# gptel
**Repository Path**: nwpu-ercesi_zhangm/gptel
## Basic Information
- **Project Name**: gptel
- **Description**: No description available
- **Primary Language**: Unknown
- **License**: GPL-3.0
- **Default Branch**: master
- **Homepage**: None
- **GVP Project**: No
## Statistics
- **Stars**: 0
- **Forks**: 0
- **Created**: 2025-06-22
- **Last Updated**: 2025-06-22
## Categories & Tags
**Categories**: Uncategorized
**Tags**: None
## README
#+title: gptel: A simple LLM client for Emacs
[[https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/gptel.html][file:https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/gptel.svg]]
[[https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu-devel/gptel.html][file:https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu-devel/gptel.svg]]
[[https://stable.melpa.org/#/gptel][file:https://stable.melpa.org/packages/gptel-badge.svg]]
[[https://melpa.org/#/gptel][file:https://melpa.org/packages/gptel-badge.svg]]
gptel is a simple Large Language Model chat client for Emacs, with support for multiple models and backends. It works in the spirit of Emacs, available at any time and uniformly in any buffer.
#+html:
| LLM Backend | Supports | Requires |
|----------------------+----------+----------------------------|
| ChatGPT | ✓ | [[https://platform.openai.com/account/api-keys][API key]] |
| Anthropic (Claude) | ✓ | [[https://www.anthropic.com/api][API key]] |
| Gemini | ✓ | [[https://makersuite.google.com/app/apikey][API key]] |
| Ollama | ✓ | [[https://ollama.ai/][Ollama running locally]] |
| Llama.cpp | ✓ | [[https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/tree/master/tools/server#quick-start][Llama.cpp running locally]] |
| Llamafile | ✓ | [[https://github.com/Mozilla-Ocho/llamafile#quickstart][Local Llamafile server]] |
| GPT4All | ✓ | [[https://gpt4all.io/index.html][GPT4All running locally]] |
| Kagi FastGPT | ✓ | [[https://kagi.com/settings?p=api][API key]] |
| Kagi Summarizer | ✓ | [[https://kagi.com/settings?p=api][API key]] |
| Azure | ✓ | Deployment and API key |
| Groq | ✓ | [[https://console.groq.com/keys][API key]] |
| Mistral Le Chat | ✓ | [[https://console.mistral.ai/api-keys][API key]] |
| Perplexity | ✓ | [[https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started][API key]] |
| OpenRouter | ✓ | [[https://openrouter.ai/keys][API key]] |
| together.ai | ✓ | [[https://api.together.xyz/settings/api-keys][API key]] |
| Anyscale | ✓ | [[https://docs.endpoints.anyscale.com/][API key]] |
| PrivateGPT | ✓ | [[https://github.com/zylon-ai/private-gpt#-documentation][PrivateGPT running locally]] |
| DeepSeek | ✓ | [[https://platform.deepseek.com/api_keys][API key]] |
| Sambanova (Deepseek) | ✓ | [[https://cloud.sambanova.ai/apis][API key]] |
| Cerebras | ✓ | [[https://cloud.cerebras.ai/][API key]] |
| Github Models | ✓ | [[https://github.com/settings/tokens][Token]] |
| Novita AI | ✓ | [[https://novita.ai/model-api/product/llm-api?utm_source=github_gptel&utm_medium=github_readme&utm_campaign=link][Token]] |
| xAI | ✓ | [[https://console.x.ai?utm_source=github_gptel&utm_medium=github_readme&utm_campaign=link][API key]] |
| Github CopilotChat | ✓ | Github account |
| Bedrock | ✓ | AWS credentials |
#+html:
*General usage*: ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsRnh_brggM][YouTube Demo]])
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8607532/230516812-86510a09-a2fb-4cbd-b53f-cc2522d05a13.mp4
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/8607532/230516816-ae4a613a-4d01-4073-ad3f-b66fa73c6e45.mp4
*In-place usage*
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cec11aec-52f6-412e-9e7a-9358e8b9b1bf
#+html:
*Tool use*
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5f993659-4cfd-49fa-b5cd-19c55766b9b2
#+html:
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8f57c20b-e1b0-4d86-b972-f46fb90ae1e7
#+html:
See also [[https://youtu.be/g1VMGhC5gRU][this youtube demo (2 minutes)]] by Armin Darvish.
# *Media support*
# #+html:
# https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1fd947e1-226b-4be2-bc68-7b22b2e3215f
# #+html:
# *Multi-LLM support demo*:
# https://github-production-user-asset-6210df.s3.amazonaws.com/8607532/278854024-ae1336c4-5b87-41f2-83e9-e415349d6a43.mp4
------
- gptel is async and fast, streams responses.
- Interact with LLMs from anywhere in Emacs (any buffer, shell, minibuffer, wherever).
- LLM responses are in Markdown or Org markup.
- Supports multiple independent conversations and one-off ad hoc interactions.
- Supports tool-use to equip LLMs with agentic capabilities.
- Supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration using [[https://github.com/lizqwerscott/mcp.el][mcp.el]].
- Supports multi-modal input (include images, documents).
- Supports "reasoning" content in LLM responses.
- Save chats as regular Markdown/Org/Text files and resume them later.
- Edit your previous prompts or LLM responses when continuing a conversation. These will be fed back to the model.
- Supports introspection, so you can see /exactly/ what will be sent. Inspect and modify queries before sending them.
- Pause multi-stage requests at an intermediate stage and resume them later.
- Don't like gptel's workflow? Use it to create your own for any supported model/backend with a [[https://github.com/karthink/gptel/wiki/Defining-custom-gptel-commands][simple API]].
gptel uses Curl if available, but falls back to the built-in url-retrieve to work without external dependencies.
** Contents :toc:
- [[#installation][Installation]]
- [[#straight][Straight]]
- [[#manual][Manual]]
- [[#doom-emacs][Doom Emacs]]
- [[#spacemacs][Spacemacs]]
- [[#setup][Setup]]
- [[#chatgpt][ChatGPT]]
- [[#other-llm-backends][Other LLM backends]]
- [[#azure][Azure]]
- [[#gpt4all][GPT4All]]
- [[#ollama][Ollama]]
- [[#gemini][Gemini]]
- [[#llamacpp-or-llamafile][Llama.cpp or Llamafile]]
- [[#kagi-fastgpt--summarizer][Kagi (FastGPT & Summarizer)]]
- [[#togetherai][together.ai]]
- [[#anyscale][Anyscale]]
- [[#perplexity][Perplexity]]
- [[#anthropic-claude][Anthropic (Claude)]]
- [[#groq][Groq]]
- [[#mistral-le-chat][Mistral Le Chat]]
- [[#openrouter][OpenRouter]]
- [[#privategpt][PrivateGPT]]
- [[#deepseek][DeepSeek]]
- [[#sambanova-deepseek][Sambanova (Deepseek)]]
- [[#cerebras][Cerebras]]
- [[#github-models][Github Models]]
- [[#novita-ai][Novita AI]]
- [[#xai][xAI]]
- [[#github-copilotchat][Github CopilotChat]]
- [[#aws-bedrock][AWS Bedrock]]
- [[#usage][Usage]]
- [[#in-any-buffer][In any buffer:]]
- [[#in-a-dedicated-chat-buffer][In a dedicated chat buffer:]]
- [[#including-media-images-documents-or-plain-text-files-with-requests][Including media (images, documents or plain-text files) with requests]]
- [[#save-and-restore-your-chat-sessions][Save and restore your chat sessions]]
- [[#setting-options-backend-model-request-parameters-system-prompts-and-more][Setting options (backend, model, request parameters, system prompts and more)]]
- [[#include-more-context-with-requests][Include more context with requests]]
- [[#handle-reasoning-content][Handle "reasoning" content]]
- [[#tool-use][Tool use]]
- [[#defining-gptel-tools][Defining gptel tools]]
- [[#selecting-tools][Selecting tools]]
- [[#model-context-protocol-mcp-integration][Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration]]
- [[#rewrite-refactor-or-fill-in-a-region][Rewrite, refactor or fill in a region]]
- [[#extra-org-mode-conveniences][Extra Org mode conveniences]]
- [[#faq][FAQ]]
- [[#chat-buffer-ui][Chat buffer UI]]
- [[#i-want-the-window-to-scroll-automatically-as-the-response-is-inserted][I want the window to scroll automatically as the response is inserted]]
- [[#i-want-the-cursor-to-move-to-the-next-prompt-after-the-response-is-inserted][I want the cursor to move to the next prompt after the response is inserted]]
- [[#i-want-to-change-the-formatting-of-the-prompt-and-llm-response][I want to change the formatting of the prompt and LLM response]]
- [[#how-does-gptel-distinguish-between-user-prompts-and-llm-responses][How does gptel distinguish between user prompts and LLM responses?]]
- [[#transient-menu-behavior][Transient menu behavior]]
- [[#i-want-to-set-gptel-options-but-only-for-this-buffer][I want to set gptel options, but only for this buffer]]
- [[#i-want-the-transient-menu-options-to-be-saved-so-i-only-need-to-set-them-once][I want the transient menu options to be saved so I only need to set them once]]
- [[#using-the-transient-menu-leaves-behind-extra-windows][Using the transient menu leaves behind extra windows]]
- [[#can-i-change-the-transient-menu-key-bindings][Can I change the transient menu key bindings?]]
- [[#doom-emacs-sending-a-query-from-the-gptel-menu-fails-because-of-a-key-conflict-with-org-mode][(Doom Emacs) Sending a query from the gptel menu fails because of a key conflict with Org mode]]
- [[#miscellaneous][Miscellaneous]]
- [[#i-want-to-use-gptel-in-a-way-thats-not-supported-by-gptel-send-or-the-options-menu][I want to use gptel in a way that's not supported by =gptel-send= or the options menu]]
- [[#chatgpt-i-get-the-error-http2-429-you-exceeded-your-current-quota][(ChatGPT) I get the error "(HTTP/2 429) You exceeded your current quota"]]
- [[#why-another-llm-client][Why another LLM client?]]
- [[#additional-configuration][Additional Configuration]]
- [[#option-presets][Option presets]]
- [[#applying-presets-to-requests-automatically][Applying presets to requests automatically]]
- [[#alternatives][Alternatives]]
- [[#packages-using-gptel][Packages using gptel]]
- [[#acknowledgments][Acknowledgments]]
** COMMENT Breaking changes!
- =gptel-model= is now expected to be a symbol, not a string. Please update your configuration.
** Installation
- *Release version*: =M-x package-install= ⏎ =gptel= in Emacs.
- *Development snapshot*: Add MELPA or NonGNU-devel ELPA to your list of package sources, then install with =M-x package-install= ⏎ =gptel=.
- *Optional:* Install =markdown-mode=.
#+html:
**** Straight
#+html:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(straight-use-package 'gptel)
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Manual
#+html:
Clone or download this repository and run =M-x package-install-file⏎= on the repository directory.
#+html:
**** Doom Emacs
#+html:
In =packages.el=
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(package! gptel :recipe (:nonrecursive t))
#+end_src
In =config.el=
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package! gptel
:config
(setq! gptel-api-key "your key"))
#+end_src
"your key" can be the API key itself, or (safer) a function that returns the key. Setting =gptel-api-key= is optional, you will be asked for a key if it's not found.
#+html:
**** Spacemacs
#+html:
In your =.spacemacs= file, add =llm-client= to =dotspacemacs-configuration-layers=.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(llm-client :variables
llm-client-enable-gptel t)
#+end_src
#+html:
***** (Optional) Securing API keys with =authinfo=
#+html:
You can use Emacs' built-in support for =authinfo= to store API keys required by gptel. Add your API keys to =~/.authinfo=, and leave =gptel-api-key= set to its default. By default, the API endpoint DNS name (e.g. "api.openai.com") is used as HOST and "apikey" as USER.
#+begin_src authinfo
machine api.openai.com login apikey password sk-secret-openai-api-key-goes-here
machine api.anthropic.com login apikey password sk-secret-anthropic-api-key-goes-here
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Azure
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-azure "Azure-1" ;Name, whatever you'd like
:protocol "https" ;Optional -- https is the default
:host "YOUR_RESOURCE_NAME.openai.azure.com"
:endpoint "/openai/deployments/YOUR_DEPLOYMENT_NAME/chat/completions?api-version=2023-05-15" ;or equivalent
:stream t ;Enable streaming responses
:key #'gptel-api-key
:models '(gpt-3.5-turbo gpt-4))
#+end_src
Refer to the documentation of =gptel-make-azure= to set more parameters.
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel. (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'gpt-3.5-turbo
gptel-backend (gptel-make-azure "Azure-1"
:protocol "https"
:host "YOUR_RESOURCE_NAME.openai.azure.com"
:endpoint "/openai/deployments/YOUR_DEPLOYMENT_NAME/chat/completions?api-version=2023-05-15"
:stream t
:key #'gptel-api-key
:models '(gpt-3.5-turbo gpt-4)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** GPT4All
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-gpt4all "GPT4All" ;Name of your choosing
:protocol "http"
:host "localhost:4891" ;Where it's running
:models '(mistral-7b-openorca.Q4_0.gguf)) ;Available models
#+end_src
These are the required parameters, refer to the documentation of =gptel-make-gpt4all= for more.
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above. Additionally you may want to increase the response token size since GPT4All uses very short (often truncated) responses by default.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-max-tokens 500
gptel-model 'mistral-7b-openorca.Q4_0.gguf
gptel-backend (gptel-make-gpt4all "GPT4All"
:protocol "http"
:host "localhost:4891"
:models '(mistral-7b-openorca.Q4_0.gguf)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Ollama
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-ollama "Ollama" ;Any name of your choosing
:host "localhost:11434" ;Where it's running
:stream t ;Stream responses
:models '(mistral:latest)) ;List of models
#+end_src
These are the required parameters, refer to the documentation of =gptel-make-ollama= for more.
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'mistral:latest
gptel-backend (gptel-make-ollama "Ollama"
:host "localhost:11434"
:stream t
:models '(mistral:latest)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Gemini
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; :key can be a function that returns the API key.
(gptel-make-gemini "Gemini" :key "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY" :stream t)
#+end_src
These are the required parameters, refer to the documentation of =gptel-make-gemini= for more.
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'gemini-2.5-pro-exp-03-25
gptel-backend (gptel-make-gemini "Gemini"
:key "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY"
:stream t))
#+end_src
#+html:
#+html:
**** Llama.cpp or Llamafile
#+html:
(If using a llamafile, run a [[https://github.com/Mozilla-Ocho/llamafile#other-example-llamafiles][server llamafile]] instead of a "command-line llamafile", and a model that supports text generation.)
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Llama.cpp offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "llama-cpp" ;Any name
:stream t ;Stream responses
:protocol "http"
:host "localhost:8000" ;Llama.cpp server location
:models '(test)) ;Any names, doesn't matter for Llama
#+end_src
These are the required parameters, refer to the documentation of =gptel-make-openai= for more.
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'test
gptel-backend (gptel-make-openai "llama-cpp"
:stream t
:protocol "http"
:host "localhost:8000"
:models '(test)))
#+end_src
#+html:
#+html:
**** Kagi (FastGPT & Summarizer)
#+html:
Kagi's FastGPT model and the Universal Summarizer are both supported. A couple of notes:
1. Universal Summarizer: If there is a URL at point, the summarizer will summarize the contents of the URL. Otherwise the context sent to the model is the same as always: the buffer text upto point, or the contents of the region if the region is active.
2. Kagi models do not support multi-turn conversations, interactions are "one-shot". They also do not support streaming responses.
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-kagi "Kagi" ;any name
:key "YOUR_KAGI_API_KEY") ;can be a function that returns the key
#+end_src
These are the required parameters, refer to the documentation of =gptel-make-kagi= for more.
You can pick this backend and the model (fastgpt/summarizer) from the transient menu when using gptel.
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'fastgpt
gptel-backend (gptel-make-kagi "Kagi"
:key "YOUR_KAGI_API_KEY"))
#+end_src
The alternatives to =fastgpt= include =summarize:cecil=, =summarize:agnes=, =summarize:daphne= and =summarize:muriel=. The difference between the summarizer engines is [[https://help.kagi.com/kagi/api/summarizer.html#summarization-engines][documented here]].
#+html:
**** together.ai
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Together.ai offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "TogetherAI" ;Any name you want
:host "api.together.xyz"
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:stream t
:models '(;; has many more, check together.ai
mistralai/Mixtral-8x7B-Instruct-v0.1
codellama/CodeLlama-13b-Instruct-hf
codellama/CodeLlama-34b-Instruct-hf))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'mistralai/Mixtral-8x7B-Instruct-v0.1
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "TogetherAI"
:host "api.together.xyz"
:key "your-api-key"
:stream t
:models '(;; has many more, check together.ai
mistralai/Mixtral-8x7B-Instruct-v0.1
codellama/CodeLlama-13b-Instruct-hf
codellama/CodeLlama-34b-Instruct-hf)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Anyscale
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Anyscale offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "Anyscale" ;Any name you want
:host "api.endpoints.anyscale.com"
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '(;; has many more, check anyscale
mistralai/Mixtral-8x7B-Instruct-v0.1))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'mistralai/Mixtral-8x7B-Instruct-v0.1
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "Anyscale"
:host "api.endpoints.anyscale.com"
:key "your-api-key"
:models '(;; has many more, check anyscale
mistralai/Mixtral-8x7B-Instruct-v0.1)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Perplexity
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-perplexity "Perplexity" ;Any name you want
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:stream t) ;If you want responses to be streamed
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'sonar
gptel-backend (gptel-make-perplexity "Perplexity"
:key "your-api-key" :stream t))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Anthropic (Claude)
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-anthropic "Claude" ;Any name you want
:stream t ;Streaming responses
:key "your-api-key")
#+end_src
The =:key= can be a function that returns the key (more secure).
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'claude-3-sonnet-20240229 ; "claude-3-opus-20240229" also available
gptel-backend (gptel-make-anthropic "Claude"
:stream t :key "your-api-key"))
#+end_src
***** (Optional) Interim support for Claude 3.7 Sonnet
To use Claude 3.7 Sonnet model in its "thinking" mode, you can define a second Claude backend and select it via the UI or elisp:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-anthropic "Claude-thinking" ;Any name you want
:key "your-API-key"
:stream t
:models '(claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219)
:header (lambda () (when-let* ((key (gptel--get-api-key)))
`(("x-api-key" . ,key)
("anthropic-version" . "2023-06-01")
("anthropic-beta" . "pdfs-2024-09-25")
("anthropic-beta" . "output-128k-2025-02-19")
("anthropic-beta" . "prompt-caching-2024-07-31"))))
:request-params '(:thinking (:type "enabled" :budget_tokens 2048)
:max_tokens 4096))
#+end_src
You can set the reasoning budget tokens and max tokens for this usage via the =:budget_tokens= and =:max_tokens= keys here, respectively.
You can control whether/how the reasoning output is shown via gptel's menu or =gptel-include-reasoning=, see [[#handle-reasoning-content][handling reasoning content]].
#+html:
**** Groq
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Groq offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "Groq" ;Any name you want
:host "api.groq.com"
:endpoint "/openai/v1/chat/completions"
:stream t
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '(llama-3.1-70b-versatile
llama-3.1-8b-instant
llama3-70b-8192
llama3-8b-8192
mixtral-8x7b-32768
gemma-7b-it))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]). Note that Groq is fast enough that you could easily set =:stream nil= and still get near-instant responses.
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'mixtral-8x7b-32768
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "Groq"
:host "api.groq.com"
:endpoint "/openai/v1/chat/completions"
:stream t
:key "your-api-key"
:models '(llama-3.1-70b-versatile
llama-3.1-8b-instant
llama3-70b-8192
llama3-8b-8192
mixtral-8x7b-32768
gemma-7b-it)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Mistral Le Chat
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Mistral offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "MistralLeChat" ;Any name you want
:host "api.mistral.ai"
:endpoint "/v1/chat/completions"
:protocol "https"
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '("mistral-small"))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'mistral-small
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "MistralLeChat" ;Any name you want
:host "api.mistral.ai"
:endpoint "/v1/chat/completions"
:protocol "https"
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '("mistral-small")))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** OpenRouter
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OpenRouter offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "OpenRouter" ;Any name you want
:host "openrouter.ai"
:endpoint "/api/v1/chat/completions"
:stream t
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '(openai/gpt-3.5-turbo
mistralai/mixtral-8x7b-instruct
meta-llama/codellama-34b-instruct
codellama/codellama-70b-instruct
google/palm-2-codechat-bison-32k
google/gemini-pro))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'mixtral-8x7b-32768
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "OpenRouter" ;Any name you want
:host "openrouter.ai"
:endpoint "/api/v1/chat/completions"
:stream t
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '(openai/gpt-3.5-turbo
mistralai/mixtral-8x7b-instruct
meta-llama/codellama-34b-instruct
codellama/codellama-70b-instruct
google/palm-2-codechat-bison-32k
google/gemini-pro)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** PrivateGPT
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-privategpt "privateGPT" ;Any name you want
:protocol "http"
:host "localhost:8001"
:stream t
:context t ;Use context provided by embeddings
:sources t ;Return information about source documents
:models '(private-gpt))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'private-gpt
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-privategpt "privateGPT" ;Any name you want
:protocol "http"
:host "localhost:8001"
:stream t
:context t ;Use context provided by embeddings
:sources t ;Return information about source documents
:models '(private-gpt)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** DeepSeek
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-deepseek "DeepSeek" ;Any name you want
:stream t ;for streaming responses
:key "your-api-key") ;can be a function that returns the key
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'deepseek-reasoner
gptel-backend (gptel-make-deepseek "DeepSeek"
:stream t
:key "your-api-key"))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Sambanova (Deepseek)
#+html:
Sambanova offers various LLMs through their Samba Nova Cloud offering, with Deepseek-R1 being one of them. The token speed for Deepseek R1 via Sambanova is about 6 times faster than when accessed through deepseek.com
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-openai "Sambanova" ;Any name you want
:host "api.sambanova.ai"
:endpoint "/v1/chat/completions"
:stream t ;for streaming responses
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '(DeepSeek-R1))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The code aboves makes the backend available for selection. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Add these two lines to your configuration:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'DeepSeek-R1)
(setq gptel-backend (gptel-get-backend "Sambanova"))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Cerebras
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Cerebras offers an instant OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "Cerebras"
:host "api.cerebras.ai"
:endpoint "/v1/chat/completions"
:stream t ;optionally nil as Cerebras is instant AI
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:models '(llama3.1-70b
llama3.1-8b))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'llama3.1-8b
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "Cerebras"
:host "api.cerebras.ai"
:endpoint "/v1/chat/completions"
:stream nil
:key "your-api-key"
:models '(llama3.1-70b
llama3.1-8b)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Github Models
#+html:
NOTE: [[https://docs.github.com/en/github-models/about-github-models][GitHub Models]] is /not/ GitHub Copilot! If you want to use GitHub Copilot chat via gptel, look at the instructions for GitHub CopilotChat below instead.
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Github Models offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "Github Models" ;Any name you want
:host "models.inference.ai.azure.com"
:endpoint "/chat/completions?api-version=2024-05-01-preview"
:stream t
:key "your-github-token"
:models '(gpt-4o))
#+end_src
You will need to create a github [[https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens][token]].
For all the available models, check the [[https://github.com/marketplace/models][marketplace]].
You can pick this backend from the menu when using (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'gpt-4o
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "Github Models" ;Any name you want
:host "models.inference.ai.azure.com"
:endpoint "/chat/completions?api-version=2024-05-01-preview"
:stream t
:key "your-github-token"
:models '(gpt-4o))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Novita AI
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Novita AI offers an OpenAI compatible API
(gptel-make-openai "NovitaAI" ;Any name you want
:host "api.novita.ai"
:endpoint "/v3/openai"
:key "your-api-key" ;can be a function that returns the key
:stream t
:models '(;; has many more, check https://novita.ai/llm-api
gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b
meta-llama/llama-3-70b-instruct
meta-llama/llama-3.1-70b-instruct))
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq
gptel-model 'gryphe/mythomax-l2-13b
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-openai "NovitaAI"
:host "api.novita.ai"
:endpoint "/v3/openai"
:key "your-api-key"
:stream t
:models '(;; has many more, check https://novita.ai/llm-api
mistralai/Mixtral-8x7B-Instruct-v0.1
meta-llama/llama-3-70b-instruct
meta-llama/llama-3.1-70b-instruct)))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** xAI
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-xai "xAI" ; Any name you want
:stream t
:key "your-api-key") ; can be a function that returns the key
#+end_src
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]])
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq gptel-model 'grok-3-latest
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-xai "xAI" ; Any name you want
:key "your-api-key" ; can be a function that returns the key
:stream t))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** Github CopilotChat
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-gh-copilot "Copilot")
#+end_src
You will be informed to login into =Github= as required.
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'claude-3.7-sonnet
gptel-backend (gptel-make-gh-copilot "Copilot"))
#+end_src
#+html:
**** AWS Bedrock
#+html:
Register a backend with
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-bedrock "AWS"
;; optionally enable streaming
:stream t
:region "ap-northeast-1"
;; subset of gptel--bedrock-models
:models '(claude-sonnet-4-20250514)
;; Model region for cross-region inference profiles. Required for models such
;; as Claude without on-demand throughput support. One of 'apac, 'eu or 'us.
;; https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/inference-profiles-use.html
:model-region 'apac)
#+end_src
The Bedrock backend gets your AWS credentials from the environment variables. It expects to find either
~AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID~, ~AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY~, ~AWS_SESSION_TOKEN~ (optional), or if present, can use ~AWS_PROFILE~ to get these directly from the ~aws~ cli.
NOTE: The Bedrock backend needs curl >= 8.5 in order for the sigv4 signing to work properly,
https://github.com/curl/curl/issues/11794
An error will be signalled if ~gptel-curl~ is ~NIL~.
You can pick this backend from the menu when using gptel (see [[#usage][Usage]]).
***** (Optional) Set as the default gptel backend
The above code makes the backend available to select. If you want it to be the default backend for gptel, you can set this as the value of =gptel-backend=. Use this instead of the above.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; OPTIONAL configuration
(setq gptel-model 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514
gptel-backend
(gptel-make-bedrock "AWS"
;; optionally enable streaming
:stream t
:region "ap-northeast-1"
;; subset of gptel--bedrock-models
:models '(claude-sonnet-4-20250514)
;; Model region for cross-region inference profiles. Required for models such
;; as Claude without on-demand throughput support. One of 'apac, 'eu or 'us.
;; https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/inference-profiles-use.html
:model-region 'apac))
#+end_src
#+html: 
You can also define a "preset" bundle of options that are applied together, see [[#option-presets][Option presets]] below.
*** In a dedicated chat buffer:
*Note*: gptel works anywhere in Emacs. The dedicated chat buffer only adds some conveniences.
1. Run =M-x gptel= to start or switch to the chat buffer. It will ask you for the key if you skipped the previous step. Run it with a prefix-arg (=C-u M-x gptel=) to start a new session.
2. In the gptel buffer, send your prompt with =M-x gptel-send=, bound to =C-c RET=.
3. Set chat parameters (LLM provider, model, directives etc) for the session by calling =gptel-send= with a prefix argument (=C-u C-c RET=):
#+html: 
That's it. You can go back and edit previous prompts and responses if you want.
The default mode is =markdown-mode= if available, else =text-mode=. You can set =gptel-default-mode= to =org-mode= if desired.
You can also define a "preset" bundle of options that are applied together, see [[#option-presets][Option presets]] below.
#+html:
**** Including media (images, documents or plain-text files) with requests
#+html:
gptel supports sending media in Markdown and Org chat buffers, but this feature is disabled by default.
- You can enable it globally, for all models that support it, by setting =gptel-track-media=.
- Or you can set it locally, just for the chat buffer, via the header line:
#+html: 
-----
There are two ways to include media or plain-text files with requests:
1. Adding media files to the context with =gptel-add-file=, described further below.
2. Including links to media in chat buffers, described here:
To include plain-text files, images or other supported document types with requests in chat buffers, you can include links to them in the chat buffer. Such a link must be "standalone", i.e. on a line by itself surrounded by whitespace.
In Org mode, for example, the following are all *valid* ways of including an image with the request:
- "Standalone" file links:
#+begin_src
In this yaml file, I have some key-remapping configuration:
[[file:/path/to/remap.yaml]]
Could you explain what it does, and which program might be using it?
#+end_src
#+begin_src
Describe this picture
[[file:/path/to/screenshot.png]]
Focus specifically on the text content.
#+end_src
- "Standalone" file link with description:
#+begin_src
Describe this picture
[[file:/path/to/screenshot.png][some picture]]
Focus specifically on the text content.
#+end_src
- "Standalone", angle file link:
#+begin_src
Describe this picture
Focus specifically on the text content.
#+end_src
The following links are *not valid*, and the text of the link will be sent instead of the file contents:
- Inline link:
#+begin_src
Describe this [[file:/path/to/screenshot.png][picture]].
Focus specifically on the text content.
#+end_src
- Link not "standalone":
#+begin_src
Describe this picture:
[[file:/path/to/screenshot.png]]
Focus specifically on the text content.
#+end_src
- Not a valid Org link:
#+begin_src
Describe the picture
file:/path/to/screenshot.png
#+end_src
Similar criteria apply to Markdown chat buffers.
#+html:
**** Save and restore your chat sessions
#+html:
Saving the file will save the state of the conversation as well. To resume the chat, open the file and turn on =gptel-mode= before editing the buffer.
#+html: 
And then browse through or remove context from the context buffer:
#+html: 
*** Handle "reasoning" content
Some LLMs include in their response a "thinking" or "reasoning" block. This text improves the quality of the LLM’s final output, but may not be interesting to you by itself. You can decide how you would like this "reasoning" content to be handled by gptel by setting the user option =gptel-include-reasoning=. You can include it in the LLM response (the default), omit it entirely, include it in the buffer but ignore it on subsequent conversation turns, or redirect it to another buffer. As with most options, you can specify this behvaior from gptel's transient menu globally, buffer-locally or for the next request only.
When included with the response, reasoning content will be delimited by Org blocks or markdown backticks.
*** Tool use
gptel can provide the LLM with client-side elisp "tools", or function specifications, along with the request. If the LLM decides to run the tool, it supplies the tool call arguments, which gptel uses to run the tool in your Emacs session. The result is optionally returned to the LLM to complete the task.
This exchange can be used to equip the LLM with capabilities or knowledge beyond what is available out of the box -- for instance, you can get the LLM to control your Emacs frame, create or modify files and directories, or look up information relevant to your request via web search or in a local database. Here is a very simple example:
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d1f8e2ac-62bb-49bc-850d-0a67aa0cd4c3
#+html:
To use tools in gptel, you need
- a model that supports this usage. All the flagship models support tool use, as do many of the smaller open models.
- Tool specifications that gptel understands. gptel does not currently include any tools out of the box.
#+html:
**** Defining gptel tools
#+html:
Defining a gptel tool requires an elisp function and associated metadata. Here are two simple tool definitions:
*To read the contents of an Emacs buffer*:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-tool
:name "read_buffer" ; javascript-style snake_case name
:function (lambda (buffer) ; the function that will run
(unless (buffer-live-p (get-buffer buffer))
(error "error: buffer %s is not live." buffer))
(with-current-buffer buffer
(buffer-substring-no-properties (point-min) (point-max))))
:description "return the contents of an emacs buffer"
:args (list '(:name "buffer"
:type string ; :type value must be a symbol
:description "the name of the buffer whose contents are to be retrieved"))
:category "emacs") ; An arbitrary label for grouping
#+end_src
Besides the function itself, which can be named or anonymous (as above), the tool specification requires a =:name=, =:description= and a list of argument specifications in =:args=. Each argument specification is a plist with atleast the keys =:name=, =:type= and =:description=.
*To create a text file*:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-tool
:name "create_file" ; javascript-style snake_case name
:function (lambda (path filename content) ; the function that runs
(let ((full-path (expand-file-name filename path)))
(with-temp-buffer
(insert content)
(write-file full-path))
(format "Created file %s in %s" filename path)))
:description "Create a new file with the specified content"
:args (list '(:name "path" ; a list of argument specifications
:type string
:description "The directory where to create the file")
'(:name "filename"
:type string
:description "The name of the file to create")
'(:name "content"
:type string
:description "The content to write to the file"))
:category "filesystem") ; An arbitrary label for grouping
#+end_src
With some prompting, you can get an LLM to write these tools for you.
Tools can also be asynchronous, use optional arguments and arguments with more structure (enums, arrays, objects etc). See =gptel-make-tool= for details.
#+html:
**** Selecting tools
#+html:
Once defined, tools can be selected (globally, buffer-locally or for the next request only) from gptel's transient menu:
#+html: 
From here you can also require confirmation for all tool calls, and decide if tool call results should be included in the LLM response. See [[#additional-configuration][Additional Configuration]] for doing these things via elisp.
#+html:
**** Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration
#+html:
The [[https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction][Model Context Protocol]] (MCP) is a protocol for providing resources and tools to LLMs, and [[https://github.com/appcypher/awesome-mcp-servers][many MCP servers exist]] that provide LLM tools for file access, database connections, API integrations etc. The [[mcp.el]] package for Emacs can act as an MCP client and manage these tool calls for gptel.
To use MCP servers with gptel, you thus need three pieces:
1. The [[https://github.com/lizqwerscott/mcp.el][mcp.el]] package for Emacs, [[https://melpa.org/#/mcp][available on MELPA]].
2. MCP servers configured for and running via mcp.el.
3. gptel and access to an LLM
gptel includes =gptel-integrations=, a small library to make this more convenient. This library is not automatically loaded by gptel, so if you would like to use it you have to require it:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(require 'gptel-integrations)
#+end_src
Once loaded, you can run the =gptel-mcp-connect= and =gptel-mcp-disconnect= commands to register and unregister MCP-provided tools in gptel. These will also show up in the tools menu in gptel, accessed via =M-x gptel-menu= or =M-x gptel-tools=:
#+html: 
MCP-provided tools can be used as normal with gptel. Here is a screencast of the process. (In this example the "github" MCP server is installed separately using npm.)
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f3ea7ac0-a322-4a59-b5b2-b3f592554f8a
#+html:
Here's an example of using these tools:
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b48a6a24-a130-4da7-a2ee-6ea568e10c85
#+html:
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e3b436b3-9bde-4c1f-b2ce-3f7df1984933
#+html:
The result is previewed over the original text. By default, the buffer is not modified.
Pressing =RET= or clicking in the rewritten region should give you a list of options: you can *iterate* on, *diff*, *ediff*, *merge* or *accept* the replacement. Example with code:
#+html:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4067fdb8-85d3-4264-9b64-d727353f68f9
#+html:
*Acting on the LLM response*:
If you would like one of these things to happen automatically, you can customize =gptel-rewrite-default-action=.
These options are also available from =gptel-rewrite=:
#+html: 
And you can call them directly when the cursor is in the rewritten region:
#+html: 
*** Extra Org mode conveniences
gptel offers a few extra conveniences in Org mode.
***** Limit conversation context to an Org heading
You can limit the conversation context to an Org heading with the command =gptel-org-set-topic=.
(This sets an Org property (=GPTEL_TOPIC=) under the heading. You can also add this property manually instead.)
***** Use branching context in Org mode (tree of conversations)
You can have branching conversations in Org mode, where each hierarchical outline path through the document is a separate conversation branch. This is also useful for limiting the context size of each query. See the variable =gptel-org-branching-context=.
If this variable is non-nil, you should probably edit =gptel-prompt-prefix-alist= and =gptel-response-prefix-alist= so that the prefix strings for org-mode are not Org headings, e.g.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setf (alist-get 'org-mode gptel-prompt-prefix-alist) "@user\n")
(setf (alist-get 'org-mode gptel-response-prefix-alist) "@assistant\n")
#+end_src
Otherwise, the default prompt prefix will make successive prompts sibling headings, and therefore on different conversation branches, which probably isn't what you want.
Note: using this option requires Org 9.7 or higher to be available. The [[https://github.com/ultronozm/ai-org-chat.el][ai-org-chat]] package uses gptel to provide this branching conversation behavior for older versions of Org.
***** Save gptel parameters to Org headings (reproducible chats)
You can declare the gptel model, backend, temperature, system message and other parameters as Org properties with the command =gptel-org-set-properties=. gptel queries under the corresponding heading will always use these settings, allowing you to create mostly reproducible LLM chat notebooks, and to have simultaneous chats with different models, model settings and directives under different Org headings.
** FAQ
*** Chat buffer UI
#+html:
**** I want the window to scroll automatically as the response is inserted
#+html:
To be minimally annoying, gptel does not move the cursor by default. Add the following to your configuration to enable auto-scrolling.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(add-hook 'gptel-post-stream-hook 'gptel-auto-scroll)
#+end_src
#+html:
**** I want the cursor to move to the next prompt after the response is inserted
#+html:
To be minimally annoying, gptel does not move the cursor by default. Add the following to your configuration to move the cursor:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(add-hook 'gptel-post-response-functions 'gptel-end-of-response)
#+end_src
You can also call =gptel-end-of-response= as a command at any time.
#+html:
**** I want to change the formatting of the prompt and LLM response
#+html:
For dedicated chat buffers: customize =gptel-prompt-prefix-alist= and =gptel-response-prefix-alist=. You can set a different pair for each major-mode.
Anywhere in Emacs: Use =gptel-pre-response-hook= and =gptel-post-response-functions=, which see.
#+html:
**** How does gptel distinguish between user prompts and LLM responses?
#+html:
gptel uses [[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Text-Properties.html][text-properties]] to watermark LLM responses. Thus this text is interpreted as a response even if you copy it into another buffer. In regular buffers (buffers without =gptel-mode= enabled), you can turn off this tracking by unsetting =gptel-track-response=.
When restoring a chat state from a file on disk, gptel will apply these properties from saved metadata in the file when you turn on =gptel-mode=.
gptel does /not/ use any prefix or semantic/syntax element in the buffer (such as headings) to separate prompts and responses. The reason for this is that gptel aims to integrate as seamlessly as possible into your regular Emacs usage: LLM interaction is not the objective, it's just another tool at your disposal. So requiring a bunch of "user" and "assistant" tags in the buffer is noisy and restrictive. If you want these demarcations, you can customize =gptel-prompt-prefix-alist= and =gptel-response-prefix-alist=. Note that these prefixes are for your readability only and purely cosmetic.
#+html:
**** I want to set gptel options, but only for this buffer
:PROPERTIES:
:ID: 748cbc00-0c92-4705-8839-619b2c80e566
:END:
#+html:
In every menu used to set options, gptel provides a "scope" option, bound to the ~=~ key:
#+html: 
#+html: 
#+html: 
You can flip this switch before setting the option to =buffer= or =oneshot=. You only need to flip this switch once, it's a persistent setting. =buffer= sets the option buffer-locally, =oneshot= will set it for the next gptel request only. The default scope is global.
#+html:
**** I want the transient menu options to be saved so I only need to set them once
#+html:
Any model options you set are saved according to the scope (see previous question). But the redirection options in the menu are set for the next query only:
#+html: 
You can make them persistent across this Emacs session by pressing ~C-x C-s~:
#+html: 
(You can also cycle through presets you've saved with ~C-x p~ and ~C-x n~.)
Now these will be enabled whenever you send a query from the transient menu. If you want to use these saved options without invoking the transient menu, you can use a keyboard macro:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
;; Replace with your key to invoke the transient menu:
(keymap-global-set "" "C-u C-c ")
#+end_src
Or see this [[https://github.com/karthink/gptel/wiki/Commonly-requested-features#save-transient-flags][wiki entry]].
#+html:
**** Using the transient menu leaves behind extra windows
#+html:
If using gptel's transient menus causes new/extra window splits to be created, check your value of =transient-display-buffer-action=. [[https://github.com/magit/transient/discussions/358][See this discussion]] for more context.
If you are using Helm, see [[https://github.com/magit/transient/discussions/361][Transient#361]].
In general, do not customize this Transient option unless you know what you're doing!
#+html:
**** Can I change the transient menu key bindings?
#+html:
Yes, see =transient-suffix-put=. This changes the key to select a backend/model from "-m" to "M" in gptel's menu:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(transient-suffix-put 'gptel-menu (kbd "-m") :key "M")
#+end_src
#+html:
**** (Doom Emacs) Sending a query from the gptel menu fails because of a key conflict with Org mode
#+html:
Doom binds ~RET~ in Org mode to =+org/dwim-at-point=, which appears to conflict with gptel's transient menu bindings for some reason.
Two solutions:
- Press ~C-m~ instead of the return key.
- Change the send key from return to a key of your choice:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(transient-suffix-put 'gptel-menu (kbd "RET") :key "")
#+end_src
#+html:
**** I want to use gptel in a way that's not supported by =gptel-send= or the options menu
#+html:
gptel's default usage pattern is simple, and will stay this way: Read input in any buffer and insert the response below it. Some custom behavior is possible with the transient menu (=C-u M-x gptel-send=).
For more programmable usage, gptel provides a general =gptel-request= function that accepts a custom prompt and a callback to act on the response. You can use this to build custom workflows not supported by =gptel-send=. See the documentation of =gptel-request=, and the [[https://github.com/karthink/gptel/wiki/Defining-custom-gptel-commands][wiki]] for examples.
#+html:
**** (ChatGPT) I get the error "(HTTP/2 429) You exceeded your current quota"
#+html:
#+begin_quote
(HTTP/2 429) You exceeded your current quota, please check your plan and billing details.
#+end_quote
Using the ChatGPT (or any OpenAI) API requires [[https://platform.openai.com/account/billing/overview][adding credit to your account]].
#+html:
**** Why another LLM client?
#+html:
Other Emacs clients for LLMs prescribe the format of the interaction (a comint shell, org-babel blocks, etc). I wanted:
1. Something that is as free-form as possible: query the model using any text in any buffer, and redirect the response as required. Using a dedicated =gptel= buffer just adds some visual flair to the interaction.
2. Integration with org-mode, not using a walled-off org-babel block, but as regular text. This way the model can generate code blocks that I can run.
#+html: 
#+html:
To define a preset, use the =gptel-make-preset= function, which takes a name and keyword-value pairs of settings.
Presets can be used to set individual options. Here is an example of a preset to set the system message (and do nothing else):
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-preset 'explain
:system "Explain what this code does to a novice programmer.")
#+end_src
More generally, you can specify a bundle of options:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-preset 'gpt4coding ;preset name, a symbol
:description "A preset optimized for coding tasks" ;for your reference
:backend "Claude" ;gptel backend or backend name
:model 'claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219.1
:system "You are an expert coding assistant. Your role is to provide high-quality code solutions, refactorings, and explanations."
:tools '("read_buffer" "modify_buffer")) ;gptel tools or tool names
#+end_src
Besides a couple of special keys (=:description=, =:parents= to inherit other presets), there is no predefined list of keys. Instead, the key =:foo= corresponds to setting =gptel-foo= (preferred) or =gptel--foo=. So the preset can include the value of any gptel option. For example, the following preset sets =gptel-temperature= and =gptel-use-context=:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-preset 'proofreader
:description "Preset for proofreading tasks"
:backend "ChatGPT"
:model 'gpt-4.1-mini
:tools '("read_buffer" "spell_check" "grammar_check")
:temperature 0.7 ;sets gptel-temperature
:use-context 'system) ;sets gptel-use-context
#+end_src
Switching to a preset applies the specified settings without affecting other settings. Depending on the scope option (~=~ in gptel's transient menu), presets can be applied globally, buffer-locally or for the next request only.
**** Applying presets to requests automatically
You can apply a preset to a /single/ query by including =@preset-name= in the prompt, where =preset-name= is the name of the preset. (The =oneshot= scope option in gptel's transient menus is another way to do this, [[id:748cbc00-0c92-4705-8839-619b2c80e566][see the FAQ.]])
For example, if you have a preset named =websearch= defined which includes tools for web access and search:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(gptel-make-preset 'websearch
:description "Haiku with basic web search capability."
:backend "Claude"
:model 'claude-3-5-haiku-20241022
:tools '("search_web" "read_url" "get_youtube_meta"))
#+end_src
The following query is sent with this preset applied:
#+begin_quote
@websearch Are there any 13" e-ink monitors on the market? Create a
table comparing them, sourcing specs and reviews from online sources.
Also do the same for "transreflective-LCD" displays -- I'm not sure
what exactly they're called but they're comparable to e-ink.
#+end_quote
This =@preset-name= cookie only applies to the final user turn of the coversation that is sent. So the presence of the cookie in past messages/turns is not significant.
The =@preset-name= cookie can be anywhere in the prompt. For example:
#+begin_quote
What do you make of the above description, @proofreader?
#+end_quote
In chat buffers this prefix will be offered as a completion and fontified, making it easy to use and spot.
** Alternatives
Other Emacs clients for LLMs include
- [[https://github.com/ahyatt/llm][llm]]: llm provides a uniform API across language model providers for building LLM clients in Emacs, and is intended as a library for use by package authors. For similar scripting purposes, gptel provides the command =gptel-request=, which see.
- [[https://github.com/s-kostyaev/ellama][Ellama]]: A full-fledged LLM client built on llm, that supports many LLM providers (Ollama, Open AI, Vertex, GPT4All and more). Its usage differs from gptel in that it provides separate commands for dozens of common tasks, like general chat, summarizing code/text, refactoring code, improving grammar, translation and so on.
- [[https://github.com/xenodium/chatgpt-shell][chatgpt-shell]]: comint-shell based interaction with ChatGPT. Also supports DALL-E, executable code blocks in the responses, and more.
- [[https://github.com/rksm/org-ai][org-ai]]: Interaction through special =#+begin_ai ... #+end_ai= Org-mode blocks. Also supports DALL-E, querying ChatGPT with the contents of project files, and more.
- [[https://github.com/milanglacier/minuet-ai.el][Minuet]]: Code-completion using LLM. Supports fill-in-the-middle (FIM) completion for compatible models such as DeepSeek and Codestral.
There are several more: [[https://github.com/iwahbe/chat.el][chat.el]], [[https://github.com/stuhlmueller/gpt.el][gpt.el]], [[https://github.com/AnselmC/le-gpt.el][le-gpt]], [[https://github.com/stevemolitor/robby][robby]].
*** Packages using gptel
gptel is a general-purpose package for chat and ad-hoc LLM interaction. The following packages use gptel to provide additional or specialized functionality:
- [[https://github.com/karthink/gptel-quick][gptel-quick]]: Quickly look up the region or text at point.
- [[https://github.com/daedsidog/evedel][Evedel]]: Instructed LLM Programmer/Assistant.
- [[https://github.com/lanceberge/elysium][Elysium]]: Automatically apply AI-generated changes as you code.
- [[https://github.com/kamushadenes/ai-blog.el][ai-blog.el]]: Streamline generation of blog posts in Hugo.
- [[https://github.com/douo/magit-gptcommit][magit-gptcommit]]: Generate Commit Messages within magit-status Buffer using gptel.
- [[https://github.com/armindarvish/consult-omni][consult-omni]]: Versatile multi-source search package. It includes gptel as one of its many sources.
- [[https://github.com/ultronozm/ai-org-chat.el][ai-org-chat]]: Provides branching conversations in Org buffers using gptel. (Note that gptel includes this feature as well (see =gptel-org-branching-context=), but requires a recent version of Org mode 9.7 or later to be installed.)
- [[https://github.com/rob137/Corsair][Corsair]]: Helps gather text to populate LLM prompts for gptel.
** COMMENT Older Breaking Changes
- =gptel-post-response-hook= has been renamed to =gptel-post-response-functions=, and functions in this hook are now called with two arguments: the start and end buffer positions of the response. This should make it easy to act on the response text without having to locate it first.
- Possible breakage, see #120: If streaming responses stop working for you after upgrading to v0.5, try reinstalling gptel and deleting its native comp eln cache in =native-comp-eln-load-path=.
- The user option =gptel-host= is deprecated. If the defaults don't work for you, use =gptel-make-openai= (which see) to customize server settings.
- =gptel-api-key-from-auth-source= now searches for the API key using the host address for the active LLM backend, /i.e./ "api.openai.com" when using ChatGPT. You may need to update your =~/.authinfo=.
** Acknowledgments
- [[https://github.com/felipeochoa][Felipe Ochoa]] and [[https://github.com/akssri][akssri]] for adding AWS Bedrock support to gptel.
- [[https://github.com/jwiegley][John Wiegley]] for the design of gptel's presets and gptel-request's async pipeline, but also for loads of general feedback and advice.
- [[https://github.com/pabl0][Henrik Ahlgren]] for a keen eye to detail and polish applied to gptel's UI.
- [[https://github.com/psionic-k][psionic-k]] for extensive testing of the tool use feature and the design of gptel's in-buffer tool use records.
- [[https://github.com/jdtsmith][JD Smith]] for feedback and code assistance with gptel-menu's redesign
- [[https://github.com/meain][Abin Simon]] for extensive feedback on improving gptel's directives and UI.
- [[https://github.com/algal][Alexis Gallagher]] and [[https://github.com/d1egoaz][Diego Alvarez]] for fixing a nasty multi-byte bug with =url-retrieve=.
- [[https://github.com/tarsius][Jonas Bernoulli]] for the Transient library.
- [[https://github.com/daedsidog][daedsidog]] for adding context support to gptel.
- [[https://github.com/Aquan1412][Aquan1412]] for adding PrivateGPT support to gptel.
- [[https://github.com/r0man][r0man]] for improving gptel's Curl integration.
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