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+---
+slug: echokit-30-days-day-10-openrouter
+title: "Day 10: Using OpenRouter as Your EchoKit LLM Provider | The First 30 Days with EchoKit"
+tags: [echokit30days]
+---
+
+
+Over the past two weeks, we’ve explored many moving parts inside the **ASR → LLM → TTS** pipeline.
+We’ve changed [the welcome voice](https://echokit.dev/docs/dev/echokit-30-days-day-5-welcome-voice), [updated the boot screen](https://echokit.dev/docs/dev/echokit-30-days-day-4-bootscreen), [switched between multiple ASR providers](https://echokit.dev/docs/dev/echokit-30-days-day-6-groq), and learned how to run the EchoKit server both via [Docker](https://echokit.dev/docs/dev/echokit-30-days-day-2-docker) and [from source](https://echokit.dev/docs/dev/echokit-30-days-day-3-rust).
+
+This week, we shifted our focus to the **LLM**, the part of the pipeline that interprets what you say and decides how EchoKit should respond.
+
+Yesterday, we [used **OpenAI** as the LLM provider](https://echokit.dev/docs/dev/echokit-30-days-day-9-chatgpt).
+Today, we’re going to try something more flexible — **OpenRouter**.
+
+
+##  What Is OpenRouter?
+
+**OpenRouter** is a unified API gateway that gives you access to many different LLMs without changing your code structure.
+It’s fully **OpenAI-API compatible** in the context of text generation models, which means EchoKit can work with it right away.
+
+Some reasons I like OpenRouter:
+
+* You can choose from a wide selection of open source LLMs: Qwen, Llama, DeepSeek, Mistral, etc.
+* Switching models doesn’t require code changes — just update the model name.
+* Often more cost-effective and more customizable.
+* Great for exploring different personalities and response styles for EchoKit.
+
+
+## How to Use OpenRouter as Your LLM Provider
+
+### 1. Get Your OpenRouter API Key
+
+Go to [your OpenRouter dashboard](https://openrouter.ai/settings/keys) and generate an API key.
+Keep it private — it works just like an OpenAI API key.
+
+
+### 2. Update `config.toml`
+
+Open your EchoKit server configuration file and locate LLM:
+
+```
+[llm]
+provider = "openrouter"
+chat_url = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions"
+api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
+model = "qwen/qwen3-14b"
+history = 5
+```
+
+You can replace the model with [any supported model on OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai/models).
+
+
+### 3. Restart Your EchoKit Server
+
+If you’re running from the Rust source code, after saving the updated `config.toml`:
+
+```
+# Enable debug logging
+export RUST_LOG=debug
+
+# Run the EchoKit server in the background
+nohup target/release/echokit_server &
+```
+
+Or using Docker:
+
+```
+docker run --rm \
+  -p 8080:8080 \
+  -v $(pwd)/config.toml:/app/config.toml \
+  secondstate/echokit:latest-server-vad &
+```
+
+Then return to the setup page, pair the device if needed, and EchoKit will now respond using OpenRouter. That's it.
+
+
+
+Connecting EchoKit to OpenRouter feels like I unlocked a new layer of creativity.
+OpenAI gives you a clean and reliable default, but OpenRouter opens the door to experimenting with different model behaviors, tones, and personalities — all without changing your application logic.
+
+If you enjoy tweaking, tuning, and exploring how different models shape your EchoKit’s “brain”, OpenRouter is one of the best tools for that.
+
+
+---
+
+If you want to share your experience or see what others are building with EchoKit + OpenRouter:
+
+* Join the **[EchoKit Discord](https://discord.gg/Fwe3zsT5g3)**
+* Or share your latency tests, setups, and experiments — we love seeing them
+
+Want to get your own EchoKit device?
+
+* [EchoKit Box](https://echokit.dev/echokit_box.html)
+* [EchoKit DIY Kit](https://echokit.dev/echokit_diy.html)
+
+
+