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Cursor

Cursor is one of the best experiences with Openference because of its excellent model picker and “Override OpenAI Base URL” support.

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Step-by-step setup

  1. Open Cursor.
  2. Go to Settings (⌘, on macOS) → Models.
  3. Turn on Override OpenAI Base URL.
  4. Enter: 
    https://api.openference.com/v1
  5. Paste your sk-token-... key into the API Key field.
  6. (Recommended) Click Verify. It should succeed and populate models.

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Using models

  • In the model picker (bottom right or ⌘K), select any model ID shown in Openference’s catalog.
  • Exact IDs matter — copy them from the Models page or from the response of GET /v1/models.
Start with whatever is currently marked as fast/good value on the Openference Models page. You can switch models instantly without changing any code.

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Tool use / Composer / Agent

All of Cursor’s features (Composer, Apply, Agent, inline chat) go through the same chat completions endpoint and work with tool-calling capable models.

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Common issues

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Verify button fails

  • Make sure the URL includes the trailing /v1.
  • Check that the key is still valid and not model-restricted away from what Cursor expects.
  • Try a simple curl to /v1/models with the same key.

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”No available providers”

This is a temporary capacity message from Openference (503). It does not count against your quota. Wait a moment or try a different model.

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Unexpected model list

Your key may have model restrictions applied. Edit the key in the Openference dashboard.

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One key, many tools

The same key you use in Cursor also works in Claude Code, Continue, your Python scripts, etc. See the Compatibility Matrix.