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Pick a model (or set up BYOK)

How to choose between auto, the Anthropic ladder, a BYOK provider, or a free local model.

AI

Preview — early access.

Overview

The IDE's agent panel can route to a lot of models. Most of the time auto is the right call — this guide is for the times you want to deliberately pick something else, and how to get a BYOK or local model actually working.

How it works

Three questions decide it: Do you want Creytix to decide? Leave it on auto — it already picks Haiku for trivial fixes, Sonnet for standard work, and Fable for hard multi-file work. Do you want a specific paid provider you already have a key for? Add that provider's key to the BYOK vault and pick its model by name. Do you want it free and local? Pick one of the local Creytix models — no key needed at all. They run on the Creytix Model Server, which ships its own engine and loads the weights already on your machine.

Steps

  1. •

    Default to auto

    For most day-to-day edits, leave the model picker on auto and let the router match the model to the task.

  2. •

    Want a specific cloud model instead?

    Check the Models tab for the exact id (e.g. grok-4, kimi-k2, gemini-flash, gpt-4o-mini), then add that provider's key under BYOK key vault if it isn't already configured.

  3. •

    Want it free, with nothing to configure?

    Make sure the Creytix Model Server is running (npm run creytix:models:serve, or install it as a login service with npm run creytix:models:install-launchd), then pick a local model (e.g. qwen2.5-coder-7b, llama3.1-8b, gemma2-9b) — it needs no vault key.

  4. •

    Confirm the key status

    Before relying on a BYOK model, check its dot in the Models tab: ● configured, ○ needs a key.

  5. •

    Match the model to the task

    Cheap/local and parallel-only models are best for cross-checks and bulk drafts; reserve the primary-eligible Anthropic tiers (Sonnet, Opus, Fable) for the change you're actually going to apply.

Capabilities

  • Auto ladder — Haiku (trivial), Sonnet (standard), Fable (hard) picked automatically from your instruction.
  • BYOK cloud lane — Grok 4, Kimi K2, Gemini Flash/Flash-Lite, Qwen via DashScope, GPT-4o mini, Codestral, Command R, DeepSeek Chat, plus Groq/Cerebras/Together/Fireworks/OpenRouter hosted models.
  • Free local lane — Qwen2.5-Coder, Llama 3.1/3.3, Gemma2, DeepSeek-Coder-V2, Phi-4, Mistral and more, served locally by the Creytix Model Server, keyless.
  • Trust labeling — the Models tab marks each model primary-eligible, parallel-only, or candidate, so you know which are meant for the main edit versus a cross-check.

Limits & honest scope

  • A BYOK model with no key configured won't respond — it fails informatively (shown as "needs a key") rather than silently.
  • Local models need the Creytix Model Server running; it provisions its own engine and loads the weights already on disk, so there's nothing separate to install or pull.
  • Not every model is trusted for the primary edit — several are parallel-only or candidate-trust, meant for fan-out drafts and cross-checks, not the change you actually ship.

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