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Introduction to Conduit

Conduit is a unified API gateway for multiple Large Language Model (LLM) providers that simplifies the integration of various AI services into your applications. By providing a consistent interface, Conduit enables you to switch between different LLM providers seamlessly without changing your application code.

What is Conduit?

Conduit serves as a middleware layer between your applications and various LLM providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, and many others. It offers:

  • Unified API: A consistent OpenAI-compatible API interface for all supported providers
  • Provider Abstraction: Easy switching between different LLM providers
  • Smart Routing: Route requests to different models based on various strategies
  • Budget Management: Control and monitor spending across multiple providers
  • Virtual Keys: Create API keys with specific permissions and rate limits
  • Caching: Reduce costs and improve response times with optional response caching
  • Multimodal Support: Handle text, images, and other modalities through a single interface

Why Use Conduit?

  • Avoid Vendor Lock-in: Switch between providers without changing your application code
  • Cost Optimization: Route requests to the most cost-effective providers
  • Enhanced Security: Hide provider keys behind Conduit's virtual key system
  • High Availability: Fall back to alternative providers if a service is unavailable
  • Centralized Monitoring: Track usage, costs, and performance across providers

Supported Providers

Conduit supports a growing list of LLM providers, including:

  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Azure OpenAI
  • Google Gemini
  • Cohere
  • Mistral
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Groq
  • Replicate
  • HuggingFace
  • and many more...

Key Components

Conduit is built with a modular architecture comprising several key components:

  • API Gateway: Processes incoming requests and routes them to appropriate services
  • Router: Determines which provider and model to use for each request
  • Provider Clients: Communicate with specific LLM providers
  • Configuration Service: Manages system settings and provider credentials
  • Virtual Key System: Handles authentication and permission management
  • Monitoring & Analytics: Tracks usage metrics and system performance

Getting Started

To start using Conduit, check out our Installation Guide and Quick Start Tutorial.

Architecture

Conduit is built with a modern .NET architecture that emphasizes maintainability, extensibility, and performance. Learn more about the architecture and components.

Contributing

Conduit is an open-source project, and contributions are welcome! Check out our contribution guidelines to get started.