From the video

You've used two AI models. Now let Claude Code call the free ones.

OpenRouter puts hundreds of models behind one key, and some of them cost nothing. This guide gets that key onto your computer without it ever landing in a chat, then gives Claude Code a skill that sends a job to the model you pick and brings the answer back. Claude does most of the typing. You sign in, copy the key, and choose.

Eight pages: what an API key is, every prompt and command for Windows and Mac, and fixes for the errors beginners hit. The skill download is in step four.

Download the free PDF guideSkip to setup

The download is free. What we sell is at the bottom of the page, with prices.

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  1. 01Make a key with a credit limit and store it on your computer
  2. 02Unzip the skill into your Claude Code skills folder
  3. 03Ask for today's free models and send one a job
To call a free model
$0
For hundreds of models
1 key
Steps, the last one optional
7
The skill you download
1 file

What you will have when you finish

A key you control, a skill that uses it, and one answer from a free model to prove it works.

  • An OpenRouter key with a credit limit you chose, stored on your computer and never pasted into a chat
  • The openrouter skill in Claude Code, so Claude can send a job to any OpenRouter model and read the answer
  • A live list of today's free models, with the ones that can use tools marked
  • One answer from a free model you picked, and the request on your OpenRouter activity page
  • If you want it later, a paid video job, with the price shown before anything is sent

Seven steps

Claude Code runs only Claude models, and Anthropic does not support pointing it at other models through a gateway, so the skill sends one job out on the side while Claude stays in charge. Each step has a prompt to paste and says what only you can do.

Claude Code, installed and signed in. Windows 10 or later, which has curl built in. Claude in Chrome is optional and only speeds up step two.

  1. 01

    Know what you are making. An API key is a password for programs. It works like a hotel key card: it opens your OpenRouter account to whatever holds it, and you can cap what it spends or cancel it in seconds. Pressing Create Key makes a new card, shows it to you, and bills its use to your account.

    Optional: have Claude Code explain it

    Explain what an OpenRouter API key is in plain words, as if I have never used one. Tell me what happens when I press Create Key, what a credit limit on a key does, and what I should do if a key ever leaks. Do not open a browser or create anything yet.

    Your part: nothing yet. Read the answer until the idea of a key and a credit limit makes sense.

  2. 02

    Get the key. With Claude in Chrome set up, Claude Code opens the OpenRouter keys page and clicks through it for you. It stops at sign in and CAPTCHA, and it never reads the key.

    Paste into Claude Code

    Help me get an OpenRouter API key using your browser tools.

1. Open https://openrouter.ai/settings/keys in a new tab.
2. If I am not signed in, stop and tell me to sign in myself in that tab, including any CAPTCHA or code. Never type my email, password, or a code. Wait until I say I am signed in.
3. Click Create Key and name it claude-code.
4. Ask me what credit limit I want. Type only the amount I give you.
5. When the key appears, tell me to copy it myself. Do not read it, repeat it, screenshot it, or save it anywhere. Wait until I say I have copied it, then close the tab.

    Your part: sign in or make the account, solve any CAPTCHA, choose the credit limit, and copy the key the moment it appears. Copy it before you close the page, and if you lose it, delete it and make another. No Claude in Chrome? Open openrouter.ai/settings/keys and do the same clicks yourself.

  3. 03

    Store the key on your computer as an environment variable, a setting Windows hands to every program you start, Claude Code included. Open a new PowerShell window, separate from Claude Code, and run this yourself. It asks for the key, so the key never enters a chat or a file in your project.

    Run in PowerShell yourself, not in Claude Code

    [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('OPENROUTER_API_KEY', (Read-Host 'Paste your OpenRouter key'), 'User')

    Your part: paste the key when it asks and press Enter. Then close every terminal and start Claude Code again, because open windows keep the old settings. Inside VS Code, restart VS Code. Key leaked, or not sure? Delete it at openrouter.ai/settings/keys, make a new one, and run this again.

  4. 04

    Install the skill. Download it, then have Claude Code unzip it into your skills folder and confirm it can see the key without showing it.

    Download the OpenRouter skill

    Paste into Claude Code

    I downloaded openrouter-skill.zip to my Downloads folder. Unzip it into my personal Claude Code skills folder so the file ends up at C:\Users\<me>\.claude\skills\openrouter\SKILL.md. Create the skills folder if it does not exist.

Then check whether OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set in your environment. Answer only yes or no. Never print its value, never ask me to paste it here, and never write it to a file.

    Your part: approve the file commands when Claude Code asks. It picks up the skill without a restart, unless the skills folder is brand new; then restart it once. Type /openrouter to see it in the list. A no on the key means step three has not loaded yet: close the terminal and start again.

  5. 05

    Ask for the free models. A model is free when its id ends in :free. The list changes week to week, so the skill reads it live from OpenRouter every time.

    Paste into Claude Code

    /openrouter List today's free models. Show each id, its context length, and whether it supports tools. Tell me how many there are. Do not pick one for me.

    Your part: pick one. For jobs that need tools later, pick one marked as supporting them. Free models trail the top paid ones, and for plenty of everyday jobs that is enough.

  6. 06

    Send your first job. Claude writes the request, the free model answers, and Claude brings the answer back with its own read on it.

    Paste into Claude Code

    /openrouter Send this to <the model id I picked>: "In three sentences, explain what OpenRouter does for someone who has only used ChatGPT and Claude."

Show me its answer and the model id that answered. Then tell me in one line what you would change about the answer.

    Your part: swap in the model id you picked. Then open openrouter.ai/activity to see the request, the model, and what it cost. A 401 means the key did not load; restart the terminal. A 429 means you hit a free limit; wait and try again.

  7. 07

    Optional, and it costs money: a video. OpenRouter lists video models from Veo, Kling, Runway and Seedance among others, on the same key. A video job runs in the background; the skill submits it, checks back until it finishes, and downloads the file.

    Paste into Claude Code

    /openrouter List the video models and what each would cost for a 5 second clip at 720p. Do not submit anything. I will tell you which one, if any, and you will show me the price again before you send the job.

    Your part: decide whether to try it at all. No video model is free. You need credits in your OpenRouter account, and your key's credit limit still caps its total spend.

Every command that uses the key reads it from your computer. None of these prompts asks you to paste the key into Claude Code. If anything ever does, say no, and delete the key if you already did.

The specifics

What it costs
Free models cost $0. Paid models and every video model spend OpenRouter credits you buy, capped by your key's credit limit.
Free model limits
20 requests a minute. 50 a day until you have bought $10 of credits, then 1,000 a day. OpenRouter's docs, 18 September 2026.
Where your prompts go
To the provider serving the model you picked. Some may keep or train on prompts; OpenRouter's privacy settings let you exclude those, separately for free models.
How many models
OpenRouter says 500+. Its live catalog listed 445 on 18 September, from more than 80 providers, 22 of them free.
Tested on
Windows 11 against OpenRouter's live API: the free list, the request shape and the error replies. Not yet run: a keyed reply, and the Mac commands.

Questions people ask

  • Can Claude Code see my key?

    It uses the key without reading it. Each command names the variable, and your computer fills in the value. The skill tells Claude never to print it. If a key lands in a chat, delete it and make a new one.

  • Will this charge my card?

    Not for free models, which cost $0 even with no credits bought. Paid models and video spend credits you added yourself. The credit limit on your key is the most it can ever spend.

  • What if the free model gets it wrong?

    Claude reads every reply before you act on it and tells you what it would change. Free models trail the top paid ones. For hard work, ask Claude to do the job itself.

  • How do I turn it all off?

    Delete the key at openrouter.ai/settings/keys and every request with it stops. Delete the openrouter folder from your skills folder to remove the skill.

Stuck on a step? Ask me.

This guide is also a lesson in my community, with its own questions thread for the step that stopped you. Joining is free. Paid members also get my ask me anything call every Tuesday at noon ET, and the full recordings of each setup as I make them.

Open the community

That was the free part

The file is yours. Nothing above asked for an email.

If it earned a minute of your time, the paid part is one scroll down.

Download it againSee what we sell

The paid part

Here is what we sell.

Everything above this line is free and stays free. Below it is what we sell. The prices are the prices, and the two subscriptions carry 30 days money back on the first month.

The readiness audit, done for you

Send us access to your repo. We run the nine-lane review, change nothing, and hand back the report with a 30 minute call on the three gaps to close first.

Who it is for
You have a product you charge for, or want to, and you would rather read the verdict than run the agents.
Price
$349One week
What you get
  • The report at docs/commercial-readiness.md: a verdict, a scorecard, every gap with the file to open and how to verify it
  • Legal, security, billing, support, marketing, operations and the rest, checked at once
  • A 30 minute call on the three gaps to close first
  • Nothing in your repo changed. The workflow prompt is yours to run afterward
The facts
The review is the one in the video. On our own product it found 87 gaps. The overnight run that followed was 148 commits and one pull request.
Our guarantee
If the review finds no gap worth your time, you pay nothing.

The first run, with Jason

We run the review on your repo together, on a call, and you leave with the report in your repo and the three gaps to close first.

Who it is for
You have the kit and a repo, and you would rather do the first run with someone who has done it.
Price
$9960 minutes
What you get
  • The review running on your machine, in your Claude Code
  • The verdict read together, and the three gaps picked
  • The workflow prompt set up so you can run it that night
  • The call recording
The facts
New. You would be one of the first. The run itself is the one in the video: 190 agents, 148 commits, one pull request.
Our guarantee
If the review will not run on your setup during the call, there is no charge.

Mica Social Media Analyzer

Your Instagram, answered by the ChatGPT or Claude you already use. Connect the account once, then ask in plain words what worked and what to post next.

Who it is for
You post on Instagram and you are done guessing from the Insights tab.
Price
$29/ month
What you get
  • Which Reels held attention, ranked, without opening Insights
  • Readings at 1, 24 and 72 hours after every post, so you see what happened while it was moving
  • Next captions written in the style of your most saved posts
  • Read only. It never posts or changes anything
The facts
7 days free with a card on file. About a dollar a day after that.
Our guarantee
30 days money back on the first month. Email guru@graniteai.co and we refund it.
Start 7 days free

Mica Social

An AI that writes, designs, checks and publishes a post to your Facebook and Instagram every day. You send a photo when you have one. It does the rest.

Who it is for
You know the feed should be alive every day and it is not.
Price
$49/ month
What you get
  • A finished post every day, with a photo made for it. Nothing to shoot
  • Timed to your local weather, season and county numbers
  • Five checks before anything publishes. No approvals, no calendar, no logins
  • Every photo you send becomes its own extra post
The facts
An agency running a daily feed bills $500 to $1,500 a month. 3 days free with a card on file.
Our guarantee
30 days money back on the first month. Email guru@graniteai.co and we refund it.
See Mica Social

GraniteAI builds and runs AI systems for small and midsized businesses, out of Manchester, New Hampshire.