I'm using GPT Sol and Claude Opus for free — pi-coding-agent + OmniRoute

I'm using GPT Sol and Claude Opus for free. No credit card, no per-token bill, no "you've hit your monthly limit" email.

Two pieces of software make it happen:

Here's the exact setup, from install to first prompt.

OmniRoute ships with free-tier providers pre-wired into the auto

model. You don't paste an API key — a fresh install just answers. But auto

also reaches frontier-class models through the free routes, so I can pick them by name:

aug/gpt5.6-sol       # GPT Sol
aug/opus4.8          # Claude Opus
auto/best-coding     # best free coding model
auto/best-reasoning  # best free reasoning model
auto                 # let OmniRoute pick

Pi talks to one endpoint (http://localhost:20128/v1

). OmniRoute handles which provider actually serves the request, and falls back automatically if one goes down or hits a rate limit.

npm install -g omniroute
omniroute

The gateway boots on port 20128

; the dashboard is at http://localhost:20128

.

npm install -g @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent

Quick note so you install the right thing: this is the npm

pi

(@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent

), a coding agent with read / bash / edit / write tools. It's unrelated to the Rust project also calledpi-coding-agent

.

Pi reads its providers from ~/.pi/agent/models.json

. Add an omniroute

entry:

{
  "providers": {
    "omniroute": {
      "api": "openai-completions",
      "apiKey": "",
      "baseUrl": "http://localhost:20128/v1",
      "models": [
        { "_launch": true, "id": "auto", "input": ["text"], "reasoning": true },
        { "id": "auto/best-coding", "input": ["text"], "reasoning": true },
        { "id": "auto/best-reasoning", "input": ["text"], "reasoning": true },
        { "id": "auto/best-fast", "input": ["text"], "reasoning": true },
        { "id": "aug/gpt5.6-sol", "input": ["text"], "reasoning": true },
        { "id": "aug/opus4.8", "input": ["text"], "reasoning": true }
      ]
    }
  }
}

api: "openai-completions"

— OmniRoute speaks the OpenAI protocol.baseUrl

— the local gateway. Keep the /v1

.apiKey

— empty is fine: OmniRoute runs keyless locally. If you've created a key on the dashboard's Endpoints page, put it here instead.If you already have providers in that file, just add the omniroute

key next to them — don't overwrite the rest.

Edit ~/.pi/agent/settings.json

:

{
  "defaultProvider": "omniroute",
  "defaultModel": "auto"
}

Now pi

uses OmniRoute out of the box, no flags needed.

pi "fix the failing test in src"      # interactive, routes through OmniRoute
pi -p "summarize this file"           # non-interactive, print and exit
pi --model aug/gpt5.6-sol             # GPT Sol specifically
pi --model aug/opus4.8                # Claude Opus specifically
pi --model auto/best-reasoning        # best free reasoning model
pi -c                                 # continue the last session
pi --list-models                      # see every available model

Switching models is one flag — no reconfiguring keys, no new accounts. If you ever want your local Ollama model back, pi --provider ollama

does it.

1. The dashboard writes the wrong file for this Pi. OmniRoute's built-in "Pi" integration (dashboard → CLI tools → Pi) writes ~/.pi/config.json

. This Pi reads ~/.pi/agent/models.json

. Edit the file by hand as above and you're done — the dashboard button won't do it for this version.

2. Bare OpenAI model names fail. Requesting gpt-5.6-luna

(no prefix) returns No active credentials for provider: openai

. The free routes are namespaced — use auto

, auto/*

, or aug/*

IDs like aug/gpt5.6-sol

.

http://localhost:20128/v1

.--model

, not a support ticket.Install OmniRoute, point Pi at it, and go. Ten minutes, and GPT Sol and Claude Opus are just models you can pick.