Skip to main content
Fetch the list of available models from an AI provider and update the provider’s availableModels property.

​
Method Signature

// Recommended: object parameter
fetchModels(params: { provider: IAIProvider; abortController?: AbortController }): Promise<string[]>

// Legacy: direct provider parameter (deprecated)
fetchModels(provider: IAIProvider): Promise<string[]>

​
Parameters

​
provider
IAIProvider
required
The AI provider to fetch models from. The provider must support the models API endpoint.
provider: aiProviders.providers[0]
​
abortController
AbortController
Optional AbortController to cancel the fetch operation.
abortController: new AbortController()

​
Return Type

​
Promise<string[]>
string[]
A promise that resolves to an array of available model names.
['gpt-4', 'gpt-3.5-turbo', 'text-embedding-ada-002']
The method also automatically updates provider.availableModels with the fetched list.

​
Examples

​
Basic Usage

// Fetch models and update provider
const models = await aiProviders.fetchModels({
  provider: aiProviders.providers[0]
});

console.log('Available models:', models);
// ['smollm2:135m', 'llama2:latest', 'mistral:latest']

// The provider object is automatically updated
console.log(aiProviders.providers[0].availableModels);
// ['smollm2:135m', 'llama2:latest', 'mistral:latest']

​
Legacy Usage (Deprecated)

// Old way: passing provider directly
const models = await aiProviders.fetchModels(
  aiProviders.providers[0]
);

console.log(models);

​
With AbortController

const controller = new AbortController();

// Set a timeout to cancel the request
setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 5000);

try {
  const models = await aiProviders.fetchModels({
    provider: aiProviders.providers[0],
    abortController: controller
  });
  
  console.log('Fetched models:', models);
} catch (error) {
  if ((error as Error).message === 'Aborted') {
    console.log('Model fetch cancelled');
  } else {
    console.error('Failed to fetch models:', error);
  }
}

​
Fetching for Multiple Providers

// Fetch models for all providers in parallel
const modelPromises = aiProviders.providers.map(provider =>
  aiProviders.fetchModels({ provider })
);

const allModels = await Promise.all(modelPromises);

aiProviders.providers.forEach((provider, index) => {
  console.log(`${provider.name}:`, allModels[index]);
});

​
Using Fetched Models in UI

// Fetch models when user opens settings
async function loadModelsList() {
  try {
    const models = await aiProviders.fetchModels({
      provider: aiProviders.providers[0]
    });
    
    // Populate dropdown with available models
    const dropdown = document.getElementById('model-select');
    models.forEach(model => {
      const option = document.createElement('option');
      option.value = model;
      option.textContent = model;
      dropdown.appendChild(option);
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Could not load models:', error);
  }
}

​
Checking Model Availability

// Check if a specific model is available
const models = await aiProviders.fetchModels({
  provider: aiProviders.providers[0]
});

const hasGPT4 = models.includes('gpt-4');
if (hasGPT4) {
  console.log('GPT-4 is available');
} else {
  console.log('GPT-4 not found, using fallback');
}

​
Automatic Updates

When fetchModels() is called, it automatically updates the provider.availableModels property. This means you can access the models list directly from the provider object after fetching:
await aiProviders.fetchModels({ provider });

// Models are now available on the provider
console.log(provider.availableModels);

​
When to Use

You typically don’t need to call this method manually. The AI Providers plugin automatically fetches models when needed.However, fetchModels() is useful when:
  • Building custom provider selection UI
  • Validating that a specific model is available
  • Refreshing the model list after provider changes
  • Implementing model discovery features

​
Error Handling

try {
  const models = await aiProviders.fetchModels({
    provider: aiProviders.providers[0]
  });
  
  if (models.length === 0) {
    console.warn('No models available from provider');
  }
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Failed to fetch models:', error);
  // Handle error (e.g., network failure, invalid API key)
}

​
Provider Support

Not all provider types support the models API. If a provider doesn’t support model fetching, the method will throw an error:
Handler not found or does not support fetchModels for provider type: {type}
Make sure the provider type supports model listing before calling this method.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us