> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/portkey-AI/gateway/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Providers Overview

> Learn how Portkey AI Gateway routes to 250+ LLMs from 78+ providers

## What are Providers?

Providers in Portkey AI Gateway are integrations with AI model providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock, and more. The gateway acts as a unified interface, allowing you to:

* **Route to 250+ models** from a single API
* **Switch providers** without changing your code
* **Implement fallbacks** across different providers
* **Load balance** between multiple providers
* **Compare models** from different providers side-by-side

## How Routing Works

Portkey uses a unified OpenAI-compatible API format. When you make a request:

1. **Specify the provider** using the `provider` header or config
2. **Gateway transforms** your request to the provider's format
3. **Provider responds** and gateway transforms it back to OpenAI format
4. **You receive** a consistent response structure

### Basic Routing Example

```python theme={null}
from portkey_ai import Portkey

# Route to OpenAI
client = Portkey(
    provider="openai",
    Authorization="sk-***"
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-4o",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)
```

```javascript theme={null}
import Portkey from 'portkey-ai';

// Route to Anthropic
const client = new Portkey({
    provider: "anthropic",
    Authorization: "sk-ant-***"
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
    model: "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    messages: [{role: "user", content: "Hello!"}]
});
```

## Advanced Routing with Configs

Use configs for sophisticated routing strategies:

### Fallback Routing

Automatically fallback to another provider if the primary fails:

```python theme={null}
config = {
    "strategy": {"mode": "fallback"},
    "targets": [
        {"provider": "openai", "api_key": "sk-***"},
        {"provider": "anthropic", "api_key": "sk-ant-***"}
    ]
}

client = client.with_options(config=config)
```

### Load Balancing

Distribute requests across multiple providers:

```python theme={null}
config = {
    "strategy": {"mode": "loadbalance"},
    "targets": [
        {"provider": "openai", "weight": 0.7},
        {"provider": "azure-openai", "weight": 0.3}
    ]
}
```

### Conditional Routing

Route based on request properties:

```python theme={null}
config = {
    "strategy": {"mode": "conditional"},
    "conditions": [
        {
            "query": {"metadata.user_tier": "premium"},
            "then": "openai_gpt4"
        },
        {
            "query": {"metadata.user_tier": "free"},
            "then": "groq_llama"
        }
    ]
}
```

## Provider Authentication

Each provider requires authentication. You can provide credentials in multiple ways:

### 1. Direct Header

```python theme={null}
client = Portkey(
    provider="openai",
    Authorization="sk-***"  # Provider API key
)
```

### 2. Provider-Specific Headers

```python theme={null}
client = Portkey(
    provider="anthropic",
    api_key="sk-ant-***"  # Anthropic-specific
)
```

### 3. Config-Based

```python theme={null}
config = {
    "targets": [{
        "provider": "openai",
        "api_key": "sk-***"
    }]
}
```

### 4. Virtual Keys (Enterprise)

Store keys securely in Portkey and reference them:

```python theme={null}
client = Portkey(
    provider="openai",
    virtual_key="portkey_virtual_***"
)
```

## Supported Features by Provider

Different providers support different features:

| Feature          | OpenAI | Anthropic | Azure | Bedrock | Gemini | Cohere |
| ---------------- | ------ | --------- | ----- | ------- | ------ | ------ |
| Chat Completions | ✅      | ✅         | ✅     | ✅       | ✅      | ✅      |
| Streaming        | ✅      | ✅         | ✅     | ✅       | ✅      | ✅      |
| Embeddings       | ✅      | ❌         | ✅     | ✅       | ✅      | ✅      |
| Image Generation | ✅      | ❌         | ✅     | ✅       | ✅      | ❌      |
| Function Calling | ✅      | ✅         | ✅     | ✅       | ✅      | ✅      |
| Vision           | ✅      | ✅         | ✅     | ✅       | ✅      | ❌      |
| Audio            | ✅      | ❌         | ✅     | ❌       | ❌      | ❌      |

## Provider-Specific Headers

Some providers support additional headers:

### OpenAI

* `OpenAI-Organization`: Organization ID
* `OpenAI-Project`: Project ID
* `OpenAI-Beta`: Beta features

### Anthropic

* `anthropic-version`: API version (default: 2023-06-01)
* `anthropic-beta`: Beta features

### Azure OpenAI

* `api-key`: Azure API key
* `api-version`: API version (required)

### AWS Bedrock

* AWS credentials via environment variables or IAM roles
* `awsRegion`: AWS region
* `awsAccessKeyId`, `awsSecretAccessKey`, `awsSessionToken`

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Supported Providers" icon="list" href="/providers/supported-providers">
    View the complete list of 78+ supported providers
  </Card>

  <Card title="OpenAI Integration" icon="openai" href="/providers/openai">
    Learn about OpenAI integration
  </Card>

  <Card title="Fallback Routing" icon="arrows-rotate" href="/essentials/fallbacks">
    Implement automatic fallbacks
  </Card>

  <Card title="Load Balancing" icon="scale-balanced" href="/essentials/load-balancing">
    Distribute requests across providers
  </Card>
</CardGroup>