Cloud providers using API keys

Currently, the following cloud providers are supported:

• Anthropic
• OpenAI
• Gemini
• DeepSeek

For all the providers, an API key is needed. Note that this is charged separately from the subscription you might already have (e.g. Claude Pro). If that might be a problem, consider using either a subscription provider (see below) or using it externally via MCP.

Do note that most other LLM providers (e.g. OpenRouter, Groq, Mistral) can still be used in Trilium via the OpenAI-compatible custom endpoint (see below).

If you are using a proxy or gateway, you can also configure the base URL, otherwise the default will be used.

Subscription-based providers

Some cloud providers offer a subscription, which has a fixed monthly fee instead of pay-per-use (unlike the API keys). Trilium v0.104.0 introduces beta support for Anthropic's Claude Pro/Max subscriptions. Other subscription-based providers such as ChatGPT are on the roadmap, but not yet implemented.

To use a subscription:

1. First, Claude Code needs to be installed on the machine that runs Trilium. So for a Desktop Installation, Claude needs to be installed locally and for a Server Installation accessed via a browser, Claude needs to be installed on the server.
2. Claude Code must already be authenticated. To do so, run claude in a terminal once, type /login and follow the instructions.
3. Go to Options → AI / LLM and add the Claude Code provider.

Trilium will identify your Claude Code binary in this order:

• By looking for a TRILIUM_CLAUDE_CODE_PATH environment variable pointing to the Claude binary. This allows overriding the path if needed.
• By looking for claude in your PATH, generally works in most circumstances.
• By asking your login shell for its PATH which lets a desktop install find a CLI installed through nvm, fnm, asdf or Homebrew, since a GUI-launched app doesn't inherit your terminal's environment.

After your provider is set up, you'll benefit from the same features as an API key (note tools, web search, extended thinking, image/PDF attachments, streaming).

Local/self-hosted providers

Local or self-hosted providers are a free alternative which respects your privacy but requires specific hardware.

Trilium directly supports the following local providers:

• Ollama
  • Generally Ollama runs in the background so it should be directly usable in Trilium as long as the models are downloaded (e.g. ollama pull llama3.2).
• LM Studio
  • The OpenAI-compatible server is disabled by default in LM Studio installations. First download your desired models through the graphical interface, then go to Settings → Developer and toggle Developer mode. On the left there will be a new Developer tab, with a toggle to start it up.

Even for local providers that are not directly supported by Trilium, you can still use a custom endpoint (see below).

Custom endpoints

If your desired hosted (e.g. OpenRouter, Groq, Mistral) or local LLM provider is not listed in Trilium, you can use the dedicated OpenAI-compatible provider from the Custom endpoint section.

This allows you to set the base URL to an OpenAI-compatible API, with an optional API key if required by the service.

For custom endpoints, the pricing of the models is not known so the cost of a conversation will not be displayed; this is especially relevant for hosted providers.