# Helicone (https://www.librechat.ai/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/ai_endpoints/helicone)

Helicone is an AI gateway that routes requests to models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Mistral, and other providers through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with built-in request logging and usage analytics.

## Get an API key

Create an account at [helicone.ai](https://helicone.ai/) and generate a key from [Settings → API Keys](https://us.helicone.ai/settings/api-keys). Add it to your `.env` file:

```bash filename=".env"
HELICONE_KEY=your-api-key
```

Make sure your account has credits, otherwise model requests will fail.

## Configuration

Add the endpoint under `endpoints.custom` in your `librechat.yaml`:

```yaml filename="librechat.yaml"
    - name: "Helicone"
      apiKey: "${HELICONE_KEY}"
      baseURL: "https://ai-gateway.helicone.ai"
      headers:
        x-librechat-body-parentmessageid: "{{LIBRECHAT_BODY_PARENTMESSAGEID}}"
      models:
        default: ["gpt-4o-mini", "claude-4.5-sonnet", "llama-3.1-8b-instruct", "gemini-2.5-flash-lite"]
        fetch: true
      titleConvo: true
      titleModel: "gpt-4o-mini"
      modelDisplayLabel: "Helicone"
      iconURL: "https://marketing-assets-helicone.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/helicone.png"
```

## Notes

- With `fetch: true`, LibreChat loads the full model list from Helicone, so the `default` array is only the initial selection. Browse everything available in the [Helicone model library](https://helicone.ai/models).
- The `x-librechat-body-parentmessageid` header passes each request's parent message ID to Helicone so logs can be grouped by conversation.
- Set rate limits, caching policies, and review usage from the [Helicone dashboard](https://us.helicone.ai/dashboard).