Doubao API: ByteDance's AI Models Explained
“Doubao” is a model family, not a value you can safely paste into the model
field. ByteDance serves the API through Volcengine Ark, where current model IDs
include a family name, version, and sometimes a date suffix.
As of September 11, 2026, Ark's current text-generation recommendations include
Doubao Seed Evolving, Seed 2.1 Pro, and Seed 2.1 Turbo. Earlier 1.x models and
several Seed 2.0 entries sit in the previous-model section, so new integrations
should begin with the live model catalog rather than an old tutorial.
Current models and direct prices
The official China-region rate card uses CNY per 1M tokens:
| Model ID | Context | New input | Cached input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
doubao-seed-evolving |
1024K | ¥6.00 | ¥1.20 | ¥30.00 |
doubao-seed-2-1-pro-260628 |
256K | ¥6.00 | ¥1.20 | ¥30.00 |
doubao-seed-2-1-turbo-260628 |
256K | ¥3.00 | ¥0.60 | ¥15.00 |
The Evolving model supports a 1024K context and up to 256K response. The Pro
and Turbo entries list 256K context and up to 256K response, with a 4K default
response limit. Ark also publishes a cache-storage rate, so cached-input cost
is not the only cache-related meter to examine.
These are mainland Ark prices. No official USD price was established in this
review, and a currency conversion would not capture regional availability,
tax, or account terms.
Which current model should you start with?
Use Turbo when cost and throughput matter more than the largest context. Start
with Pro when you need a stronger general-purpose baseline at 256K. Evolving is
the candidate for workloads that genuinely need the 1024K window. Those are
starting hypotheses, not quality rankings. Build a small evaluation set from
your own prompts, score task completion and error rate, and include the token
bill for failed or retried runs. A larger context is useful only when the extra
evidence improves the decision.
Direct API with curl
Ark's current quickstart uses the Responses API:
curl https://ark.cn-beijing.volces.com/api/v3/responses \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ARK_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"doubao-seed-2-1-pro-260628","input":"Summarize the migration risks."}'
Do not replace the dated ID with the display label from the pricing table. Ark
also supports endpoint IDs for tighter permission control; decide which form
your deployment will pin and document it.
Python example
import os
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
api_key=os.environ["ARK_API_KEY"],
base_url="https://ark.cn-beijing.volces.com/api/v3",
)
response = client.responses.create(
model="doubao-seed-2-1-pro-260628",
input="Return a five-step rollout checklist.",
)
print(response.output_text)
AIWave's public catalog currently lists the same Pro and Evolving IDs behind an
OpenAI-compatible gateway. With AIWave, use the model ID shown on the dated
catalog and the https://aiwave.live/v1 base URL. Its USD price is an AIWave
route price, not Volcengine's direct CNY price.
That distinction is useful when comparing options. A direct Ark account gives
you the vendor's native features and billing. A gateway gives you a common
client, one key, and a single USD invoice across several providers. It also
adds a markup and an extra operational dependency. Pick the boundary that
reduces total work for your application, not the one with the smallest number
in a single table cell.
Production checks
Fetch the current model list before rollout and record the exact ID. Run one
small request, one streaming request, and the largest realistic context test.
Set an explicit output cap; the documented maximum is not a sensible default.
For cache-sensitive workloads, log cached input, new input, cache storage, and
output separately. For agent workloads, test tool schemas and repeated calls
under the same endpoint permissions. Handle authentication, insufficient
balance, throttling, and upstream failures as different branches.
Finally, review lifecycle notices. A dated ID is valuable for reproducibility,
but it also makes retirement planning part of the integration.
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