LLM Provider Overview: 30 Backends Supported by Cynative

Cynative routes every LLM call through the embedded Bifrost SDK, which provides a uniform chat interface over all supported backends. This means you bring your own model (BYOM): point Cynative at any provider you already have access to — a cloud API, a managed inference endpoint, or a GPU on your desk — and Cynative adapts to it. No provider is hard-wired; the model selection is entirely yours.

Quick start

Three environment variables are all you need for the most common case:

export CYNATIVE_LLM_PROVIDER=openai           # provider id — see the catalog below
export CYNATIVE_LLM_MODEL=gpt-5               # model id string, passed verbatim to the provider
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...                  # canonical API key env var (provider-specific; see table)
cynative -p "list IAM users in my AWS account that have console access"

No ~/.cynative/config.yaml file is needed for the simple path. Write YAML only when you need fields the env-var surface does not cover (e.g. extra_headers, multi-key load balancing, or advanced provider configs).

Provider catalog

Provider id	Canonical env var	Guide
`openai`	`OPENAI_API_KEY`	/providers/openai
`anthropic`	`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	/providers/anthropic
`azure`	`AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY`	azure
`bedrock`	(AWS credential chain)	/providers/bedrock
`bedrock_mantle`	(AWS credential chain or `api_key`)	/providers/bedrock
`vertex`	(none — needs `project_id` + `region`)	/providers/vertex
`gemini`	`GEMINI_API_KEY`	/providers/vertex
`cohere`	`COHERE_API_KEY`	cohere
`mistral`	`MISTRAL_API_KEY`	mistral
`groq`	`GROQ_API_KEY`	groq
`perplexity`	`PERPLEXITY_API_KEY`	perplexity
`cerebras`	`CEREBRAS_API_KEY`	cerebras
`openrouter`	`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	openrouter
`xai`	`XAI_API_KEY`	xai
`huggingface`	`HUGGINGFACE_API_KEY`	huggingface
`nebius`	`NEBIUS_API_KEY`	nebius
`parasail`	`PARASAIL_API_KEY`	parasail
`fireworks`	`FIREWORKS_API_KEY`	fireworks
`replicate`	`REPLICATE_API_TOKEN`	replicate
`runware`	`RUNWARE_API_KEY`	runware
`deepseek`	`DEEPSEEK_API_KEY`	deepseek
`sarvam`	`SARVAM_API_KEY`	sarvam
`wafer`	`WAFER_API_KEY`	wafer
`databricks`	`DATABRICKS_TOKEN`	databricks
`opencode-go`	`OPENCODE_API_KEY`	opencode-go
`opencode-zen`	`OPENCODE_API_KEY`	opencode-zen
`ollama`	(none — local endpoint)	/providers/local
`vllm`	(none — local endpoint)	/providers/local
`sgl`	(none — local endpoint)	/providers/local
`github-copilot`	(none — needs `api_key` + `base_url`)	github-copilot

Shared YAML reference

Every provider uses the same flat llm: block in ~/.cynative/config.yaml. Fields marked optional may be omitted; Cynative and Bifrost supply sensible defaults.

llm:
  provider: <provider-id>          # required — one of the ids in the catalog above
  model: <model-id>                # required — passed verbatim to the provider
  api_key: env.YOUR_KEY            # optional; falls back to the canonical env var for the provider
  reasoning_effort: high           # optional; none | minimal | low | medium | high
  reasoning_max_tokens: 2048       # optional; explicit reasoning/thinking token budget
  network_config:                  # optional; any field on Bifrost's NetworkConfig schema
    base_url: https://...                          # optional; override the provider's default endpoint
    default_request_timeout_in_seconds: 60         # optional; integer seconds (default 300)
    max_retries: 3                                 # optional; default 3 (0 disables retries)
    extra_headers:                                 # optional; map — must be set in YAML, no env form
      x-custom: value
    insecure_skip_verify: false                    # optional; skip TLS verification
  openai_config: {...}             # optional; top-level provider config (OpenAI-family options)
  azure: {...}                     # optional; per-provider identity block
  vertex: {...}                    # optional; per-provider identity block
  bedrock: {...}                   # optional; per-provider identity block
  bedrock_mantle: {...}            # optional; per-provider identity block
  vllm: {...}                      # optional; per-provider identity block
  ollama: {...}                    # optional; per-provider identity block
  sgl: {...}                       # optional; per-provider identity block
  replicate: {...}                 # optional; per-provider identity block
  databricks: {...}                # optional; per-provider identity block
  github_copilot: {...}            # optional; per-provider identity block
  keys: [...]                      # optional; advanced: multi-key load balancing

Reasoning fields are provider-portable: providers without reasoning support silently ignore them, though a model that doesn’t support reasoning may still reject the parameter upstream on providers that forward it for every model (e.g. OpenAI-style APIs). reasoning_effort maps to the provider’s native effort knob; reasoning_max_tokens sets an explicit thinking budget (Anthropic-style providers use it directly; OpenAI-style providers convert it to an estimated effort level). Gemini additionally validates an explicit budget against a per-model range at request time. Setting reasoning_effort: none together with reasoning_max_tokens is rejected at config validation.

Common environment variables

Every YAML config field is settable via a CYNATIVE_* environment variable. Maps and slices require YAML (e.g. network_config.extra_headers, keys[]). Everything else — including all identity selectors — is env-bindable.

Core selectors

Environment variable	Description
`CYNATIVE_LLM_PROVIDER`	Required. Provider id string (e.g. `openai`, `anthropic`).
`CYNATIVE_LLM_MODEL`	Required. Model id, passed verbatim to the provider.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_API_KEY`	Generic API key; equivalent to `llm.api_key` in YAML. Falls back to the provider’s canonical var if unset.

Network and timeout

Environment variable	Description
`CYNATIVE_LLM_NETWORK_CONFIG_BASE_URL`	Override the provider’s default API endpoint.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_NETWORK_CONFIG_DEFAULT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS`	Per-request timeout in seconds (integer). Cynative default: `300`.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_NETWORK_CONFIG_MAX_RETRIES`	Number of retry attempts. Cynative default: `3`. Set to `0` to disable retries.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_NETWORK_CONFIG_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY`	Skip TLS certificate verification (`true`/`false`).

Reasoning

Environment variable	Description
`CYNATIVE_LLM_REASONING_EFFORT`	Reasoning effort level: `none`, `minimal`, `low`, `medium`, or `high`.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_REASONING_MAX_TOKENS`	Explicit reasoning/thinking token budget (integer).

Provider-specific identity fields

Environment variable	Provider	Description
`CYNATIVE_LLM_AZURE_ENDPOINT`	Azure	Azure OpenAI resource endpoint URL.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID`	Vertex	GCP project id.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_VERTEX_REGION`	Vertex	GCP region (e.g. `us-central1`).
`CYNATIVE_LLM_BEDROCK_REGION`	Bedrock	AWS region (e.g. `us-east-1`).
`CYNATIVE_LLM_BEDROCK_MANTLE_REGION`	Bedrock Mantle	AWS region for the Bedrock Mantle endpoint.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_OLLAMA_URL`	Ollama	Base URL of the Ollama server (e.g. `http://localhost:11434`).
`CYNATIVE_LLM_VLLM_URL`	vLLM	Base URL of the vLLM server (e.g. `http://localhost:8000`).
`CYNATIVE_LLM_VLLM_MODEL_NAME`	vLLM	Per-key model name for vLLM routing.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_SGL_URL`	SGLang	Base URL of the SGLang server (e.g. `http://localhost:30000`).
`CYNATIVE_LLM_DATABRICKS_WORKSPACE_URL`	Databricks	Databricks workspace URL.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_DATABRICKS_API_FORMAT`	Databricks	API format for the Databricks endpoint.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_DATABRICKS_CLIENT_ID`	Databricks	OAuth client id.
`CYNATIVE_LLM_DATABRICKS_CLIENT_SECRET`	Databricks	OAuth client secret.

Any nested Bifrost field is reachable by upper-snake-casing its JSON path: CYNATIVE_LLM_<PATH> — for example, CYNATIVE_LLM_NETWORK_CONFIG_MAX_CONNS_PER_HOST or CYNATIVE_LLM_OPENAI_CONFIG_DISABLE_STORE.

Prompt caching

Cynative always marks the stable prefix of every request with ephemeral cache breakpoints — the tool schemas, the system prompt, and the last two conversation turns. Anthropic-family providers (anthropic, bedrock, vertex with Claude) cache that prefix and bill cached reads at a large discount. The cache window is Anthropic’s default five-minute ephemeral TTL, so back-to-back calls (e.g. --auto-approve runs) benefit most; long human-approval pauses between tool calls may let the cache expire and re-pay the write cost. All other providers: Bifrost’s converters strip or ignore the cache markers. Providers that auto-cache server-side (OpenAI, Gemini) continue to do so regardless — Cynative’s markers don’t interfere. There is nothing to configure. Prompt caching is on for all providers and inert where unsupported.

Bifrost exposes two additional knobs — CYNATIVE_LLM_PROMPT_CACHE_AUTO_INJECT and CYNATIVE_LLM_PROMPT_CACHE_TTL — which synthesize breakpoints for clients that emit none. Both are off by default and do nothing for Cynative, because Bifrost skips auto-injection once the caller has already marked the request, which Cynative always does.

Troubleshooting

Request timeouts

Non-streaming LLM calls default to a 300-second per-request timeout — Cynative’s default, replacing Bifrost’s 30-second default, which is too short for the long, reasoning-heavy completions a research run produces. Override the timeout with the YAML field:

llm:
  network_config:
    default_request_timeout_in_seconds: 120   # integer seconds

Or via environment variable:

export CYNATIVE_LLM_NETWORK_CONFIG_DEFAULT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS=120

On a timeout, the underlying error message comes from Bifrost and references default_request_timeout_in_seconds, network_config, and a “Providers > Provider Name > Network Config” UI. That wording is Bifrost’s internal copy (it even hard-codes “30 seconds” regardless of the effective timeout). Cynative has no such UI — the knob you want is network_config.default_request_timeout_in_seconds as shown above.

Rate limits and retries

LLM calls automatically retry retryable failures — HTTP 429/500/502/503/504, provider-level rate-limit errors, and transient network errors — up to 3 times with exponential backoff (500 ms initial delay, 5 s maximum). This is Cynative’s default, replacing Bifrost’s 0-retry default, under which a single rate-limit blip fails the whole turn. Request timeouts are not retried. Override the retry count:

llm:
  network_config:
    max_retries: 5              # integer; 0 disables retries entirely
    retry_backoff_initial: 1s   # optional; duration string
    retry_backoff_max: 10s      # optional; duration string

Or via environment variable:

export CYNATIVE_LLM_NETWORK_CONFIG_MAX_RETRIES=5

If a run still ends with a “rate limited / out of quota (HTTP 429)” error after retries, the provider account’s quota or billing limit was reached. Check your provider dashboard, or wait and retry later.

Get Started

Using Cynative

Agents

Connectors

LLM Providers

Configuration

Project

LLM Provider Overview: 30 Backends Supported by Cynative

Quick start

Provider catalog

Shared YAML reference

Common environment variables

Core selectors

Network and timeout

Reasoning

Provider-specific identity fields

Prompt caching

Troubleshooting

Request timeouts

Rate limits and retries

​Quick start

​Provider catalog

​Shared YAML reference

​Common environment variables

​Core selectors

​Network and timeout

​Reasoning

​Provider-specific identity fields

​Prompt caching

​Troubleshooting

​Request timeouts

​Rate limits and retries

Quick start

Provider catalog

Shared YAML reference

Common environment variables

Core selectors

Network and timeout

Reasoning

Provider-specific identity fields

Prompt caching

Troubleshooting

Request timeouts

Rate limits and retries