# Openrouter Sdk Patterns

> Implement common SDK usage patterns for OpenRouter. Use when building reusable client libraries or wrappers. Trigger with phrases like 'openrouter sdk', 'openrouter client library', 'openrouter wrapper', 'openrouter patterns'.

- Skill: `micsapp/openrouter-sdk-patterns` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add micsapp/openrouter-sdk-patterns`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/micsapp/openrouter-sdk-patterns/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: MIT
- Author: micsapp (https://skillmd.com/u/micsapp)
- Updated: 2026-09-08
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/micsapp/openrouter-sdk-patterns

---

# Openrouter SDK Patterns

## Overview

This skill covers best practices for building OpenRouter client wrappers, including retry logic, error handling, response typing, and reusable patterns.

## Prerequisites

- OpenRouter integration
- OpenAI SDK (Python or TypeScript)

## Instructions

1. **Create a typed client wrapper**: Build a class that wraps the OpenAI SDK with OpenRouter-specific defaults (base URL, default headers, retry config)
2. **Add automatic retries**: Implement retry logic with exponential backoff for 429 and 5xx errors; the OpenAI SDK has built-in retry support via `max_retries`
3. **Type your responses**: Define TypeScript interfaces or Python dataclasses for your expected response shapes to catch errors at compile time
4. **Implement request/response middleware**: Add hooks for logging, cost tracking, and metrics collection that run on every request
5. **Build reusable prompt templates**: Create typed functions for common tasks (summarize, translate, classify) that encapsulate model selection and prompt engineering

## Output

- A reusable OpenRouter client class with built-in retry, logging, and typing
- Prompt template functions for common AI tasks
- Middleware pipeline for cross-cutting concerns (logging, cost tracking)

## Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Fix |
|-------|-------|-----|
| Type mismatch on response | Model returned unexpected format | Add runtime validation alongside static types; handle gracefully |
| Retry exhaustion | Max retries exceeded on persistent errors | Log the final error with full context; surface to caller with actionable message |
| Middleware error | Logging or metrics code threw an exception | Wrap middleware in try/catch so it never breaks the main request flow |

See `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/errors.md` for full error reference.

## Examples

See `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/examples.md` for runnable code samples.

## Resources

- [OpenRouter Documentation](https://openrouter.ai/docs)
- [OpenRouter Models](https://openrouter.ai/models)
- [OpenRouter API Reference](https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference)
- [OpenRouter Status](https://status.openrouter.ai)