OrcaRouter¶

Configure HolmesGPT to use OrcaRouter for access to multiple AI models through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

OrcaRouter is an OpenAI-compatible AI gateway for models and agents. Like OpenRouter, it exposes a provider/model namespace across many models — but it also combines adaptive routing, automatic failover, zero-markup inference, observability, guardrails, and agent-tool governance behind the same endpoint. It also runs gateway-level, zero-trust security for AI agents on the same endpoint — screening every prompt/response and governing every tool call on a default-deny basis, with no application code changes.

Methods¶

Method 1: Native `orcarouter/` Model Prefix (Recommended)¶

HolmesGPT has built-in support for OrcaRouter. Only ORCAROUTER_API_KEY is required. Models use the orcarouter/ prefix and are automatically routed to https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1 through LiteLLM's OpenAI-compatible path.

Holmes CLIHolmes Helm ChartRobusta Helm Chart

export ORCAROUTER_API_KEY="sk-orca-..."  # your OrcaRouter key
holmes ask "hello" --model="orcarouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5" --no-interactive

Create Kubernetes Secret:

kubectl create secret generic holmes-secrets \
  --from-literal=orcarouter-api-key="sk-orca-..." \
  -n <namespace>

Configure Helm Values:

# values.yaml
additionalEnvVars:
  - name: ORCAROUTER_API_KEY
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: holmes-secrets
        key: orcarouter-api-key

# Configure at least one model using modelList
modelList:
  claude-sonnet-4:
    api_key: "{{ env.ORCAROUTER_API_KEY }}"
    model: orcarouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5-20250929
    temperature: 1
    thinking:
      budget_tokens: 10000
      type: enabled

  claude-opus-4:
    api_key: "{{ env.ORCAROUTER_API_KEY }}"
    model: orcarouter/anthropic/claude-opus-4.5-20251101
    temperature: 1

# Optional: Set default model (use modelList key name)
config:
  model: "claude-sonnet-4"  # This refers to the key name in modelList above

Create Kubernetes Secret:

kubectl create secret generic robusta-holmes-secret \
  --from-literal=orcarouter-api-key="sk-orca-..." \
  -n <namespace>

Configure Helm Values:

# values.yaml
holmes:
  additionalEnvVars:
    - name: ORCAROUTER_API_KEY
      valueFrom:
        secretKeyRef:
          name: robusta-holmes-secret
          key: orcarouter-api-key

  # Configure at least one model using modelList
  modelList:
    claude-sonnet-4:
      api_key: "{{ env.ORCAROUTER_API_KEY }}"
      model: orcarouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5-20250929
      temperature: 1
      thinking:
        budget_tokens: 10000
        type: enabled

    claude-opus-4:
      api_key: "{{ env.ORCAROUTER_API_KEY }}"
      model: orcarouter/anthropic/claude-opus-4.5-20251101
      temperature: 1

  # Optional: Set default model (use modelList key name)
  config:
    model: "claude-sonnet-4"  # This refers to the key name in modelList above

Optional environment variables:

ORCAROUTER_API_BASE - Custom API base URL (defaults to https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1)

Method 2: OpenAI-Compatible Endpoint¶

Alternatively, you can use OrcaRouter's OpenAI-compatible endpoint by setting the base URL and using OPENAI_API_KEY. Note the openai/ prefix instead of orcarouter/.

Token Limits

With this method, HolmesGPT cannot automatically determine token limits for the model. You may need to set OVERRIDE_MAX_CONTENT_SIZE and OVERRIDE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKEN environment variables manually.

Holmes CLIHolmes Helm ChartRobusta Helm Chart

export OPENAI_API_BASE="https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-orca-..."  # your OrcaRouter key
holmes ask "hello" --model="openai/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5" --no-interactive

Create Kubernetes Secret:

kubectl create secret generic holmes-secrets \
  --from-literal=openai-api-key="sk-orca-..." \
  -n <namespace>

Configure Helm Values:

# values.yaml
additionalEnvVars:
  - name: OPENAI_API_KEY
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: holmes-secrets
        key: openai-api-key
  - name: OPENAI_API_BASE
    value: "https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1"

# Configure at least one model using modelList
modelList:
  claude-sonnet-4:
    api_key: "{{ env.OPENAI_API_KEY }}"
    api_base: "https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1"
    model: openai/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5-20250929
    temperature: 1
    thinking:
      budget_tokens: 10000
      type: enabled

  claude-opus-4:
    api_key: "{{ env.OPENAI_API_KEY }}"
    api_base: "https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1"
    model: openai/anthropic/claude-opus-4.5-20251101
    temperature: 1

# Optional: Set default model (use modelList key name)
config:
  model: "claude-sonnet-4"  # This refers to the key name in modelList above

Create Kubernetes Secret:

kubectl create secret generic robusta-holmes-secret \
  --from-literal=openai-api-key="sk-orca-..." \
  -n <namespace>

Configure Helm Values:

# values.yaml
holmes:
  additionalEnvVars:
    - name: OPENAI_API_KEY
      valueFrom:
        secretKeyRef:
          name: robusta-holmes-secret
          key: openai-api-key
    - name: OPENAI_API_BASE
      value: "https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1"

  # Configure at least one model using modelList
  modelList:
    claude-sonnet-4:
      api_key: "{{ env.OPENAI_API_KEY }}"
      api_base: "https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1"
      model: openai/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5-20250929
      temperature: 1
      thinking:
        budget_tokens: 10000
        type: enabled

    claude-opus-4:
      api_key: "{{ env.OPENAI_API_KEY }}"
      api_base: "https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1"
      model: openai/anthropic/claude-opus-4.5-20251101
      temperature: 1

  # Optional: Set default model (use modelList key name)
  config:
    model: "claude-sonnet-4"  # This refers to the key name in modelList above

Available Models¶

You can use any model available on OrcaRouter. The model prefix depends on which method you use:

Method 1 (Native): Use orcarouter/ prefix

orcarouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
orcarouter/anthropic/claude-opus-4.5
orcarouter/openai/gpt-4o
orcarouter/google/gemini-2.5-pro

Method 2 (OpenAI-Compatible): Use openai/ prefix

openai/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
openai/anthropic/claude-opus-4.5
openai/openai/gpt-4o
openai/google/gemini-2.5-pro

See the OrcaRouter models page for a complete list of available models.

OrcaRouter¶

Methods¶

Method 1: Native orcarouter/ Model Prefix (Recommended)¶

Method 2: OpenAI-Compatible Endpoint¶

Available Models¶

Method 1: Native `orcarouter/` Model Prefix (Recommended)¶