Developer Quickstart

The Hicap API gives you access to foundation models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, and more — through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Use any standard OpenAI SDK and start building in under 5 minutes.

1. Get your API key

Opens the Hicap Platform — You’ll create an account and generate an API key in the Hicap Platform dashboard ↗. Then come back here to use it.

Export it as an environment variable:

export HICAP_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

2. Install an SDK and make your first request

JavaScript
Python
curl

npm install openai

example.mjs

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: "https://api.hicap.ai/v1",
  apiKey: process.env.HICAP_API_KEY,
  defaultHeaders: { "api-key": process.env.HICAP_API_KEY },
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "gpt-5",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Write a one-sentence bedtime story about a unicorn." }],
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

Run with node example.mjs.

pip install openai

example.py

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.hicap.ai/v1",
    api_key=os.environ["HICAP_API_KEY"],
    default_headers={"api-key": os.environ["HICAP_API_KEY"]},
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-5",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Write a one-sentence bedtime story about a unicorn."}],
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)

Run with python example.py.

curl -s https://api.hicap.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "api-key: $HICAP_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-5",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Write a one-sentence bedtime story about a unicorn."}]
  }'

That’s it — you just called the Hicap API. The same code works with any supported model; just change the model parameter.

Switch between models and providers

One API, any model. Use OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini models through the same endpoint and SDK — no separate integrations needed.

# OpenAI
client.chat.completions.create(model="gpt-5", messages=[...])

# Anthropic Claude
client.chat.completions.create(model="claude-sonnet-4.5", messages=[...])

# Google Gemini
client.chat.completions.create(model="gemini-2.5-pro", messages=[...])

# Moonshot Kimi
client.chat.completions.create(model="kimi-k2.5", messages=[...])

See all available models, context windows, and pricing → All Models or models.json

Analyze images

Send image URLs directly to vision-capable models:

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "gpt-5",
  messages: [{
    role: "user",
    content: [
      { type: "text", text: "What is in this image?" },
      { type: "image_url", image_url: { url: "https://example.com/photo.jpg" } },
    ],
  }],
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

Stream responses

Use server-sent events to show results as they’re generated:

const stream = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "gpt-5",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Explain quantum computing in simple terms." }],
  stream: true,
});

for await (const chunk of stream) {
  process.stdout.write(chunk.choices[0]?.delta?.content || "");
}

Popular endpoints

These are the most commonly used Hicap API endpoints. All follow the OpenAI API spec — if you’ve used the OpenAI API before, you already know how to use these.

Endpoint	Description	Docs
`POST /v1/chat/completions`	Generate text, analyze images, use tools	Reference →
`POST /v1/embeddings`	Create text embeddings for search and RAG	Reference →
`POST /v1/images/generations`	Generate images with DALL·E	Reference →
`POST /v1/audio/transcriptions`	Transcribe audio with Whisper	Reference →
`POST /v1/audio/speech`	Generate speech from text	Reference →

Full API Reference →

Models

Start with gpt-5 for strong general-purpose performance, or pick a model optimized for your use case.

GPT-5.5

OpenAI’s latest flagship model for top-tier reasoning, coding, and multimodal work.

Claude Opus 4.6

Anthropic’s flagship. Deep reasoning, coding, and analysis.

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Google’s latest. 1M context, strong multimodal and reasoning.

GPT-5-mini

Fast and affordable. Great balance of performance and cost.

Claude Haiku 4.5

Ultra-fast. Ideal for high-volume, latency-sensitive workloads.

Gemini 2.5 Flash

Cost-efficient with thinking capabilities. Great for real-time apps.

View all models →

Why Hicap?

Up to 25% lower cost

We bulk-reserve compute from leading cloud providers and pass the savings to you.

One API, all providers

OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Moonshot, Zhipu, MiniMax — all through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

5-minute integration

Use the standard OpenAI SDK. Change the base URL. You’re done.

No lock-in

Start monthly, scale anytime. Switch models with a single parameter change.

Next steps

API Reference

Full endpoint docs, authentication, and request/response schemas.

All Models

Compare all models by provider, tier, context window, and pricing.

FAQ

Common questions about pricing, security, architecture, and data handling.

Get Started

Providers

Developer Quickstart

1. Get your API key

2. Install an SDK and make your first request

Switch between models and providers

Analyze images

Stream responses

Popular endpoints

Models

GPT-5.5

Claude Opus 4.6

Gemini 3.1 Pro

GPT-5-mini

Claude Haiku 4.5

Gemini 2.5 Flash

Why Hicap?

Up to 25% lower cost

One API, all providers

5-minute integration

No lock-in

Next steps

API Reference

All Models

FAQ

​1. Get your API key

​2. Install an SDK and make your first request

​Switch between models and providers

​Analyze images

​Stream responses

​Popular endpoints

​Models

GPT-5.5

Claude Opus 4.6

Gemini 3.1 Pro

GPT-5-mini

Claude Haiku 4.5

Gemini 2.5 Flash

​Why Hicap?

Up to 25% lower cost

One API, all providers

5-minute integration

No lock-in

​Next steps

API Reference

All Models

FAQ

1. Get your API key

2. Install an SDK and make your first request

Switch between models and providers

Analyze images

Stream responses

Popular endpoints

Models

Why Hicap?

Next steps