Orcarouter

What is Orcarouter?

Orcarouter is the official MCP server for the OrcaRouter LLM gateway. It lets you browse OrcaRouter's model catalog and run chat completions from any Model Context Protocol (MCP) client such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or Zed.

How to use Orcarouter?

Install and add the server to your MCP client. For Claude Code, run claude mcp add orcarouter -s user -e ORCAROUTER_API_KEY=sk-orca-your-key -- npx -y @orcarouter/mcp. For other clients, copy the example config file for your client (e.g., claude-desktop.json) into the client's config location, replace the API key placeholder, and restart the client. Node.js 18 or later is required.

Key features of Orcarouter

• Browse providers and models without an API key
• Run chat completions through any served model
• Auto-route requests via strategies (cost, quality, balanced, LinUCB, gated‑adaptive)
• Configure fallback chains (primary + up to 4 fallbacks)
• Filter models server‑side by provider, capability, or context window
• Inspect detailed model cards (pricing, context, latency, endpoints)

Use cases of Orcarouter

• List all providers available on OrcaRouter
• Show Anthropic models with their pricing
• Get detailed information about a specific model (e.g., minimax/minimax-m2.7)
• Chat with the auto-router and explain a topic like quantum computing

FAQ from Orcarouter

Do I need an API key to use Orcarouter?

No. Catalog‑browsing tools (orcarouter_models_list, orcarouter_model_card, orcarouter_providers_list) work without an API key. An API key is only required for the orcarouter_chat tool.

What runtime does Orcarouter require?

Node.js 18 or later. The server is an ESM bundle distributed via npm (@orcarouter/mcp) and run with npx -y @orcarouter/mcp.

How do I configure the API base URL or request timeout?

Set the ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL environment variable (defaults to https://api.orcarouter.ai) and ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT in seconds (defaults to 300).

Which MCP clients are supported?

Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, and any client that speaks the Model Context Protocol. Example configuration files are provided for each.

What tools does Orcarouter expose?

orcarouter_chat (chat completion with optional fallback), orcarouter_models_list (browse catalog), orcarouter_model_card (detailed model info), and orcarouter_providers_list (list providers and model counts).