Installation¶

From PyPI¶

pip install basemode

From source¶

git clone https://github.com/FergusFettes/basemode
cd basemode
uv install

Requirements¶

Python 3.11+

API keys¶

basemode uses LiteLLM under the hood, so any LiteLLM-compatible key works. Set them as environment variables, in a .env file, or store them with the basemode keys CLI:

# Store permanently
basemode keys set openai       # prompts for key
basemode keys set anthropic
basemode keys set openrouter

# Or set env vars directly
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

Keys stored via basemode keys set are saved to ~/.config/basemode/auth.json and loaded automatically on every run.

Full list of supported key names:

Provider	Env var
OpenAI	`OPENAI_API_KEY`
Anthropic	`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`
Google	`GEMINI_API_KEY`
Groq	`GROQ_API_KEY`
Together	`TOGETHER_API_KEY`
OpenRouter	`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`
Moonshot	`MOONSHOT_API_KEY`
xAI	`XAI_API_KEY`
ZAI	`ZAI_API_KEY`

Verify install¶

basemode --help
basemode models --available   # lists models you have keys for