Quickstart - MESHROUTER

You need a mesh_live_... API key. Sign in at meshrouter.app to create one, or email us to request access. Prefer a browser? Open MESH chat to talk to any model without an API key.

1. Set your environment

export MESH_API_KEY=mesh_live_...
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.meshrouter.app/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=$MESH_API_KEY

2. Send a request

import OpenAI from 'openai';

const client = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: process.env.OPENAI_BASE_URL,
  apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY,
});

const completion = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: 'auto',
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello MESH' }],
});

console.log(completion.choices[0]?.message?.content);

from openai import OpenAI
import os

client = OpenAI(
    base_url=os.environ["OPENAI_BASE_URL"],
    api_key=os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"],
)

completion = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="auto",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello MESH"}],
)

print(completion.choices[0].message.content)

curl https://api.meshrouter.app/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MESH_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"auto","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello MESH"}]}'

model: "auto" lets MESH pick a model for you. To pin a specific one, pass its MESH id (e.g. "mesh/claude-sonnet-4.5", "mesh/balanced", "mesh/deepseek-r1"). See Models for the full catalogue and Routing for fallback chains.

3. Read the receipt

Every routed call returns these headers:

Header	Meaning
`x-mesh-upstream-cost-usd`	What the provider charged
`x-mesh-margin-usd`	MESH margin on the call
`x-mesh-total-usd`	Total drawn from your balance
`x-mesh-receipt-id`	ID for lookup via `/v1/receipts/:id`

What’s next

Streaming, tools, vision, and structured output work identically to OpenAI.
Privacy mode routes through MESH privacy with signed attestation.
USDC payments — top up via Base or Solana.