Pre-agent API checklist: how I standardized my LLM gateway before wiring Codex or Hermes

Reddit / LinkedIn version

I was configuring several agent runtimes and noticed that the time sink was often the API layer, not the agent itself: different endpoints, keys, model IDs, usage pages, and failure modes.

I now test the gateway first:

1. check the live model list and account terms;
2. create a key;
3. send one minimal request;
4. confirm the model ID and response format;
5. connect the agent only after the smoke test passes.

I use APIGOTO as a unified LLM API gateway for this workflow. It puts API access, model configuration, quota, usage, and call records behind one developer entry point.

The “200 models with free tokens” wording should be read as a current offer to verify—not an unlimited or permanent promise. Availability, limits, validity, rate limits, and verification may vary by account.

Start here: https://www.apigoto.com/

Personal developer experience; no official affiliation with Codex, Claude, Hermes, or OpenClaw.