WaveSpeed LLM API Quick Start: Endpoint, API Key, and OpenAI-Compatible Setup

The Three Fields You Need to Fill In

When you plug a new LLM provider into a chat app, an SDK, or an IDE, you’re almost always asked for the same three things:

1. Endpoint / Base URL — where the API lives.
2. API Key — how the provider knows it’s you.
3. Chat protocol — OpenAI Chat Completions, Anthropic Messages, or something else.

For WaveSpeed LLM, the answers are simple:

Field	Value
Base URL	https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1
API Key	Your WaveSpeed API key (from the dashboard)
Protocol	OpenAI Chat Completions (drop-in compatible with OpenAI SDKs)

That’s it. If a tool supports “custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint”, WaveSpeed LLM works.

What is WaveSpeed LLM?

WaveSpeed LLM is a unified API that gives you access to 290+ language models from 30+ providers through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint — Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-5.2, Gemini 3, DeepSeek, Llama 4, Qwen 3, Grok 4, Mistral, and more. One API key, one base URL, one request format.

No cold starts. Pay per token. No subscriptions. Free tier to start.

Step 1: Get Your API Key

1. Go to wavespeed.ai and sign in (Google/email).
2. Open the dashboard and find the API Keys section.
3. Create a new key — it looks like a long random string. Copy it immediately and store it as a secret.

Treat this key like a password. Don’t commit it to git, don’t paste it in screenshots.

Step 2: Set the Base URL

The LLM API lives at:

https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1

The Chat Completions endpoint is therefore:

https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1/chat/completions

Anywhere a tool asks for “OpenAI Base URL”, “API Endpoint”, or “Custom Server URL”, paste https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1.

Step 3: Pick a Model

Model IDs use the vendor/model format. A few popular ones:

Model ID	Notes
anthropic/claude-opus-4.6	1M context, vision + tool use
openai/gpt-5.2-pro	400K context, top OpenAI reasoning
google/gemini-3-flash-preview	Fast, multimodal
deepseek/deepseek-v4	Open weights, strong coding
meta-llama/llama-4-70b	Open, cheap, steady

Browse the full catalog at wavespeed.ai/llm.

Step 4: Make Your First Call

Python (OpenAI SDK)

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
    base_url="https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1"
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="anthropic/claude-opus-4.6",
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}
    ]
)

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

Node.js (OpenAI SDK)

import OpenAI from 'openai';

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
  baseURL: 'https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1'
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: 'anthropic/claude-opus-4.6',
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello!' }]
});

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

curl

curl https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
  }'

Notice the only differences from calling OpenAI directly: the base_url and the model string. Your existing OpenAI code works unchanged otherwise.

Streaming, Tools, and Vision

Everything you use on OpenAI’s Chat Completions endpoint works on WaveSpeed LLM:

• stream: true for server-sent events streaming.
• tools and tool_choice for function calling (on models that support it).
• response_format: { type: "json_object" } for JSON mode.
• Image input via content: [{ type: "image_url", image_url: { url: "..." } }] on vision-capable models.

Because the protocol is identical, any library or framework built on OpenAI — LangChain, LlamaIndex, Vercel AI SDK, Haystack — works by swapping the base URL.

Troubleshooting

“Invalid API key” / 401 errors Double-check you’re using the API key from the WaveSpeed dashboard, not from OpenAI or another provider. The header must be Authorization: Bearer <key>.

“Model not found” / 404 on model Model IDs are case-sensitive and must include the vendor prefix. Use anthropic/claude-opus-4.6, not claude-opus-4.6 and not Claude-Opus-4.6.

“Wrong protocol” If a tool asks you to pick between “OpenAI”, “Anthropic”, “Gemini”, or similar — always pick OpenAI. WaveSpeed LLM speaks OpenAI Chat Completions for every model, including Claude and Gemini models. The vendor prefix in the model ID selects the upstream model; the request format stays OpenAI-compatible.

Network / connectivity issues The endpoint is https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1 — note the llm. subdomain (not api.). If your firewall blocks custom subdomains, allowlist llm.wavespeed.ai.

Why WaveSpeed LLM

• One integration, 290+ models. Swap anthropic/claude-opus-4.6 for openai/gpt-5.2-pro without changing a line of code.
• OpenAI-compatible. Works with every OpenAI SDK, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK, and any tool that accepts a custom base URL.
• No cold starts, no subscriptions. Pay only for what you use, with transparent per-token pricing.
• Free tier. Start building without a credit card.

Start Building Today

Three fields — base URL, API key, OpenAI protocol — and you’re in.

Get your API key at wavespeed.ai/llm and make your first call in under five minutes.