Skip to main content

LiteLLM

LiteLLM provides access to 400+ LLMs through a unified OpenAI-compatible interface.

Usage​

You can use LiteLLM with promptfoo in three ways:

1. Dedicated LiteLLM provider​

The LiteLLM provider supports chat, completion, and embedding models.

Chat models (default)​

providers:
  - id: litellm:<model name>
  # or explicitly:
  - id: litellm:chat:<model name>

Example:

providers:
  - id: litellm:gpt-4.1-mini
  # or
  - id: litellm:chat:gpt-4.1-mini

Completion models​

providers:
  - id: litellm:completion:<model name>

Embedding models​

providers:
  - id: litellm:embedding:<model name>

Example:

providers:
  - id: litellm:embedding:text-embedding-3-large

2. Using with LiteLLM proxy server​

If you're running a LiteLLM proxy server:

providers:
  - id: litellm:gpt-4.1-mini # Uses LITELLM_API_KEY env var
    config:
      apiBaseUrl: http://localhost:4000
      # apiKey: "{{ env.LITELLM_API_KEY }}"  # optional, auto-detected

3. Using OpenAI provider with LiteLLM​

Since LiteLLM uses the OpenAI format, you can use the OpenAI provider:

providers:
  - id: openai:chat:gpt-4.1-mini # Uses LITELLM_API_KEY env var
    config:
      apiBaseUrl: http://localhost:4000
      # apiKey: "{{ env.LITELLM_API_KEY }}"  # optional, auto-detected

Configuration​

Basic configuration​

providers:
  - id: litellm:gpt-4.1-mini # Uses OPENAI_API_KEY env var
    config:
      # apiKey: "{{ env.OPENAI_API_KEY }}"  # optional, auto-detected
      temperature: 0.7
      max_tokens: 1000

Advanced configuration​

All LiteLLM parameters are supported:

providers:
  - id: litellm:claude-4-sonnet # Uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var
    config:
      # apiKey: "{{ env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}"  # optional, auto-detected
      temperature: 0.7
      max_tokens: 4096
      top_p: 0.9
      # Any other LiteLLM-supported parameters

Environment Variables​

The LiteLLM provider respects standard environment variables:

  • LITELLM_API_KEY
  • OPENAI_API_KEY
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
  • AZURE_API_KEY
  • Other provider-specific environment variables

Embedding Configuration​

LiteLLM supports embedding models that can be used for similarity metrics and other tasks. You can specify an embedding provider globally or for individual assertions.

1. Set a default embedding provider for all tests​

defaultTest:
  options:
    provider:
      embedding:
        id: litellm:embedding:text-embedding-3-large

2. Override the embedding provider for a specific assertion​

assert:
  - type: similar
    value: Reference text
    provider:
      id: litellm:embedding:text-embedding-3-large

Additional configuration options can be passed through the config block if needed:

defaultTest:
  options:
    provider:
      embedding:
        id: litellm:embedding:text-embedding-3-large # Uses OPENAI_API_KEY env var
        config:
          # apiKey: "{{ env.OPENAI_API_KEY }}"  # optional, auto-detected

Complete Example​

Here's a complete example using multiple LiteLLM models:

promptfooconfig.yaml
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://promptfoo.dev/config-schema.json
description: LiteLLM evaluation example

providers:
  # Chat models
  - id: litellm:gpt-4.1-mini
  - id: litellm:claude-4-sonnet # Uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var
    # config:
    # apiKey: "{{ env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}"  # optional, auto-detected

  # Embedding model for similarity checks
  - id: litellm:embedding:text-embedding-3-large

prompts:
  - 'Translate this to {{language}}: {{text}}'

tests:
  - vars:
      language: French
      text: 'Hello, world!'
    assert:
      - type: contains
        value: 'Bonjour'
      - type: similar
        value: 'Bonjour, le monde!'
        threshold: 0.8
        provider: litellm:embedding:text-embedding-3-large

Supported Models​

LiteLLM supports models from all major providers:

  • OpenAI: GPT-4.1, GPT-4, GPT-3.5, embeddings, and more
  • Anthropic: Claude 4, Claude 3.7, Claude 3.5, Claude 3, and earlier models
  • Google: Gemini and PaLM models
  • Meta: Llama models
  • Mistral: All Mistral models
  • And 400+ more models

For a complete list of supported models, see the LiteLLM model documentation.

Supported Parameters​

All standard LiteLLM parameters are passed through:

  • temperature
  • max_tokens
  • top_p
  • frequency_penalty
  • presence_penalty
  • stop
  • response_format
  • tools / functions
  • seed
  • Provider-specific parameters

Tips​

  1. Model naming: Use exact model names as specified in LiteLLM's documentation
  2. API keys: Set appropriate API keys for each provider
  3. Proxy server: Consider running a LiteLLM proxy server for better control
  4. Rate limiting: LiteLLM handles rate limiting automatically
  5. Cost tracking: LiteLLM provides built-in cost tracking

Troubleshooting​

If you encounter issues:

  1. Verify API keys are correctly set
  2. Check model name matches LiteLLM's documentation
  3. Ensure LiteLLM proxy server (if using) is accessible
  4. Review provider-specific requirements in LiteLLM docs

See Also​