Platforms and models

Step Code supports subscription login, API keys, cloud platforms, and OpenAI / Anthropic / Google-compatible endpoints through models.json, including Ollama, vLLM, and LM Studio.

Connection methods

Method	Setup
Subscription login	Choose a platform in `/login` and authorize your account
API key	Enter a key in `/login`, or set the provider’s environment variable before launch
Cloud platform	Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Cloudflare
Custom model	`~/.stepcode/models.json`

Credential priority, from highest to lowest, is CLI --api-key, saved auth.json, environment variables, then the custom provider key in models.json. auth.json uses 0600 permissions.

/login

Choose Step Plan for an account on platform.stepfun.com, or Step Plan Oversea for an account on platform.stepfun.ai. OAuth credentials refresh through the login flow. Use /logout to clear the corresponding credentials.

Platform	Website	Billing channel
Step Plan	`platform.stepfun.com`	Subscription
Step Plan Oversea	`platform.stepfun.ai`	Subscription
Open Platform API key	`platform.stepfun.com/interface-key`	Pay-as-you-go
Open Platform API key	`platform.stepfun.ai/interface-key`	Pay-as-you-go

Choosing another channel does not automatically use your subscription quota. Available models and allowances depend on the account. See Step Plan. The login picker also offers Claude Pro/Max, ChatGPT Plus/Pro (Codex), GitHub Copilot, and xAI. Follow each platform’s terms and account permissions.

API key providers

Provider	Environment variable
Step	`STEP_API_KEY`
Anthropic	`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`
OpenAI	`OPENAI_API_KEY`
Google Gemini	`GEMINI_API_KEY`
DeepSeek	`DEEPSEEK_API_KEY`
OpenRouter	`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`
Kimi For Coding	`KIMI_API_KEY`
MiniMax	`MINIMAX_API_KEY`
xAI	`XAI_API_KEY`
Groq	`GROQ_API_KEY`
Mistral	`MISTRAL_API_KEY`

For example, configure Anthropic in Bash or Zsh:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
step --provider anthropic

Replace the placeholder with that provider’s key. A Step key cannot be used for another provider. Keys saved with /login live in ~/.stepcode/auth.json; do not commit this file. See Environment variables for runtime environment variables.

Cloud platforms

Platform	Configuration
Amazon Bedrock	`AWS_PROFILE`, or `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID` + `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`; `AWS_REGION` defaults to `us-east-1`; supports ECS task roles and IRSA
Google Vertex AI	Run `gcloud auth application-default login`; set `GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT` and `GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION`, such as `us-central1`
Azure OpenAI	`AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY` + `AZURE_OPENAI_BASE_URL`; the root endpoint normalizes to `/openai/v1`; `AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME_MAP` maps deployment names

Deployment names, available regions, and IAM permissions are managed by the cloud platform. Confirm access to the target model before selecting it in Step Code.

Custom models (models.json)

Edit ~/.stepcode/models.json, then reopen /model to load changes. This example connects to local Ollama:

{
  "providers": {
    "ollama": {
      "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434/v1",
      "api": "openai-completions",
      "apiKey": "ollama",
      "models": [
        {"id": "llama3.1:8b"},
        {"id": "qwen2.5-coder:7b"}
      ]
    }
  }
}

Prepare these models in Ollama first. ollama is a nonempty apiKey placeholder. Local services without authentication still require this field to appear in /model; authenticated remote services require real credentials.

Provider field	Description
`baseUrl`	Include `/v1` for OpenAI-compatible endpoints; use the `/v1beta` root for `google-generative-ai`
`api`	Such as `openai-completions`, `openai-responses`, `azure-openai-responses`, `anthropic-messages`, `google-generative-ai`
`apiKey`, `headers`	Credentials and additional request headers
`models`	Custom model list
`modelOverrides`	Override existing model properties
`compat`	Adjust request compatibility to match the server

Model fields include id, name, reasoning, contextWindow, maxTokens, cost, thinkingLevelMap, and samplingParams. id is required. contextWindow defaults to 128,000 and maxTokens to 16,384; override them to match model specifications. samplingParams merges sampling parameters into OpenAI-compatible requests and may override named request fields. Do not add unsupported fields. Setting only baseUrl overrides a built-in provider’s endpoint; models updates matching IDs and adds new ones. Ollama / vLLM / SGLang often need supportsDeveloperRole = false and supportsReasoningEffort = false in compat. See FAQ for model loading and login troubleshooting.

Switching models

/model opens the picker; Ctrl+S saves the startup default.
Ctrl+P cycles enabledModels; see Keyboard shortcuts for reverse cycling.
Use step --provider <provider> --model <model-ID> on the command line.
/thinking or /effort changes thinking level; available levels and effective behavior depend on the model.

See Configuration files for default model settings.

Overview

Get Started

Using Step Code

Reference & Support

Connection methods

API key providers

Cloud platforms

Custom models (models.json)

Switching models

​Connection methods

​Subscription login

​API key providers

​Cloud platforms

​Custom models (models.json)

​Switching models

Connection methods

Subscription login

API key providers

Cloud platforms

Custom models (models.json)

Switching models