Online Model Providers
Pitchblend can use a local model or an optional online provider. Online providers are an advanced choice: your prompt, selected conversation context, and any content supplied to that request leave this computer and are handled under the provider's terms, retention rules, billing, and safety policies.
What the interface does
The Models > Model Providers tab shows the provider/model catalog bundled
with the current Geist version. It does not query your provider account and is
not proof that a model is still offered or that your account can use it.
Settings > Models and Providers lets you select a catalog entry.
Pitchblend does not include a credential-entry form; credentials must be
available to the Geist process before the desktop application starts.
Current provider environment variables are:
| Provider | Variable |
|---|---|
| OpenAI | OPENAI_API_KEY |
| Anthropic | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY |
| Groq | GROQ_API_KEY |
| xAI | GROK_API_KEY |
| Moonshot | MOONSHOT_API_KEY |
| Z.AI | ZAI_API_KEY |
| DeepSeek | DEEPSEEK_API_KEY |
| OpenRouter | OPENROUTER_API_KEY |
A self-hosted OpenAI-compatible service can be selected with
OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL. The current normal settings path does not read a
generic API_KEY for that custom URL, so an endpoint that requires one cannot
be configured completely through these environment variables in v1.0.
Variable support follows the bundled Geist version. Restart Pitchblend after changing the process environment, then use Refresh on Models > Model Providers.
Choose deliberately
- Local Model performs model inference on this computer after its model download is complete.
- Online Model sends each model request to the selected provider.
- Tool availability depends on model/backend capability. The curated
Windows/Linux Qwen model supports native tool calls, the current curated
macOS MLX model does not advertise them, and capable online models may also
request web search, document search, or online image generation. - The separate voice path uses an online agent even when normal Chat is local.
- Provider credentials are sensitive. Do not paste them into chat, documentation, screenshots, or source control.
If a request fails, confirm that the matching credential was present before
launch, that the computer can reach the provider, and that the provider account
can use the selected model. A catalog entry can remain visible even when any of
those checks fail. Pitchblend cannot resolve provider quota, billing, regional,
or account-policy errors.