> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://to11.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect a provider

> Add a model provider to a project: enter a credential, name the connection, choose environments, and select models.

Before the gateway can route to a provider, you connect that provider to your project. You do it in the dashboard at **Project → AI Gateway → Providers**, using the connect drawer that opens when you select **Connect provider**.

The drawer walks through four steps. You move forward as each step is complete.

## 1. Credential

Pick the provider from the catalog, then choose how to authenticate:

* **Managed credential** — you paste an API key (or the provider's cloud credential) and to11 stores it encrypted. The gateway attaches it to every request it routes to that provider.
* **BYOK / passthrough** — no key is stored. Every request your application sends must carry the provider key itself in the `Authorization` header, and the gateway forwards it upstream. See [Passthrough routing](/docs/deploy/routing/passthrough).

## 2. Name & routing

Give the connection a **display name** and a **routing identifier**. The routing identifier is the stable name you reference when you build routing rules, so choose something durable.

The provider's **base URL** is filled in from the catalog. Override it only when you reach the provider at a non-standard host — for example, a self-managed or regional endpoint.

## 3. Environments

Choose which of the project's [environments](/docs/deploy/environments) this connection is active in. A provider you only want in staging stays out of production until you activate it there.

## 4. Models

Select which of the provider's models this connection exposes. For most providers, **Test connection** validates your credential and discovers the available models, which you then pick from. The models you select are the ones available when you build [routes](/docs/deploy/concepts/routes).

<Note>
  A few providers — for example, Amazon Bedrock and Google Vertex AI — validate the credential on the first real request rather than from the drawer. You can still complete the connection; the gateway confirms the credential when it first routes to the provider.
</Note>

When you save, the connection is created with its credential, environment activations, and model list in one step.

## See also

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Providers" icon="server" href="/docs/deploy/concepts/providers">
    What a connected provider is.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Supported providers" icon="list" href="/docs/reference/providers">
    Per-provider format, streaming, and tool-call support.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>