title: Migration Guide description: Switch from OpenAI SDK, GitHub Copilot, or any OpenAI-compatible API to AIOrouter — one line change.

Migration Guide

Switching to AIOrouter from any OpenAI-compatible API is a one-line change. No new SDKs, no refactoring, no breaking changes.

From OpenAI

# Before (OpenAI)
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(api_key="sk-...")

# After (AIOrouter)
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1",
    api_key="ak-..."
)

// Before (OpenAI)
import OpenAI from 'openai';
const client = new OpenAI({ apiKey: 'sk-...' });

// After (AIOrouter)
import OpenAI from 'openai';
const client = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: 'https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1',
  apiKey: 'ak-...'
});

From GitHub Copilot (via API)

If you're using Copilot's API features, switching to AIOrouter gives you:

• Full API access (not IDE-locked)
• BETA model catalog instead of one fixed model
• Pay-as-you-go Top-Up credits instead of usage-based (no monthly commitment)
• Canada-resident infrastructure for data residency

# Instead of Copilot's limited API
# Use the full OpenAI-compatible API:
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1",
    api_key="ak-..."
)

From OpenRouter

# Before (OpenRouter)
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
    api_key="sk-or-..."
)

# After (AIOrouter)
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1",
    api_key="ak-..."
)

Key differences:

• Billing: Pay-as-you-go (Top-Up credits, per-token usage)
• Data residency: Canada (Montreal) vs US
• Privacy protection: Bidirectional PII pseudonymization, technical secret redaction, AI Firewall vs none

From Any OpenAI-Compatible API

If your current provider uses the OpenAI API format:

1. Change the base_url to https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1
2. Change the api_key to your AIOrouter key
3. Update the model name to one of our models

That's it. All existing code, prompts, and parameters continue to work.

Environment Variables

Recommended approach for CI/CD and production:

# .env
OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1
OPENAI_API_KEY=ak-your_key_here

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url=os.getenv("OPENAI_BASE_URL", "https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1"),
    api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
)

Framework Compatibility

LangChain

from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="deepseek-v4-pro",
    openai_api_key="ak-...",
    openai_api_base="https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1"
)

LlamaIndex

from llama_index.llms.openai import OpenAI

llm = OpenAI(
    model="deepseek-v4-pro",
    api_key="ak-...",
    api_base="https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1"
)

BYOK Tools (Bring Your Own Key)

Your AIOrouter API key is OpenAI-compatible (and Anthropic /v1/messages-compatible for Claude-family clients), so it works with most BYOK tools — not just one:

• Codex / ChatGPT — wire_api = "responses" (setup guide)
• Claude Desktop — Gateway + MCP Server (setup guide)
• VS Code extensions — any OpenAI-compatible extension (base URL https://api.aiorouter.ca/v1)
• KILO CODE — BYOK coding agent (OpenAI-compatible API)
• CLINE — VS Code agent with a custom endpoint
• GitHub Copilot — via API (see the migration sections above)
• AIOrouter CODE-MAS — native VS Code extension (coming soon)

Because the key is tool-agnostic, your paid access keeps working even if a third-party tool changes its BYOK policy — connect the same key to any other tool above.

Need Help?

• API Reference — all endpoints
• Model Catalog — choose the right model
• support@aiorouter.ca — email support