| name | pp-openrouter |
| description | Agent-first OpenRouter introspection — terse output for cron and AI agents (--agent and --llm modes), local SQLite... Trigger phrases: `openrouter credits`, `check openrouter budget`, `openrouter cost by cron`, `shortlist openrouter models`, `openrouter providers degraded`, `use openrouter`, `run openrouter`. |
| author | Rick van de Laar |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| argument-hint | <command> [args] | install cli|mcp |
| allowed-tools | Read Bash |
| metadata | {"openclaw":{"requires":{"bins":["openrouter-pp-cli"]}}} |
OpenRouter — Printing Press CLI
Prerequisites: Install the CLI
This skill drives the openrouter-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:
- Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to
$HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:
npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install openrouter --cli-only
- Verify:
openrouter-pp-cli --version
- Ensure the reported install directory is on
$PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.
If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.4 or newer):
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/ai/openrouter/cmd/openrouter-pp-cli@latest
If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.
When to Use This CLI
Use this CLI when an AI agent needs OpenRouter introspection data and you're optimizing for token efficiency. Absorbed commands accept --agent for compact JSON; the 8 novel commands ship --llm mode for terse key:value output. Use it when you need cost attribution beyond model+provider (which-cron-fired-the-call). Use it for pre-flight gates in bash compositions and for local-catalog querying that would otherwise blow context. Skip it for chat — use grahamking/ort for chat ergonomics.
Unique Capabilities
These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.
Local state that compounds
-
usage cost-by — Group your OpenRouter spend by which cron/agent fired the call, not just by model. Joins local generations with caller tags from your tool-call logger.
Use this when an agent needs to answer 'which automated job is burning my OpenRouter budget?' before deciding what to throttle.
openrouter usage cost-by --group cron --since 7d --llm
-
models query — Query the model catalog with structured filters (tools=true, cost.completion<1, ctx>=64k) — compiled to SQL over a local SQLite cache. Works offline.
Use this when an agent needs to shortlist models for an experiment without hallucinating pricing or pasting 400 model rows into context.
openrouter models query "tools=true cost.completion<1 ctx>=64k modality=text" --llm
-
generation explain — For a generation id, returns the cost, latency, prompt/completion token counts, AND a delta vs the cheapest provider for the same model+token-count.
Use this when an agent needs to decide whether a generation was expensive because of the model choice, the prompt size, or the provider markup.
openrouter generation explain gen-abc123 --llm
Agent-native plumbing
-
providers degraded — Returns the set of currently-degraded provider/model pairs by polling /providers and per-model /endpoints. Pipe into your router to preempt 429s.
Use this in a router or fallback chain when an agent needs to skip degraded provider/model pairs before dispatch instead of after a failed call.
openrouter providers degraded --json | jq -r '.[].model_id'
-
usage anomaly — Flags days where per-model cost exceeds 2σ of the trailing 7-day mean. Deterministic z-score, no LLM in the loop. Designed for cron.
Use this in a daily cron when an agent needs to detect cost regressions before a credit-low alarm fires.
openrouter usage anomaly --since 24h --baseline 7d --llm
-
key eta — Projects when your weekly OpenRouter cap will trip, based on /key.limit_reset, current usage, and your trailing 7-day burn rate.
Use this in a daily cron when an agent needs to know whether scheduled work will fit in the remaining weekly cap.
openrouter key eta --llm
-
budget — Set a weekly USD cap per cron job (budget set scan-pipeline 2usd). Pre-flight check returns exit 0 (under cap) or 8 (over) from tagged generations.
Use this when an agent needs structural budget enforcement per sub-agent or per cron, not aspirational env-var quotas.
openrouter budget check scan-pipeline && ./scan-pipeline.mjs
-
endpoints failover — For a model id, lists all providers serving it ranked by current status, pricing, and observed p50 latency from local cache. Pipe-feeds routers.
Use this when an agent needs to choose a provider for a given model based on current availability, not the static config order.
openrouter endpoints failover anthropic/claude-opus-4-7 --json
Command Reference
activity — Manage activity
openrouter-pp-cli activity — Returns user activity data grouped by endpoint for the last 30 (completed) UTC days. [Management...
credits — Credit management endpoints
openrouter-pp-cli credits — Get total credits purchased and used for the authenticated user. [Management...
endpoints — Endpoint information
openrouter-pp-cli endpoints — Preview the impact of ZDR on the available endpoints
generation — Generation history endpoints
openrouter-pp-cli generation get — Get request & usage metadata for a generation
openrouter-pp-cli generation list-content — Get stored prompt and completion content for a generation
key — Manage key
openrouter-pp-cli key — Get information on the API key associated with the current authentication session
keys — Manage keys
openrouter-pp-cli keys create — Create a new API key for the authenticated user. Management key...
openrouter-pp-cli keys delete — Delete an existing API key. Management key required.
openrouter-pp-cli keys get — Get a single API key by hash. Management key required.
openrouter-pp-cli keys list — List all API keys for the authenticated user. Management key required.
openrouter-pp-cli keys update — Update an existing API key. Management key required.
models — Model information endpoints
openrouter-pp-cli models get — List all models and their properties
openrouter-pp-cli models list-count — Get total count of available models
openrouter-pp-cli models list-user — List models filtered by user provider preferences, [privacy settings](https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/privacy/provi...
openrouter-auth — Manage openrouter auth
openrouter-pp-cli openrouter-auth create-keys-code — Create an authorization code for the PKCE flow to generate a user-controlled API key
openrouter-pp-cli openrouter-auth exchange-code-for-apikey — Exchange an authorization code from the PKCE flow for a user-controlled API key
providers — Provider information endpoints
openrouter-pp-cli providers — List all providers
Finding the right command
When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:
openrouter-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"
which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.
Recipes
Pre-flight gate before expensive cron
openrouter budget check scan-pipeline --json
Returns exit 0 if under cap or 8 if over. Compose with && in bash to gate expensive jobs without half-execution.
Cost attribution for the week
openrouter usage cost-by --group cron --since 7d --llm
Returns one row per cron name with total cost — answers 'which automated job is burning my OpenRouter budget'.
Shortlist tool-capable cheap deep-context models (with --select narrowing)
openrouter models query "tools=true cost.completion<1 ctx>=64k" --agent --select id,context_length,pricing.completion
Local SQLite + dotted --select narrows ~400 models to a handful of fields. Agent context cost: ~150 tokens vs ~425KB raw.
Detect cost regression before credit-low alarm fires
openrouter usage anomaly --since 24h --baseline 7d --llm
Flags per-model days exceeding 2σ over trailing 7-day mean. Daily cron catches runaway loops 1-3 days before /credits hits zero.
Pre-empt 429s by skipping degraded providers
openrouter providers degraded --json
Returns {added, degraded, removed} arrays from set-diff vs prior snapshot. Pipe-feeds your router/suspension logic. Replaces reactive 429-and-learn with leading-indicator polling.
Auth Setup
Set OPENROUTER_API_KEY for per-call operations (creds, models, usage, generation lookup). For sub-key management (keys list/create/delete), set OPENROUTER_MANAGEMENT_KEY separately — OpenRouter's API splits these intentionally and this CLI honors the split. Both variables are read fresh per command; nothing is persisted to disk by default.
Run openrouter-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.
Agent Mode
Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.
-
Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr
-
Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:
openrouter-pp-cli credits --agent --select id,name,status
-
Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending
-
Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available
-
Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag
-
Explicit retries — use --idempotent only when an already-existing create should count as success, and --ignore-missing only when a missing delete target should count as success
Response envelope
Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:
{
"meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
"results": <data>
}
Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal — piped/agent consumers get pure JSON on stdout.
Agent Feedback
When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:
openrouter-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
openrouter-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
openrouter-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10
Entries are stored locally at ~/.openrouter-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless OPENROUTER_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or OPENROUTER_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.
Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.
Output Delivery
Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:
| Sink | Effect |
|---|
stdout | Default; write to stdout only |
file:<path> | Atomically write output to <path> (tmp + rename) |
webhook:<url> | POST the output body to the URL (application/json or application/x-ndjson when --compact) |
Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.
Named Profiles
A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.
openrouter-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
openrouter-pp-cli --profile briefing credits
openrouter-pp-cli profile list --json
openrouter-pp-cli profile show briefing
openrouter-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes
Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.
Exit Codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|
| 0 | Success |
| 2 | Usage error (wrong arguments) |
| 3 | Resource not found |
| 4 | Authentication required |
| 5 | API error (upstream issue) |
| 7 | Rate limited (wait and retry) |
| 10 | Config error |
Argument Parsing
Parse $ARGUMENTS:
- Empty,
help, or --help → show openrouter-pp-cli --help output
- Starts with
install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
- Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with
--agent)
MCP Server Installation
Install the MCP binary from this CLI's published public-library entry or pre-built release, then register it:
claude mcp add openrouter-pp-mcp -- openrouter-pp-mcp
Verify: claude mcp list
Direct Use
- Check if installed:
which openrouter-pp-cli
If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
- Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
- Execute with the
--agent flag:
openrouter-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
- If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help:
openrouter-pp-cli <command> --help.