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Getting started

1. Install

npm install freetheai
# or
pnpm add freetheai
# or
bun add freetheai

Node.js 18 or newer. The package is ESM with CommonJS and type declarations included.

2. Get a key

  1. Sign up at freetheai.org.
  2. Open API keys and create a key. It starts with ftai_ and is shown once, so copy all of it.
  3. Free models need the daily check-in, one quick captcha a day.

The free tier is 50 requests a day, reset at 00:00 UTC. The plan page shows how to raise it.

Put the key in the environment:

export FREETHEAI_API_KEY="ftai_..."

$env:FREETHEAI_API_KEY = "ftai_..."

Keep keys out of browsers

A key in browser code is visible to everyone who opens the page. Call the API from your server, or pass the key in from your own backend.

3. Pick a model

Model IDs look like fta/<provider>/<model>. Browse them on freetheai.org/models or list them in code:

import { FreeTheAI } from "freetheai";

const client = new FreeTheAI();
for (const model of await client.models.list()) {
  console.log(model.id);
}

4. Send a request

const reply = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "fta/zai/glm-5.3",
  messages: [
    { role: "system", content: "You are a concise assistant." },
    { role: "user", content: "What is an API gateway?" },
  ],
});
console.log(reply.choices[0]?.message.content);
console.log(reply.usage);

Replies use the OpenAI Chat Completions shape, with snake_case fields such as finish_reason and tool_calls.

Already using the OpenAI SDK?

FreeTheAI speaks the OpenAI wire format, so the openai package works with a different base URL:

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({ baseURL: "https://api.freetheai.org/v1", apiKey: "ftai_..." });

That gives you the plain client without the handling described on Reliability.