How do I install OrcaRouter?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does OrcaRouter need an API key?

The publisher lists these environment variables: ORCAROUTER_API_KEY, ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL, ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT.

What transport does OrcaRouter use?

OrcaRouter runs locally over stdio.

When was OrcaRouter last checked?

Last checked 2026-10-16. Browse 160+ LLM models and live pricing — no API key needed for catalog. Add key to route chat.

OrcaRouter MCP server

Add this server

The publisher's own command. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Local command

npx -y @orcarouter/[email protected]

Credentials from the publisher

ORCAROUTER_API_KEY — OrcaRouter API key. Required only for orcarouter_chat. Catalog tools (orcarouter_models_list, orcarouter_model_card, orcarouter_providers_list) work without it.
ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL — Override the gateway base URL. Defaults to https://api.orcarouter.ai.
ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT — Per-request timeout in seconds. Defaults to 300 (5 minutes) to accommodate long reasoning-model completions.

Provider

Claude Code

ORCAROUTER_API_KEY=<secret> ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL=<value> ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT=<value> claude mcp add io.github.continuum-ai-corp-orcarouter-mcp -- npx -y @orcarouter/[email protected]

Run in a terminal.

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io.github.continuum-ai-corp-orcarouter-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@orcarouter/[email protected]"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ORCAROUTER_API_KEY": "<secret>",
        "ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL": "<value>",
        "ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT": "<value>"
      }
    }
  }
}

claude_desktop_config.json

Step-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

Browse OrcaRouter's model catalog and run chat completions from inside any Model Context Protocol client — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, or anything else that speaks the protocol.

Catalog browsing works without an API key — compare pricing and capabilities before signing up.

What you can do

🗺️ Discover providers and models without an API key
💬 Run chat completions through any served model
🧠 Auto-route requests through your workspace's orcarouter/auto router (cost / quality / balanced / LinUCB / gated-adaptive strategies)
🔁 Configure fallback chains (primary + up to 4 fallbacks) for resilience
📊 Filter models server-side by provider, capability, or minimum context window
🎯 Inspect detailed model cards: pricing, context, latency, supported endpoints
🔌 Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, and any MCP client

Examples

Try saying things like:

"List all providers on OrcaRouter"
"Show me all Anthropic models with their pricing"
"Get details about minimax/minimax-m2.7"
"Chat with orcarouter/auto and explain quantum computing"

Quick Start

Claude Code (CLI one-liner)

claude mcp add orcarouter -s user \
  -e ORCAROUTER_API_KEY=sk-orca-your-key \
  -- npx -y @orcarouter/mcp

Other clients (config-file path)

Copy the example config for your MCP client into the client's config file:

Client Example Action
Claude Desktop claude-desktop.json Replace
Claude Code claude-code.json Merge
Cursor cursor.json Replace
Windsurf windsurf.json Replace

See examples/README.md for the config-file paths and notes on Zed and other clients.
Replace sk-or-... in the copied file with your OrcaRouter API key.
Restart your MCP client.

Client	Example	Action
Claude Desktop	claude-desktop.json	Replace
Claude Code	claude-code.json	Merge
Cursor	cursor.json	Replace
Windsurf	windsurf.json	Replace

The root .mcp.json is the same config in the Open Plugins standard location, so registry/discovery tools that scan for it (e.g. cursor.directory) can pick this server up automatically.

Requires Node.js 18 or later. The ORCAROUTER_API_KEY env var is only required for orcarouter_chat; catalog tools work without it.

Tools

orcarouter_chat — run a chat completion (with optional fallback chain)
orcarouter_models_list — browse the catalog (pricing, context, capabilities)
orcarouter_model_card — detailed info for one model
orcarouter_providers_list — list providers with model counts

Full input schemas are exposed at runtime via the MCP tools/list method — your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.) reads them automatically.

Configuration

Name	Required	Description
`ORCAROUTER_API_KEY`	optional	OrcaRouter API key. Required only for `orcarouter_chat`.
`ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL`	optional	API base URL. Defaults to `https://api.orcarouter.ai`.
`ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT`	optional	Per-request HTTP timeout in seconds. Defaults to `300`.

Security

API keys are read from environment variables, never logged, and only sent to the OrcaRouter API. See SECURITY.md for the vulnerability disclosure policy.

Development

# bun (preferred)
bun install
bun run test
bun run typecheck
bun run build

# or with npm
npm install
npm test
npm run typecheck
npm run build

The build produces an ESM bundle at dist/index.js with a #!/usr/bin/env node shebang, runnable as the orcarouter-mcp binary.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. For newcomer-friendly tasks, browse the good first issue label.

License

MIT

Add this server

The publisher's own command. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Local command

npx -y @orcarouter/[email protected]

Credentials from the publisher

ORCAROUTER_API_KEY — OrcaRouter API key. Required only for orcarouter_chat. Catalog tools (orcarouter_models_list, orcarouter_model_card, orcarouter_providers_list) work without it.
ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL — Override the gateway base URL. Defaults to https://api.orcarouter.ai.
ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT — Per-request timeout in seconds. Defaults to 300 (5 minutes) to accommodate long reasoning-model completions.

Provider

Claude Code

ORCAROUTER_API_KEY=<secret> ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL=<value> ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT=<value> claude mcp add io.github.continuum-ai-corp-orcarouter-mcp -- npx -y @orcarouter/[email protected]

Run in a terminal.

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io.github.continuum-ai-corp-orcarouter-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@orcarouter/[email protected]"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ORCAROUTER_API_KEY": "<secret>",
        "ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL": "<value>",
        "ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT": "<value>"
      }
    }
  }
}

claude_desktop_config.json

Step-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

Client	Example	Action
Claude Desktop	claude-desktop.json	Replace
Claude Code	claude-code.json	Merge
Cursor	cursor.json	Replace
Windsurf	windsurf.json	Replace

Client

Example

Action

Claude Desktop

claude-desktop.json

Replace

Claude Code

claude-code.json

Merge

Cursor

cursor.json

Replace

Windsurf

windsurf.json

Replace

Name

Required

Description

ORCAROUTER_API_KEY

optional

OrcaRouter API key. Required only for orcarouter_chat.

ORCAROUTER_BASE_URL

optional

API base URL. Defaults to https://api.orcarouter.ai.

ORCAROUTER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT

optional

Per-request HTTP timeout in seconds. Defaults to 300.

OrcaRouter

Add this server

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Related MCP

Related skills

What you can do

Examples

Quick Start

Claude Code (CLI one-liner)

Other clients (config-file path)

Tools

Configuration

Security

Development

Contributing

License

OrcaRouter

Add this server

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Related MCP

Related skills

What you can do

Examples

Quick Start

Claude Code (CLI one-liner)

Other clients (config-file path)

Tools

Configuration

Security

Development

Contributing

License