gitaiflow --list-models

This command is designed to help you discover currently available OpenRouter models that can be used with gitaiflow without manually browsing the OpenRouter model catalog.

It is a model-discovery feature, not the normal gitaiflow summary workflow.

#What --list-models Does

When you run:

gitaiflow --list-models

gitaiflow queries the OpenRouter model catalog and displays models that are available through OpenRouter's API.

The output focuses on information useful when selecting a model for gitaiflow:

• ID — the model identifier to use in configuration
• CONTEXT — the model's context window
• FREE — whether the model is available as a free model

The command is especially useful when you want to find a free model and then configure it as your AI_MODEL.

#Prerequisites

You need an OpenRouter account.

OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai/

Create an account and obtain the API credentials required for OpenRouter API access.

The --list-models command specifically uses OpenRouter's model catalog, so this feature is independent of the AI provider selected for a normal gitaiflow run.

#Basic Usage

Run:

gitaiflow --list-models

The result contains model identifiers and their context information.

A typical entry looks conceptually like:

ID                                      CONTEXT    FREE
google/gemma-4-31b-it:free              262144     yes

The important value for later configuration is the ID.

For example:

google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

can be used as the model identifier when configuring OpenRouter for normal gitaiflow summary generation.

Understanding the Output

#ID

ID is the OpenRouter model identifier.

Example:

google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

Use this exact value when configuring:

AI_MODEL=google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

Do not replace the provider/model structure with only the model's display name.

#CONTEXT

CONTEXT is the model's context-window size.

For example:

262144

means the model supports a context window of up to approximately 262K tokens.

A larger context window can be useful for gitaiflow because the AI request can contain:

• the system prompt
• the generated diff
• the requested output

However, a large context window does not mean that every request should contain a very large diff. Smaller, focused changes are generally easier to summarize and more efficient.

#FREE

FREE indicates whether the model is marked as free in the OpenRouter catalog.

Example:

yes

Free availability can change on OpenRouter. Treat the result of the current:

gitaiflow --list-models

command as the authoritative discovery result for your current environment/time.

A model being listed as free does not mean it has unlimited capacity or unlimited throughput.

Current Free Models

The following free models were available in the model catalog used for this documentation:

Availability note: OpenRouter's catalog is dynamic. The list above represents the catalog information supplied for this documentation and should not be treated as a permanent inventory. Run gitaiflow --list-models to see the current catalog.

openrouter/free

One particularly useful entry is:

openrouter/free

with:

CONTEXT: 200000
FREE: yes

This is useful when you want OpenRouter to select from its available free models rather than hard-coding one specific free model.

Configure it as:

AI_MODEL=openrouter/free

This is different from selecting a concrete model such as:

AI_MODEL=google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

With a concrete model ID, you explicitly choose the model.

With:

openrouter/free

you delegate free-model selection to OpenRouter.

Selecting a Model for gitaiflow

A simple workflow is:

Run --list-models
       ↓
Review model IDs
       ↓
Choose a model
       ↓
Set AI_MODEL
       ↓
Run gitaiflow normally

For example:

gitaiflow --list-models

Suppose you choose:

google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

Configure:

export AI_PROVIDER=openrouter
export AI_MODEL=google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

Then run:

gitaiflow --path .

The normal summary workflow will use the configured OpenRouter-compatible endpoint and selected model.

Choosing Between Models

The --list-models output gives you two particularly useful signals:

#Context size

For large changes, a model with a larger context window provides more room for the prompt and diff.

Examples:

liquid/lfm-2.5-2.6b:free              65,536
google/gemma-4-31b-it:free           262,144
dots-studio/dots-3-note-preview:free 512,000
thinkingmachines/inkling:free       1,048,576

#Model identity

The model ID tells you exactly which model you are selecting.

For repeatable workflows, explicitly selecting a concrete model can make behavior more predictable than relying on a dynamic free-model alias.

Recommended Selection Strategy

For gitaiflow, do not choose a model based only on the largest context number.

Consider:

1. Code capability — the model should be suitable for understanding source-code changes.
2. Context window — it should comfortably accommodate the expected diff size.
3. Availability — free models can become temporarily unavailable or rate-limited.
4. Consistency — a concrete model ID is preferable when reproducibility matters.
5. Cost — :free models can be useful for experimentation and low-cost workflows.

For most repositories, the goal is not to maximize context size. The goal is to select a model that reliably produces useful commit summaries from the repository's typical changes.

--list-models vs Normal gitaiflow Runs

These are separate operations.

#Model discovery

gitaiflow --list-models

This:

• queries OpenRouter's model catalog
• displays model information
• helps you choose a model
• does not generate a Git summary

#Normal summary generation

gitaiflow --path .

This:

• analyzes Git changes
• generates the filtered diff
• sends the summary request to the configured AI provider
• parses the AI response
• writes the resulting artifacts

Therefore, you can use --list-models before configuring the model, then use the selected model during normal execution.

Authentication and Configuration

The model catalog feature is specifically tied to OpenRouter.

For normal OpenRouter summary generation, configure the OpenRouter provider and credentials according to the gitaiflow configuration supported by your installed version.

Typical configuration is conceptually:

export AI_PROVIDER=openrouter
export AI_API_KEY=<your-openrouter-key>
export AI_MODEL=google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

Do not put your API key directly into source code or commit it to Git.

If you use a .env file, keep it outside version-controlled content or ensure it is properly ignored.

Troubleshooting

#--list-models fails

Check:

gitaiflow --version

Then verify network connectivity from the environment where gitaiflow is running.

OpenRouter model discovery requires access to the OpenRouter API.

#Model list is empty

An empty result can indicate that the OpenRouter catalog request did not return usable model records.

Retry:

gitaiflow --list-models

If the problem persists, verify network access and the installed gitaiflow version.

#A model shown by --list-models does not work

Model availability can change independently of gitaiflow.

Check the current catalog again:

gitaiflow --list-models

Then verify the exact model ID.

For example, these are distinct identifiers:

google/gemma-4-31b-it:free
openrouter/free

Do not assume that a model ID remains available indefinitely just because it appeared in an earlier catalog response.

#Free model is rate-limited

FREE=yes does not guarantee unlimited access.

A free model can have provider-side:

• rate limits
• concurrency limits
• availability restrictions
• temporary capacity constraints

If a selected free model is unavailable, try another currently listed model or use:

AI_MODEL=openrouter/free

where appropriate.

Security and Privacy

--list-models is a model-catalog discovery operation.

It does not need your repository diff to determine which OpenRouter models are available.

For normal summary generation, the security/privacy boundary is different because the selected AI provider receives the prompt and filtered diff required to generate the summary.

Do not confuse:

gitaiflow --list-models

with:

gitaiflow --path .

The first is model discovery. The second performs repository analysis and AI synthesis.

For complete telemetry behavior, see:

user-guides/telemetry.md

Quick Reference

#List available OpenRouter models

gitaiflow --list-models

#Select a specific free model

export AI_PROVIDER=openrouter
export AI_MODEL=google/gemma-4-31b-it:free

#Let OpenRouter select a free model

export AI_PROVIDER=openrouter
export AI_MODEL=openrouter/free

#Run gitaiflow

gitaiflow --path .

#OpenRouter

Sign up / manage your OpenRouter account(https://openrouter.ai/)

Summary

gitaiflow --list-models provides a convenient way to discover OpenRouter models directly from the CLI.

Use it to:

• inspect available model IDs
• compare context windows
• identify free models
• select a model for AI_MODEL
• discover the openrouter/free dynamic free-model option

Because OpenRouter's catalog changes over time, the current output of gitaiflow --list-models should always be preferred over a static model list in documentation.