# API Connections

SillyTavern can connect to a wide range of LLM APIs. Below is a description of their respective strengths, weaknesses, and use cases.

# Local APIs

  • These LLM APIs can be run on your PC.
  • They are free to use and have no content filter.
  • installation process can be complex (SillyTavern dev team does not provide support for this)
  • requires separate download of LLM models from HuggingFace which can be 10-50GB each.
  • Most models are not as powerful as cloud LLM APIs.

# KoboldAI

  • Runs on your PC, 100% private, wide range of models available
  • gives the most direct control of the AI's generation settings
  • requires large amounts of VRAM in your GPU (6-24GB, depending on the LLM model)
  • models limited to 2k context
  • No streaming
  • popular KoboldAI versions:

# KoboldCPP

  • same functonality as KoboldAI, but uses your CPU and RAM instead of GPU
  • very simple to setup on Windows (must be compiled from source on MacOS and Linux)
  • slower than GPU APIs
  • GitHub

# Kobold Horde

  • SillyTavern can access this API out of the box with no additional settings required.
  • it uses the GPU of individual volunteers (Horde Workers) to process responses for your chat inputs
  • at the mercy of the Worker in terms of generation wait times, AI settings, and available models
  • website

# Oobabooga TextGeneration WebUI

  • similar functionality as KoboldAI, but also has streaming and a Gradio interface
  • supports a wider range of model types than KoboldAI (4-bit & 8-bit quantized models)
  • one-click installers available
  • regular updates, which can sometimes break compatibility with SillyTavern
  • GitHub

Correct Way to Connect SillyTavern to Ooba's new OpenAI API

  1. Make sure you're on the latest update of Oobabooga's TextGen (as of Nov 14th, 2023).
  2. Edit the CMD_FLAGS.txt file, and add the --api flag there. Then restart Ooba's server.
  3. Connect ST to http://localhost:5000/ (by default) without checking the 'Legacy API' box. You may remove the /v1 postfix from the URL Ooba's console provides you.

You can change the API hosting port with the --api-port 5001 flag, where 5001 is your custom port.

# Cloud LLM APIs

  • These LLM APIs are run as cloud services, and require no resources on your PC
  • They are stronger/smarter than most local LLMs
  • However they all have content filtering of varying degrees, and most require payment

# NovelAI

# ChatGPT (by OpenAI)

  • easy to setup and acquire an API key, 4k 8k, 32k context models available.
  • free trial requires a valid phone number
  • after freetrial, all useage is charged monthly.
  • writing style for roleplay can be repetitive and predictable
  • Setup Instructions

# Claude (by Anthropic)

  • Recommended for users who want their AI chats to have a creative, unique writing style
  • 4k, 8k, 100k context models available
  • strongst content filter of all APIs (as of June 2023)
  • limited access to most models
  • currently not accepting new account creation; on a wait list (June 2023)
  • website

# WindowAI/OpenRouter

  • this browser extension allows you to connect to the abovementioned cloud LLMs
  • use your own ChatGPT/Claude API key with WindowAI
  • use OpenRouter to pay to use their API keys instead
  • useful if you don't want to create individual accounts on each service
  • website and website

# Mancer AI

  • Service that hosts unconstrained models, no need to jailbreak.
  • Uses 'credits' to pay for tokens on various models. Free credits refill daily.
  • Does not log prompts by default, but you can enable it to get credit discounts on tokens.
  • Uses an API similar to Oobabooga TextGeneration WebUI, see Mancer docs for details.
  • website, SillyTavern Setup Instructions