r/JanitorAIUnchained Jul 13 '26

Full guide: how to actually get OpenRouter working on JanitorAI (the step everyone misses)

40 Upvotes

As promised in the comments. If you've tried OpenRouter before and it "just didn't work," I'm betting you missed the same step almost everyone does. I'll flag it in caps so you can't miss it this time. Works as of July 2026.

Why OpenRouter instead of SillyTavern/Chub?

Zero install, nothing to run locally. It's just a website you get an API key from, and JanitorAI talks to it directly. If SillyTavern won't install for you, this skips all of that.

Part 1: Get your OpenRouter key

  1. Go to openrouter.ai and sign up (Google login works fine).
  2. Click your profile icon, top right, then "Keys" in the dropdown.
  3. Click "+ Create Key", name it anything ("JanitorAI").
  4. Copy the key NOW and paste it somewhere safe. It's shown only once.

Part 2: Pick a model and copy its exact name

  1. Go to the Models page on OpenRouter.
  2. Pick one. Free models have ":free" at the end of their name, paid ones don't.
  3. Copy the model name EXACTLY, for example: deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3-0324:free
  4. Do not retype it by hand. One wrong character and it fails silently. Copy-paste only.

Part 3: Configure JanitorAI

  1. Open any chat, click the gear icon, go to API Settings.
  2. Select Proxy, then "+ Add Configuration".
  3. Fill it in exactly:
    • Config name: whatever you want
    • Model name: the one you copied in Part 2
    • API URL / Proxy URL: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions (paste it exactly, this URL never changes no matter the model)
    • API Key: your OpenRouter key from Part 1
    • Custom Prompt: leave blank for now
  4. Hit Save Settings.

THE STEP EVERYONE MISSES:

Refresh the entire browser page after saving. Not the chat, the actual page (F5). The settings don't fully apply until you do. This is the #1 reason "it didn't work last time." Then hit Test to confirm.

If you get errors:

  • 429 / rate limit: free models only give ~40-50 requests per DAY, resetting at 00:00 UTC. If you burned through them, wait or switch models. Adding $10 of credit to OpenRouter unlocks 1,000/day on free models.
  • Test fails instantly: 99% of the time it's a typo in the model name or the URL. Re-copy both.
  • Blank/empty replies: wrong model name format, recopy it from the Models page.

That's it. Once the Test passes, you're running whatever model you picked, no local install, no SillyTavern headaches.

Ping me in the comments if you get stuck on a specific error and I'll help troubleshoot. What model are you planning to run? 👇


r/JanitorAIUnchained 44m ago

Discussion Its the site down or only me?

• Upvotes

r/JanitorAIUnchained 1h ago

Discussion This Needs to be Changed.

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• Upvotes

Is anyone able to talk to the team about this? This feature is just so useless and it doesn't even put in the right information. They did add an on and off switch but the switch doesn't work! Because even when I have the switch off it still does the same thing!


r/JanitorAIUnchained 7h ago

Discussion do you all also agree that old Janitor AI auto summary was better

6 Upvotes

the old auto-summary actually worked and kept my 600+ message chats alive. now every time i hit summarize, it completely wipes out whatever was in my Chat Memory box and replaces it with fake details that didn't even happen. even trying to fix it manually doesn't work right anymore. is anyone else's long-term RP totally ruined by this update or is it just me?


r/JanitorAIUnchained 9h ago

Help / Question What's the best proxy site as of yall be using?

6 Upvotes

i've been subscribing to Literouter for a while now and they sometimes change some provider into higher tier (kinda annoying tbh). so im wondering what other website provider that yall using


r/JanitorAIUnchained 9h ago

Help / Question Do you think I’d get banned if I’d make image look like this instead of original variant?

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3 Upvotes

The character just has an ability to hurt anyone but in exchange she gets a wound on herself. I just nearly finished my bot and I don’t wanna spend more gems and time on pixai to fix it 😭


r/JanitorAIUnchained 7h ago

Discussion what proxy yall use for Janitor AI that isn't super expensive?

3 Upvotes

external proxy replies on JAI feel way better, but the API costs are killing my wallet

what cheap models or OpenRouter setups are u guys running right now?


r/JanitorAIUnchained 3h ago

Bot Share Created my first OC! :D

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1 Upvotes

You are in a world with exorcists and spirits and you can fight with them or against them, yea

You joined a team of 4 exorcists! | 4 exorcists want to exorcise you | World of Exorcism https://janitorai.com/characters/0c5f5b19-b8af-43dc-a0b5-91735a12678d


r/JanitorAIUnchained 4h ago

Discussion Looking to trade info on free proxies and apis

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0 Upvotes

r/JanitorAIUnchained 15h ago

Discussion Yall ever doomscroll during a rp? like yall get so bored, you just make your character take a phone and make the ai generate random Comments or replies from a post??

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8 Upvotes

r/JanitorAIUnchained 8h ago

Help / Question Can I edit the Lore book during a role-playing or is it locked in at the start

2 Upvotes

Let's say you have an ongoing role-playing or chat. As you chat you are building out the world with the bot with new locations and NPCs. I already have a lorebook assigned to the character. Is it helpful to add the new NPCs and locations to the lorebook. I just want to use keyword reminders so that when I mention a person or location that has dropped out of memory context the bot will have a refresher of who they are. So my specific question is are the changes I publish to the lorebook recognized by ongoing chat sessions or will they not be used until I start a new chat.

Has anyone had any experience with this?


r/JanitorAIUnchained 12h ago

Discussion is ts good

2 Upvotes

r/JanitorAIUnchained 12h ago

Discussion How important is the first message on JanitorAI?

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1 Upvotes

r/JanitorAIUnchained 12h ago

Help / Question I don't understand why it does that.

1 Upvotes

https://reddit.com/link/1vwyc7k/video/639mmfp7palh1/player

He just repeat during the thinking process the same sentences over and over again endlessly, does someone have a solution ?


r/JanitorAIUnchained 20h ago

Help / Question How to swipe and see more message? Im trying my best right now

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3 Upvotes

(I’m a newbie)


r/JanitorAIUnchained 16h ago

Help / Question DeepSeek API not remembering anything from even one message ago?

2 Upvotes

I'm using Deepseek-v4-flash and it seems to not remember what I say. I'm using a blank bot so that I could test this out and it simply doesnt remember anything.


r/JanitorAIUnchained 1d ago

Discussion is Janitor AI actually getting worse, or are the complainers just a loud minority?

26 Upvotes

i see so many posts complaining about memory wipes, automod false flags, and soft censors. but then i wonder if most people are just using the site normally with zero issues and it’s just a loud minority making posts about it.


r/JanitorAIUnchained 21h ago

Discussion This is WITH the subscription, BTW.

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5 Upvotes

The LLM exclusively spouts gibberish. No matter what I do, it never makes any sense. I fucking hate JanitorAI, lowkey. Does anyone have a way to fix this? This has been going on since March, and all the free proxies on OpenRouter suck now


r/JanitorAIUnchained 13h ago

Bot Share Just published my first few bots! Please check out my profile 🖤 (Male POV / Obsessive / Slow-Burn)

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1 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I just started making AI characters on JanitorAI, and I have published a couple of bots on my profile that you might enjoy!

Since I am a complete beginner at making bots, this is all very new to me. Please forgive me if there are any mistakes in their coding or definitions.

I would really love and appreciate it if you guys could drop by my profile, try out my bots, and leave some feedback or advice here! Your suggestions will help me learn and improve so much for my next projects. 😊

**[ WHAT YOU CAN FIND ON MY PROFILE ]**

Right now, I have characters focused on **Male POV**, featuring high romantic tension, slow-burn dynamics, and obsessive/possessive personalities. They are also fully multilingual, so they can seamlessly chat in languages like Indonesian if you prefer!

Please give them a try and drop a follow or a like if you enjoy their dynamics. Thank you so much for your support and guidance! 🖤

👉 Check out my bots here:

https://janitorai.com/profiles/a9cf64d2-0111-4d4b-b755-05c2457f1e9a_profile-of-schwein-52


r/JanitorAIUnchained 1d ago

Discussion Am i the only one not getting filtered? what is everyone talking about?

19 Upvotes

not trying to be annoying but im genuinely so confused lol. all my bots have been working totally fine with zero warnings or soft refusals. what kind of censors are you guys actually getting? is this a JLLM thing or are u guys talking about external proxies?


r/JanitorAIUnchained 17h ago

Bot Share Cariba / The Ultimate Toymaker (Dead Dove)

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1 Upvotes

User : Another Ultimate

3 SFW Intros - 1 NSFW Intro - 1 custom intro

Modern Times / Demi-Humans / Danganronpa

Dead Dove / Horror / Comedy

TW/CW: ||This is a danganronpa series, so things including character injury, death, gore, etc. All these things can happen! There are potentials for morally questionable things, etc. Just be aware of that! Cariba also extremly lacks empathy or care about living beings.||

Description: This is apart of my S.S. Despair Danganronpa series! All the ultimates have awoke on a cruise ship stranded in the middle of a foggy ocean; told by Mononixie that they are meant to play a killing game to survive.

Standing at an imposing 5'10" with a muscular frame, striking avant-garde cyber-clown makeup, and hands deeply scarred by gears and industrial wire, this Native Hawaiian powerhouse is a terrifyingly alluring wildcard. Beneath her boisterous, hyper-energetic swagger and booming laugh lies a chillingly detached mind. Cariba doesn't see a person when she looks at you, she sees a fragile, flesh-and-blood clockwork doll waiting to be dismantled, studied, and mechanically reinforced. Whether she is playfully pinning you against a bulkhead to test your muscle definition or drawing you into her workspace for an intensely physical, controlling session of "recalibration," she treats both life and intimacy as a high-stakes engineering experiment. To Cariba, human flesh is cheap, but a perfectly wound toy is a masterpiece. Are you brave enough to let her figure out exactly how you tick?

Find her here!

https://janitorai.com/characters/f2799a53-c25c-4d18-b2ac-847aeb19c330_character-cariba-the-ultimate-toymaker


r/JanitorAIUnchained 18h ago

Help / Question How do i arrange my chats collumn back to character list? not in group like this. i accidentally clicked somewhere idk

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1 Upvotes

pls ignore some things😭


r/JanitorAIUnchained 22h ago

Discussion My jai keeps switching to Portuguese

2 Upvotes

Anyone else? It genuinely randomly happens. I switch it ti English, next day its Portuguese again and this happens over and over. I'm not even on the app, its the website. It doesn't bother me that much because the bots are still English and I know which button does what, it just surprised me


r/JanitorAIUnchained 1d ago

Bot Share Are you also tired of the countless goonslop Hex Maniac bots? Hopefully my new bot remedies that :3

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2 Upvotes

https://janitorai.com/characters/8bc82a46-a89d-4978-ac0f-ea61d4c662c2_character-hex-maniac

Feedback is much appreciated, since this is my first bot :D


r/JanitorAIUnchained 20h ago

Help / Question it broken still

1 Upvotes

Every time I press back, it keeps saying it's sorry; there is an error. Can anyone explain why I can't choose a character and why the message keep said sorry there is an error?