Reka Edge, Reka's latest multimodal model, is now available on OpenRouter. In a previous post we ran the model locally using vLLM. This time, we connect the same app to OpenRouter so we can switch between models by changing a connection string and a model ID.
More of a visual learner? Grab some popcorn and watch the video. Prefer to read? Skip right past it, the full walkthrough continues below.
The full source code is available at github.com/fboucher/media-library.
Why Use OpenRouter?
OpenRouter is the largest AI gateway for developers. It gives you a single, unified API to access all major models. The OpenAI SDK works out of the box, so there is nothing new to learn.
Beyond convenience, OpenRouter provides higher availability through distributed infrastructure with automatic fallback when a provider goes down. It runs at the edge for minimal latency, offers better prices with no subscriptions, and lets you set custom data policies so prompts only go to models and providers you trust.
Reka Edge and Reka Flash are both available on OpenRouter. Search for "Reka" or visit the Reka provider page to get started.
What You Need from OpenRouter
The Quick Start guide on OpenRouter provides examples for Python, TypeScript, and other SDKs. To connect any app, you need three things:
- An API Key to authenticate your requests.
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The endpoint URL:
https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 -
The model ID for the model you want to use. In our case,
rekaai/reka-edge.
Seeing It in Action
In the previous post, we used a media-library app to run Reka Edge locally with vLLM. Let's use the same app and add a new OpenRouter connection to it. All we need to do is pass the three pieces of information collected above: the URL, the API key, and the model ID.
Once saved, switch to the OpenRouter connection from the dropdown, upload an image, and click "Fill with AI." Reka Edge processes the image through OpenRouter and returns a detailed description. No changes to the application code were needed.
The beauty of OpenRouter is exactly this: you just change the connection string and the model. Both Reka Edge and Reka Flash are available, and you could have all your models centralized in one place.
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