Configure the LLM provider

Read this if you want to change which model OMem uses, switch from a subscription to an API key, or point OMem at a local model. OMem doesn’t ship a model — you bring your own — and the curator (text → wiki page) and VLM (image → description) are configured independently.

The four providers

Claude subscription

anthropic-oauth (the default) — your Claude Pro / Max subscription. No API key. Set it up through the wizard:

omem setup --llm

Anthropic API

anthropic-api — billed per token. Store the key in an env var or the Keychain (never in the config file):

omem config set llm.curator.provider anthropic-api
omem config set llm.curator.model claude-sonnet-4-6
omem config set llm.curator.api_key_env ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

OpenAI-compatible

openai-compat — OpenAI, a hosted gateway, or a local server. The escape hatch:

omem config set llm.curator.provider openai-compat
omem config set llm.curator.base_url http://localhost:11434/v1
omem config set llm.curator.model your-model-name
omem config set llm.curator.api_key_env YOUR_KEY_ENV

ChatGPT subscription

openai-chatgpt-oauth — your ChatGPT Plus / Pro subscription. Like the Claude option, the wizard handles sign-in:

omem setup --llm

Curator and VLM are separate

You can use a strong text model for curation and a cheaper (or different-vendor) vision model for images — they’re independent under llm.curator.* and llm.vlm.*:

omem config set llm.vlm.provider openai-compat
omem config set llm.vlm.model qwen-vl-max

Keys never go in the file

Use api_key_env (an environment variable name) or api_key_keychain (a macOS Keychain account; service omem-llm). The keychain wins if both are set. The two OAuth providers need no key at all.

Running a local model

Set openai-compat and point base_url at your local server (Ollama, vLLM, LM Studio, …). It works today, with one honest caveat: quality depends on the model. OMem’s “good by default” promise is calibrated to capable cloud models; a small local model will curate, but with lower fidelity. Fully-offline, work-grade quality is a v1.5 goal.

Verify

omem doctor

The llm endpoint check confirms your provider is reachable and configured. See the full field list in the config schema.

What’s next

• Query and search — once pages are curated, find them.
• Configuration schema → llm — every provider field.