A workspace that uses its own OpenRouter key can choose its AI model from that provider's list of models. The model picker appears in the chat header only in a workspace on its own key. In a workspace on the Bluedeer plan there is no picker, and Bluedeer chooses the model. To connect the key, read Can I use my own AI provider key?
Pick a model in a chat
- Open a chat in the workspace, or start a new one.
- Select the model's name in the chat header. The list opens under the heading Your provider's models.
- To find a model, type in the Search models... box. To show only free models, tick Free only.
- Select a model. Your next message uses it.
Each model shows the company that makes it, such as OpenAI. The model the workspace uses when nobody has picked one is marked Default.
Your pick is kept in this browser only, and only for you and this workspace. Other people's chats are not affected. On another computer or phone, or after you clear your browser's data, your chats use the workspace's default until you pick again. If the provider stops listing the model you picked, your chats go back to the default.
The phone app has a picker in the chat header that shows the same list. On the phone, the free filter is labelled Free models only.
Refresh the list
Select the refresh button (the circular arrow at the top of the list) to read the list again from your provider. Bluedeer also reads the list again by itself once it is more than six hours old, the next time the list is loaded, such as when you open the picker. The list you already have stays on screen while that happens. You can refresh at most once every 30 seconds, so a press sooner than that shows the list you already have.
Notices in the list
The list can show one of these notices under its heading. Each one explains why the list could not be read again.
- Your provider refused this workspace's key. An admin needs to reconnect it in Manage workspace. The key no longer works. An owner or admin needs to replace it. See Can I use my own AI provider key?
- Your provider account is out of credit. The OpenRouter account behind the key has no credit left. Add credit to that account at OpenRouter.
- Your provider is busy. Try refreshing in a moment. OpenRouter is limiting requests for now. Wait a little, then select refresh.
- Couldn't refresh the list just now. Showing the last one. The list was updated before, so the last list you had is still shown. Try refreshing later.
- Couldn't reach your provider. Try refreshing in a moment. There is no list yet, and Bluedeer could not reach OpenRouter. Try refreshing later.
If the list is empty, the picker says Your provider has no models to show.
A notice only explains the list. What happens to your messages when the key stops working depends on the choice the owner or admin made in the workspace's AI provider key settings. See Can I use my own AI provider key?
Set the workspace's default model
Only the owner and admins can set the default model. It is the model used by any chat where the person sending has not picked one. Each person can still pick their own.
- Open the AI provider key settings. In a personal workspace, open the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar, select Manage workspace, then select AI provider key. In a shared workspace, open the Workspace page, select Settings, then select AI provider key.
- Find Default model and choose a model from the list. To go back to the automatic choice, choose Automatic. The field appears once a key is connected. On the phone, the same section has a Use the automatic choice button instead.
The change applies from the next message and shows Saved. When the choice is Automatic, Bluedeer picks a model from the provider's list and names it in brackets, such as Automatic (Model name). If the provider stops listing the model you chose as the default, the workspace goes back to Automatic. In a shared workspace, changes to the default model are recorded in its activity. See Workspace activity.
Who sees what
- Everyone in a workspace on its own key sees the picker and can choose their own model.
- Only the owner and admins see Default model.
- People in workspaces on the Bluedeer plan do not see a picker.