Custom Models

A custom model connects SleekAI to an endpoint that accepts OpenAI-style chat completion requests: a provider SleekAI has no built-in support for, a model server you run, or your own gateway. OpenRouter is built in and needs no custom model.

Requests to a custom model go through WordPress, which adds the stored API key on the server, so the key never reaches the browser.

Creating a custom model

1. Store the endpoint’s API key. A provider key from API Keys works for that provider’s own API; for any other endpoint, store a separate key with wp sleek ai key set custom-<name>.
2. Under AI, open Settings > Custom models and select Create custom model. create=1 in the address, before the #, opens that dialog directly.
3. Enter a name of lowercase letters, digits and hyphens, such as my-model. SleekAI prefixes it with custom-, and custom-my-model becomes the model’s identifier.
4. Fill in the model’s fields and save.

The Custom models list shows every custom model with actions to edit and delete it; an open custom model also has Delete custom model beside Save. Deleting one cannot be undone.

Fields

Label is the name shown in model selectors; without one the identifier is shown.

Model is the model identifier the endpoint expects. It is not sent on its own: add it to the request body, as below.

Endpoint URL is the URL that receives chat completion requests, usually ending in /chat/completions:

https://api.example.com/v1/chat/completions

The endpoint has to be a public address. WordPress refuses one on the site’s own machine or private network unless the site allows that host with WordPress’s http_request_host_is_external filter, and it does not follow redirects. A provider key from API Keys is sent only to its provider’s API over HTTPS, such as api.openai.com for the OpenAI key, so an endpoint elsewhere needs a custom- key.

API key selects one of the keys you stored. If the provider expects the key in the URL, write {apiKey} where it belongs, and SleekAI replaces it on the server:

https://api.example.com/v1/chat/completions?key={apiKey}

Body is JSON merged into every request. Put the upstream model identifier and any provider-specific fields here:

{
  "model": "provider-model-name"
}

SleekAI adds the conversation’s messages and the stream flag when it sends the request. The body must be valid JSON, and it may use {apiKey} too.

Headers adds request headers. SleekAI always sends Content-Type: application/json and Authorization: Bearer {apiKey}; add a header only when the provider needs another one, for example X-API-Key: {apiKey}. A header with exactly the same name replaces SleekAI’s.

System instruction is placed before the conversation when you chat with this model in Chats. Context limit, Max tokens and Temperature are saved with the model but are not sent to the endpoint; put a limit or a temperature in the body to send it.

Using a custom model

Custom models appear in the model selectors of Chats and the chatbot editor, grouped apart from the provider models. Alt text needs a vision model from a built-in provider and does not offer custom models.

A custom model belongs to the user who created it: it is listed only for that user, and it finds only an API key that user stored. A chatbot that uses a custom model resolves it as the chatbot’s author, so visitors can use it. Code that runs without a signed-in user, such as a WP-CLI command without --user or a scheduled task, needs a provider model instead.