through Portrix:

```python theme={null}
from openai import OpenAI

# Before
client = OpenAI(
    api_key="sk-...",  # [!code --]
)  # [!code --]

# After
client = OpenAI(
    api_key="your-portrix-api-key",  # [!code ++]
    base_url="https://api.portrix.ai/v1",  # [!code ++]
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)
```

## JavaScript / TypeScript

Install the `openai` npm package if you haven't already:

```bash theme={null}
npm install openai
```

Apply the same two-line change in your TypeScript or JavaScript project:

```typescript theme={null}
import OpenAI from "openai";

// Before
const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: "sk-...",  // [!code --]
});  // [!code --]

// After
const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.PORTRIX_API_KEY,  // [!code ++]
  baseURL: "https://api.portrix.ai/v1",  // [!code ++]
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "openai/gpt-4o",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }],
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);
```

## What changes and what doesn't

| Parameter            | OpenAI                          | Portrix                                       |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Base URL             | `https://api.openai.com/v1`     | `https://api.portrix.ai/v1`                   |
| API key              | OpenAI secret key (`sk-...`)    | Portrix API key                               |
| Model names          | `gpt-4o`, `gpt-3.5-turbo`, etc. | `provider/model` format, e.g. `openai/gpt-4o` |
| All other parameters | —                               | Unchanged                                     |
| Response format      | OpenAI response object          | Unchanged                                     |

<Note>
  Model names use the `provider/model` format in Portrix — for example, `openai/gpt-4o`, `anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet`, or `google/gemini-2.0-flash`. Pass these directly as the `model` field in your request.
</Note>

## Migrating existing code

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install or update the OpenAI SDK">
    Make sure you are on a recent version of the SDK. Portrix is compatible with `openai >= 1.0.0` for Python and `openai >= 4.0.0` for Node.js.

    ```bash theme={null}
    pip install --upgrade openai   # Python
    npm install openai@latest      # Node.js
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set your Portrix API key">
    Store your key in an environment variable so it never appears in source code:

    ```bash theme={null}
    export PORTRIX_API_KEY="your-portrix-api-key"
    ```

    Add this to your `.env` file for local development and configure it as a secret in your deployment environment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Update the client initialization">
    Replace your existing client constructor with the Portrix-configured version:

    <CodeGroup>
      ```python Python theme={null}
      import os
      from openai import OpenAI

      client = OpenAI(
          api_key=os.environ["PORTRIX_API_KEY"],
          base_url="https://api.portrix.ai/v1",
      )
      ```

      ```typescript TypeScript theme={null}
      import OpenAI from "openai";

      const client = new OpenAI({
        apiKey: process.env.PORTRIX_API_KEY,
        baseURL: "https://api.portrix.ai/v1",
      });
      ```
    </CodeGroup>

    Everything else in your codebase — method calls, parameters, response parsing — stays exactly the same.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Use an environment variable for the base URL as well as the API key. Set `OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.portrix.ai/v1` and `OPENAI_API_KEY=$PORTRIX_API_KEY` locally, and the OpenAI SDK will pick them up automatically — letting you switch between OpenAI and Portrix without touching a single line of application code.
</Tip>