# Will there be a ChatOpenRouter (or some equivalent) implementation?

**URL:** <https://forum.langchain.com/t/will-there-be-a-chatopenrouter-or-some-equivalent-implementation/394>\
**Category:** LangGraph\
**Tags:** python-help\
**Created:** [July 11, 2025, 10:37am UTC](https://forum.langchain.com/t/will-there-be-a-chatopenrouter-or-some-equivalent-implementation/394 "2025-07-11T10:37:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pranetrameshcn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@pranetrameshcn](https://forum.langchain.com/u/pranetrameshcn)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 10:37am UTC](https://forum.langchain.com/t/will-there-be-a-chatopenrouter-or-some-equivalent-implementation/394/1 "2025-07-11T10:37:00Z")

</div>

Hello,

I was wondering if there was an implementation for chat models using the OpenRouter platform/API. I have viewed this [link](https://github.com/langchain-ai/langchain/discussions/27964) which works fine for building and testing purposes but I am not finding it helpful while deploying the application. If anyone would happen to know if there is some official implementation (either Langchain or community) in the works, I would really appreciate knowing about any related developments.

I am aware that I can likely build a custom class to interact with this but ideally I would like it to be similar to the other chat models and implement exception handling, message management for the LLM, etc., natively. I am also unsure of how to set up a feature where we can easily switch between models as we can with the API (and automatically alter the request/message formats, tool calling, and so on).

Thank you.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![eyurtsev](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex007/user_avatar/forum.langchain.com/eyurtsev/32/125_2.png) [@eyurtsev](https://forum.langchain.com/u/eyurtsev)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://forum.langchain.com/t/will-there-be-a-chatopenrouter-or-some-equivalent-implementation/394/2 "2025-07-14T18:30:05Z")

</div>

My understanding is that you should be able to use ChatOpenAI directly with OpenRouter as they implement OpenAI’s completions endpoint? All that’s required is updating the BaseURL.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vinodnextcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@vinodnextcoder](https://forum.langchain.com/u/vinodnextcoder)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://forum.langchain.com/t/will-there-be-a-chatopenrouter-or-some-equivalent-implementation/394/3 "2025-11-27T17:21:28Z")

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This sample code already works as the practical equivalent of a `ChatOpenRouter` implementation using OpenRouter’s OpenAI-compatible API.

you need to add OPENROUTER\_API\_KEY to work this code

```python
import os
from langchain.agents import create_agent
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

# Load environment variables
load_dotenv()

# Get API key
OPENROUTER_KEY = os.getenv("OPENROUTER_API_KEY")
if not OPENROUTER_KEY:
    raise ValueError("Missing OPENROUTER_API_KEY in environment")

# Set OpenAI-compatible environment variables for OpenRouter
os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = OPENROUTER_KEY
os.environ["OPENAI_BASE_URL"] = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"

# Create LLM
llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="mistralai/mistral-7b-instruct:free",
    temperature=0.7,
    api_key=OPENROUTER_KEY,
)

# Create agent
agent = create_agent(
    llm,
    tools=[],
    system_prompt="You are a helpful assistant. Answer in simple words."
)

# User input
user_question = "What is artificial intelligence in simple terms?"

# Invoke agent
response = agent.invoke({
    "messages": [
        {"role": "user", "content": user_question}
    ]
})

# Extract and print AI response safely
if "messages" in response and len(response["messages"]) > 0:
    ai_message = response["messages"][-1]
    print(ai_message.content)
else:
    print("No response received from the agent.")

```