promptkit/docs/roadmap/bundled-openrouter.md

Bundled OpenRouter Backend And Profiles

Status And Purpose

Proposed; no implementation changes yet.

Ship a small OpenRouter configuration collection with PromptKit so consumers can begin using named profiles without installing a separate catalog. Include the backend definition those profiles require. Keep separately maintained operator collections fully supported through the existing configuration path.

The bundle should favor provider-maintained latest aliases and routers, reducing the need for PromptKit releases just to refresh individual model versions. This is a convenience catalog, not an exhaustive model inventory or a promise of stable upstream model behavior.

Current Baseline

PromptKit depends on ConfigKit v1.1.0 and records field normalization and derived defaults during resolution. It currently installs no backend or profile definitions. Consumers supply configuration inputs, which ConfigKit composes before PromptKit validates and materializes effective resources.

The existing configuration format supports root and namespaced resource lists, explicit IDs, sibling inheritance, and ordered underlays. A higher-layer same-ID resource replaces the lower record in full. Inputs in the same underlay group are strictly composed; file order is not precedence. The bundle can use these mechanisms without introducing another catalog loader or restoring the former dependency on provider-specific Go modules.

ConfigKit v1.1.0's normalization and inspection support will apply to bundled configuration just as it does to caller configuration. Layering itself predates that release; no further upstream enhancement is required for this feature.

Target Behavior

Ordinary Embedded Configuration

Embed a small YAML collection in PromptKit and load it through the existing ConfigKit adapter. Place it in its own lowest-priority underlay, before every caller underlay and the main input. Preserve the existing order and grouping of caller inputs.

Enable the bundle by default, with a public engine option to disable it entirely. This follows the agreed convenience-oriented direction while preserving the ability to supply an application's complete catalog. Choose the exact option name during implementation using existing facade conventions.

Bundling a profile makes it available for explicit selection by a prompt or request. It does not establish an implicit execution profile, change profile selection precedence, or send a network request during engine construction. Credentials remain runtime inputs under the existing credential rules.

Use ordinary configuration identities and expose the bundle through existing listing and inspection APIs. Source explanations should identify embedded configuration meaningfully. There is no need for a parallel built-in catalog API or special provenance model.

OpenRouter Backend

Include a backend with OpenRouter's API base endpoint, https://openrouter.ai/api/v1, and the conventional environment-variable name OPENROUTER_API_KEY. Store the name only; no credential value belongs in the bundle. Reuse the existing OpenAI-compatible client and credential resolution.

Keep the backend minimal. Leave concurrency limits, queue policy, and provider request parameters to existing defaults or application configuration. Smoke-test metadata is a separate decision below; bundling does not automatically run diagnostics or select an inference smoke-test profile.

Small Profile Set

The proposed initial set contains these three model selections:

Proposed profile ID	OpenRouter model value	Purpose
openrouter/gpt-sol-latest	~openai/gpt-sol-latest	Follow the current GPT Sol family model.
openrouter/auto	openrouter/auto	Delegate model selection to OpenRouter's auto router.
openrouter/free	openrouter/free	Select OpenRouter's free-model router.

These names distinguish PromptKit resource IDs from provider model values: the tilde and slash in a provider model slug remain part of that value. Additional latest-family aliases can be selected before implementation or added later when useful; completeness across vendors is not a launch requirement.

Each profile should primarily specify its backend and model. Avoid baking in temperature, reasoning, token-budget, timeout, or capability assumptions merely to make profiles appear more complete. Operator profiles remain the place for application-specific tuning and fixed model versions.

OpenRouter documents the GPT Sol latest alias, auto router, and free router. Verify the chosen slugs against current provider documentation when implementing. Stable selectors reduce maintenance but do not freeze model selection, price, availability, supported parameters, or output behavior. Describe the free router as the provider's offering rather than adding PromptKit guarantees about future pricing or availability.

Application Control And Compatibility

Applications may replace bundled records through higher configuration layers or disable the bundle and supply their own definitions. No namespace is reserved against operator use. A same-ID replacement is a complete replacement, so an application supplying only a new model value does not inherit the replaced profile's backend. A distinct sibling using extends remains the ordinary way to create a variant while retaining base fields.

Loading definitions by default changes inventory and inspection results, and previously unresolved references matching bundled IDs may become resolvable. Document these effects. Existing valid application records at higher layers continue to win through normal composition. Changing a bundled backend may also affect surviving bundled profiles that reference it; that is ordinary backend completion, not a special override exception.

The embedded data ships with the PromptKit release. No catalog download or automatic refresh mechanism is planned. Provider aliases and routers may change their targets independently of that release; the inspected configured slug does not identify or pin the concrete model selected upstream.

Implementation Work

1. Resolve the identity layout and diagnostic-metadata decisions below. Confirm the initial profile list and current provider endpoint/model values.
2. Add the embedded YAML backend and profiles, and integrate their dedicated underlay with engine construction. Add the disable option using the existing facade option pattern. Apply the ordinary load/normalize/validate lifecycle.
3. Verify default availability, disabling, caller precedence, whole-record replacement, and inherited variants through the real configuration loader. Include an application-provided OpenRouter collection and a replaced backend to exercise interaction with external catalogs.
4. Verify listing and inspection reflect effective definitions and meaningful source evidence. Exercise request preparation with a fake client or local server as appropriate; construction must not depend on provider reachability or a live API key. Reuse existing credential tests and add coverage only for new integration behavior.
5. Update the format reference, consumer guide, relevant GoDoc, and maintained examples when implementation lands. Explain how to disable, replace, or derive from bundled profiles, and distinguish routers/latest aliases from fixed models. Include the inventory/inspection change in release notes.

Keep current-state documentation unchanged until implementation lands. Retire this roadmap after the behavior and remaining decisions reach their durable owners. No new configuration syntax or collection specification version is needed solely to distribute this data.

Open Decisions

1. Backend Identity And Collection Layout

Recommendation: Put profiles in the openrouter collection with the local IDs shown above, and put the backend in that collection as local ID default. Profiles would reference openrouter/default. This keeps the bundle together, avoids an ambiguous doubled provider name, and supports normal collection inspection. Applications can still replace those exact IDs.

Alternative: Use a root backend ID openrouter with namespaced profiles. This is concise and may align better with existing operator catalogs. Its drawback is splitting the bundle between root and collection resources, and making a common root backend name the shared override target. Before choosing, compare maintained OpenRouter catalog conventions; the layout should minimize consumer confusion rather than establish a new naming restriction.

2. Smoke-Test Metadata In The Bundled Backend

Recommendation: Include only the endpoint and credential-variable name in the initial backend. Existing diagnostic behavior remains available, and the feature stays focused on configuration convenience without choosing a diagnostic inference model or expanding the maintained provider-specific configuration.

Alternative: Also provide the existing OpenRouter authentication diagnostic configuration, after verifying its endpoint and behavior, while leaving the inference smoke-test profile unselected. This makes the bundle more useful for explicit preflight calls with little data, but adds another upstream convention to maintain and test. Neither option implies automatic diagnostics during construction or execution.