adding-providers.md

title	Adding a New Provider
description	Learn how to add a new AI provider to DOAI Proxy by implementing the BaseProvider interface, registering it in the factory, and configuring environment variables.

Adding a New Provider

This guide explains how to add a new AI provider to DOAI Proxy.

Provider Interface

All providers must implement the BaseProvider class from providers/base-provider.js.

Required Methods

Your provider class must implement these methods:

import { BaseProvider } from './base-provider.js';

export class YourProvider extends BaseProvider {
  getType() {
    return 'yourprovider';
  }

  getName() {
    return 'yourprovider';
  }

  validateConfig() {
    const apiKey = process.env.YOUR_API_KEY;
    if (!apiKey) {
      throw new Error('YOUR_API_KEY is required');
    }
    return true;
  }

  transformRequest(openAIRequest) {
    const { messages, model, tools, ...otherParams } = openAIRequest;

    return {
      model: model,
      messages: messages,
    };
  }

  transformResponse(providerResponse) {
    return {
      id: providerResponse.data.id,
      object: 'chat.completion',
      created: providerResponse.data.created,
      model: providerResponse.data.model,
      choices: providerResponse.data.choices,
      usage: providerResponse.data.usage,
    };
  }

  async makeRequest(request) {
    const response = await axios.post(
      `${this.config.apiUrl}/chat/completions`,
      request,
      {
        headers: {
          'Authorization': `Bearer ${this.config.apiKey}`,
          'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        },
        timeout: this.config.timeout,
      }
    );
    return response;
  }

  supportsStreaming() {
    return true;
  }

  supportsTools() {
    return true;
  }
}

Registration

Register your provider in providers/provider-factory.js:

import { YourProvider } from './yourprovider-provider.js';

export class ProviderFactory {
  static create(providerType, env) {
    const type = providerType?.toLowerCase() || 'straico';

    switch (type) {
      case 'yourprovider':
        return new YourProvider(env);

      // ... other cases

      default:
        throw new Error(`Unknown provider type: ${providerType}`);
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Add environment variables to .env.example:

# YourProvider Configuration
YOUR_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
YOUR_API_URL=https://api.yourprovider.com/v1
YOUR_API_TIMEOUT=60000

Reusing Existing Modules

Streaming

If your provider doesn't support native streaming, you can reuse the simulated streaming module:

import { simulateStream } from '../streaming.js';

if (req.body.stream && !this.supportsStreaming()) {
  await simulateStream(aiResponse, res, {
    chunkSize: parseInt(process.env.STREAM_CHUNK_SIZE) || 15,
    delay: parseInt(process.env.STREAM_DELAY_MS) || 80,
  });
}

Tools

If your provider doesn't support native function calling, you can reuse the prompt injection module:

import { injectToolsIntoSystem, parseToolCall, formatToolCallResponse } from '../tools.js';

const processedMessages = injectToolsIntoSystem(messages, tools);

Testing Your Provider

1. Set Provider Type

Add to your .env file:

PROVIDER_TYPE=yourprovider
YOUR_API_KEY=your_actual_key

2. Start the Proxy

npm start

3. Test with OpenAI-Compatible Client

Test with curl:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "your-model-name",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
  }'

Examples

See existing providers for reference:

• Straico Provider (providers/straico-provider.js) — Simulated streaming (no native support), prompt injection for tools (no native support), OpenAI-compatible request/response format. Good example of non-native providers.

Best Practices

1. Keep provider-specific logic isolated — Don't mix providers. Each provider should be self-contained.

2. Reuse existing utilities — Use simulateStream() for non-native streaming, injectToolsIntoSystem() for non-native tools, and logging functions from utils.js.

3. Handle errors gracefully — Provide clear error messages, validate configuration on startup, and use try-catch for API calls.

4. Support both streaming and non-streaming — Let the client decide via the stream: true/false parameter. Implement supportsStreaming() correctly.

5. Support both tools and non-tools — Let the client decide via the tools parameter. Implement supportsTools() correctly.

6. Log requests and responses — Use logRequest() and logResponse() from utils.js, logProviderResponse() with provider type, and logError() for errors.

7. Follow OpenAI compatibility — Request format should match OpenAI's /v1/chat/completions, response format should match OpenAI's chat completion format, and SSE format should use the standard data: {...}\n\n pattern.

Testing Checklist

Before submitting your provider:

• All required methods are implemented
• validateConfig() throws clear errors for missing config
• transformRequest() produces valid provider requests
• transformResponse() produces OpenAI-compatible responses
• makeRequest() handles timeouts and errors
• supportsStreaming() returns correct value
• supportsTools() returns correct value
• Non-streaming requests work correctly
• Streaming requests work correctly (native or simulated)
• Tool requests work correctly (native or prompt injection)
• Error messages are clear and helpful
• Environment variables are documented in .env.example
• Provider is added to ProviderFactory
• README.md is updated with provider information