***

title: Model Fallbacks
subtitle: Automatic failover between models
headline: Model Fallbacks | Reliable AI with Automatic Failover
canonical-url: '[https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/routing/model-fallbacks](https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/routing/model-fallbacks)'
'og:site\_name': OpenRouter Documentation
'og:title': Model Fallbacks - Automatic Failover Between Models
'og:description': >-
Configure automatic failover between AI models when providers are down,
rate-limited, or refuse requests.
'og:image':
type: url
value: >-
[https://openrouter.ai/dynamic-og?title=Model%20Fallbacks\&description=Automatic%20failover%20between%20AI%20models](https://openrouter.ai/dynamic-og?title=Model%20Fallbacks\&description=Automatic%20failover%20between%20AI%20models)
'og:image:width': 1200
'og:image:height': 630
'twitter:card': summary\_large\_image
'twitter:site': '@OpenRouter'
noindex: false
nofollow: false
---------------

The `models` parameter lets you automatically try other models if the primary model's providers are down, rate-limited, or refuse to reply due to content moderation.

## How It Works

Provide an array of model IDs in priority order. If the first model returns an error, OpenRouter will automatically try the next model in the list.

<CodeGroup>
  ```typescript title="TypeScript SDK"
  import { OpenRouter } from '@openrouter/sdk';

  const openRouter = new OpenRouter({
    apiKey: '<OPENROUTER_API_KEY>',
  });

  const completion = await openRouter.chat.send({
    models: ['anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet', 'gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b'],
    messages: [
      {
        role: 'user',
        content: 'What is the meaning of life?',
      },
    ],
  });

  console.log(completion.choices[0].message.content);
  ```

  ```typescript title="TypeScript (fetch)"
  const response = await fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer <OPENROUTER_API_KEY>',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      models: ['anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet', 'gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b'],
      messages: [
        {
          role: 'user',
          content: 'What is the meaning of life?',
        },
      ],
    }),
  });

  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data.choices[0].message.content);
  ```

  ```python title="Python"
  import requests
  import json

  response = requests.post(
    url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions",
    headers={
      "Authorization": "Bearer <OPENROUTER_API_KEY>",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    data=json.dumps({
      "models": ["anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet", "gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b"],
      "messages": [
        {
          "role": "user",
          "content": "What is the meaning of life?"
        }
      ]
    })
  )

  data = response.json()
  print(data['choices'][0]['message']['content'])
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Fallback Behavior

If the model you selected returns an error, OpenRouter will try to use the fallback model instead. If the fallback model is down or returns an error, OpenRouter will return that error.

By default, any error can trigger the use of a fallback model, including:

* Context length validation errors
* Moderation flags for filtered models
* Rate-limiting
* Downtime

## Pricing

Requests are priced using the model that was ultimately used, which will be returned in the `model` attribute of the response body.

## Using with OpenAI SDK

To use the `models` array with the OpenAI SDK, include it in the `extra_body` parameter. In the example below, gpt-4o will be tried first, and the `models` array will be tried in order as fallbacks.

<Template
  data={{
  API_KEY_REF,
}}
>
  <CodeGroup>
    ```python
    from openai import OpenAI

    openai_client = OpenAI(
      base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
      api_key={{API_KEY_REF}},
    )

    completion = openai_client.chat.completions.create(
        model="openai/gpt-4o",
        extra_body={
            "models": ["anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet", "gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b"],
        },
        messages=[
            {
                "role": "user",
                "content": "What is the meaning of life?"
            }
        ]
    )

    print(completion.choices[0].message.content)
    ```

    ```typescript
    import OpenAI from 'openai';

    const openrouterClient = new OpenAI({
      baseURL: 'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1',
      apiKey: '{{API_KEY_REF}}',
    });

    async function main() {
      // @ts-expect-error
      const completion = await openrouterClient.chat.completions.create({
        model: 'openai/gpt-4o',
        models: ['anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet', 'gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b'],
        messages: [
          {
            role: 'user',
            content: 'What is the meaning of life?',
          },
        ],
      });
      console.log(completion.choices[0].message);
    }

    main();
    ```
  </CodeGroup>
</Template>
