LLM Provider Guide

This guide helps you choose and configure the right LLM provider for your needs. Review Bot Automator supports 5 providers, from free local options to pay-per-use APIs.

Quick Reference

Provider	Cost	Privacy	Latency	Setup	Best For
Ollama	Free	High (local)	Medium	Medium	Privacy-focused teams
Claude CLI	Free*	Medium	Fast	Easy	Claude subscribers
Codex CLI	Free*	Medium	Fast	Easy	Copilot subscribers
OpenAI API	Pay	Low	Fast	Easy	Pay-per-use flexibility
Anthropic API	Pay	Low	Fast	Easy	Prompt caching savings

*Requires existing subscription (Claude Pro or GitHub Copilot)

Provider Selection Flowchart

Do you need maximum privacy (data never leaves your machine)?
├── YES → Use Ollama (local)
└── NO → Do you have an existing subscription?
          ├── Claude Pro → Use Claude CLI
          ├── GitHub Copilot → Use Codex CLI
          └── Neither → Do you want pay-per-use?
                        ├── YES → Use OpenAI API or Anthropic API
                        └── NO → Use Ollama (free, local)

Provider Details

1. Ollama (Local, Free)

Best for: Privacy-focused teams, air-gapped environments, unlimited usage.

Pros:

Completely free
Data never leaves your machine
No API keys needed
Unlimited requests

Cons:

Requires GPU for best performance (CPU works but slower)
Initial model download (2-8GB)
Slightly higher latency than cloud APIs

Quick Setup

# Install Ollama
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

# Download recommended model
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b

# Configure resolver
export CR_LLM_ENABLED="true"
export CR_LLM_PROVIDER="ollama"
export CR_LLM_MODEL="qwen2.5-coder:7b"

# Verify
ollama list

Recommended Models

Model	VRAM	Quality	Speed
`qwen2.5-coder:7b`	8GB	Good	Fast
`qwen2.5-coder:14b`	16GB	Better	Medium
`llama3.3:70b`	48GB	Best	Slow
`codellama:7b`	8GB	Good	Fast

See also: Ollama Setup Guide for GPU configuration and advanced options.

2. Claude CLI (Subscription, Free*)

Best for: Teams with existing Claude Pro/Team subscriptions.

Pros:

No additional cost with subscription
High-quality responses
Fast response times
Simple setup

Cons:

Requires Claude Pro subscription ($20/month)
Data sent to Anthropic servers

Quick Setup

# Install Claude CLI (requires Node.js)
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-cli

# Authenticate (opens browser)
claude auth login

# Configure resolver
export CR_LLM_ENABLED="true"
export CR_LLM_PROVIDER="claude-cli"

# Verify
claude --version

Using Presets

# Zero-config preset
pr-resolve apply --owner org --repo repo --pr 123 \
  --llm-preset claude-cli-sonnet

3. Codex CLI (Subscription, Free*)

Best for: Teams with GitHub Copilot subscriptions.

Pros:

No additional cost with Copilot subscription
Optimized for code tasks
Fast response times

Cons:

Requires GitHub Copilot subscription ($10-19/month)
Data sent to OpenAI servers

Quick Setup

# Install Codex CLI
npm install -g @openai/codex-cli

# Authenticate with GitHub
codex auth login

# Configure resolver
export CR_LLM_ENABLED="true"
export CR_LLM_PROVIDER="codex-cli"

# Verify
codex --version

Using Presets

# Zero-config preset
pr-resolve apply --owner org --repo repo --pr 123 \
  --llm-preset codex-cli-free

4. OpenAI API (Pay-per-use)

Best for: Teams wanting pay-per-use flexibility with latest models.

Pros:

Only pay for what you use
Access to latest GPT models
Fast response times
Simple API

Cons:

Requires credit card
Costs can add up for high-volume use
Data sent to OpenAI servers

Quick Setup

# Get API key from <https://platform.openai.com/api-keys>

# Configure resolver
export CR_LLM_ENABLED="true"
export CR_LLM_PROVIDER="openai"
export CR_LLM_API_KEY="sk-..."
export CR_LLM_MODEL="gpt-4o-mini"  # or gpt-5-mini

# Verify
curl https://api.openai.com/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CR_LLM_API_KEY" | head

Model Options

Model	Cost/1K tokens	Quality	Recommended
`gpt-5-nano`	~$0.0001	Good	Budget
`gpt-4o-mini`	~$0.00015	Good	Default
`gpt-5-mini`	~$0.0003	Better	Best value
`gpt-5.1`	~$0.001	Best	Premium

Using Presets

# Zero-config preset
pr-resolve apply --owner org --repo repo --pr 123 \
  --llm-preset openai-api-mini \
  --llm-api-key sk-...

5. Anthropic API (Pay-per-use)

Best for: Teams wanting prompt caching for cost savings (50-90% reduction).

Pros:

Excellent prompt caching (significant cost savings)
High-quality Claude models
Fast response times

Cons:

Requires credit card
Slightly higher base cost than OpenAI
Data sent to Anthropic servers

Quick Setup

# Get API key from <https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys>

# Configure resolver
export CR_LLM_ENABLED="true"
export CR_LLM_PROVIDER="anthropic"
export CR_LLM_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
export CR_LLM_MODEL="claude-haiku-4-5"  # or claude-sonnet-4-5

# Verify
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: $CR_LLM_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -d '{"model":"claude-haiku-4-5","max_tokens":10,"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hi"}]}'

Model Options

Model	Cost/1K tokens	Quality	Recommended
`claude-haiku-4-5`	~$0.0008	Good	Budget
`claude-sonnet-4-5`	~$0.003	Better	Default
`claude-opus-4-5`	~$0.005	Best	Premium

Using Presets

# Zero-config preset
pr-resolve apply --owner org --repo repo --pr 123 \
  --llm-preset anthropic-api-balanced \
  --llm-api-key sk-ant-...

Cost Comparison

Per-Comment Cost (Typical)

Provider	Model	Cost/Comment
Ollama	qwen2.5-coder:7b	$0.0000
Claude CLI	claude-sonnet-4-5	$0.0000*
Codex CLI	codex	$0.0000*
OpenAI API	gpt-4o-mini	~$0.0002
Anthropic API	claude-haiku-4-5	~$0.0008

*Subscription required

Monthly Projections (100 PRs, 20 comments each)

Provider	Monthly Cost
Ollama	$0.00
Claude CLI	$0.00 (+ subscription)
OpenAI API (gpt-4o-mini)	~$0.40
Anthropic API (haiku)	~$1.60

See also: Cost Estimation Guide for detailed calculations and budget configuration.

Troubleshooting Quick Reference

Ollama

Issue	Solution
`Ollama not running`	Run `ollama serve`
`Model not found`	Run `ollama pull <model>`
Slow responses	Enable GPU or use smaller model

Claude CLI / Codex CLI

Issue	Solution
`command not found`	Install with `npm install -g <package>`
`Not authenticated`	Run `<cli> auth login`
Token expired	Re-authenticate

OpenAI / Anthropic API

Issue	Solution
`Invalid API key`	Verify key starts with `sk-` or `sk-ant-`
`Rate limit exceeded`	Wait or reduce request rate
`Model not found`	Check model name spelling

See also: Troubleshooting Guide for detailed solutions.

Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Example
`CR_LLM_ENABLED`	Enable LLM parsing	`true`
`CR_LLM_PROVIDER`	Provider name	`ollama`, `anthropic`, etc.
`CR_LLM_MODEL`	Model identifier	`gpt-4o-mini`
`CR_LLM_API_KEY`	API key (for API providers)	`sk-...`

CLI Presets

Preset	Provider	Model	Cost
`ollama-local`	Ollama	qwen2.5-coder:7b	Free
`claude-cli-sonnet`	Claude CLI	claude-sonnet-4-5	Free*
`codex-cli-free`	Codex CLI	codex	Free*
`openai-api-mini`	OpenAI	gpt-4o-mini	Pay
`anthropic-api-balanced`	Anthropic	claude-sonnet-4-5	Pay

See also: LLM Configuration Guide for advanced options.

LLM Provider Guide

Quick Reference

Provider Selection Flowchart

Provider Details

1. Ollama (Local, Free)

Quick Setup

Recommended Models

2. Claude CLI (Subscription, Free*)

Quick Setup

Using Presets

3. Codex CLI (Subscription, Free*)

Quick Setup

Using Presets

4. OpenAI API (Pay-per-use)

Quick Setup

Model Options

Using Presets

5. Anthropic API (Pay-per-use)

Quick Setup

Model Options

Using Presets

Cost Comparison

Per-Comment Cost (Typical)

Monthly Projections (100 PRs, 20 comments each)

Troubleshooting Quick Reference

Ollama

Claude CLI / Codex CLI

OpenAI / Anthropic API

Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

CLI Presets

See Also