These integration methods are maintained but no longer actively developed. For new projects and the best experience, use our AI Gateway with unified API access to 100+ models.
What Are Legacy Integrations?#
Legacy proxy-based integrations that add Helicone observability by changing your base URL:
- OpenAI:
api.openai.com→oai.helicone.ai - Anthropic:
api.anthropic.com→anthropic.helicone.ai - Others: Provider-specific proxy endpoints
You keep using your existing SDK and code — just point to our proxy URL and add a Helicone-Auth header.
Why We Built the AI Gateway#
These provider-specific proxies have limitations:
- No automatic fallbacks - If OpenAI goes down, your app goes down
- Can't switch providers easily - Each provider needs different code
- Multiple endpoints to manage - Different proxy for each provider
- No unified routing - Can't optimize for cost or latency across providers
The AI Gateway solves these problems with one unified API that routes to 100+ models with automatic fallbacks, intelligent routing, and zero markup.
When to Use Legacy Integrations#
Only use these if:
- Existing production code - You have a large codebase built with provider-specific SDKs and refactoring would be costly
- Native SDK features - You need specific features only available in the native SDK (rare)
Otherwise, use the AI Gateway for better reliability, flexibility, and features.
How to Migrate to AI Gateway#
Ready to switch to the unified API? It's simple:
See the AI Gateway migration guide for full details.