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Novita Connect plugs Novita models into the coding harness you already use. Keep your tools, workflow and shortcuts; switch the model underneath with one command, and switch back by simply running your harness as usual.
The CLI is called novi. It starts your harness with Novita settings injected for that session only, so your own configuration is left untouched.
Novita Connect is currently in Beta. Commands and the default model lineup may change. It runs on macOS and Linux (amd64 and arm64).

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Requirements

  • A Novita API key from Key Management.
  • macOS or Linux with curl.
  • The harness you want to use. If it isn’t installed, the novi menu shows installation instructions and an official download link.

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Quickstart

1

Install novi

The installer puts novi in ~/.local/bin, verifies the download against SHA256SUMS, and installs the latest release.
2

Log in with your Novita API key

Paste a key from Key Management. You can also set NOVITA_API_KEY instead of saving a key.
3

Start a harness

Claude Code starts on Novita models. Run novi on its own to open the interactive menu and pick a harness, browse models, or check your balance.

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Installer options

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Supported harnesses

--model and --print-env go right after the harness name; everything else is passed through to the harness:
OpenCode, Pi and DeepSeek Harness use Novita Chat Completions through the same local relay. OpenCode and Pi keep their original providers and model selections alongside Novita, and all generated provider files are removed on exit. novi dsh starts the web profile; use novi dsh headless "task" or novi dsh --profile <name> to choose another profile.
Claude Code preserves an existing claude.ai login and custom model picker; otherwise it uses the relay token. Its default model and tier aliases point to Novita during the session. Preserving the login does not provide automatic Anthropic subscription passthrough.
When Codex’s auth.json contains an access token, its original models and Novita models share the picker. Original model requests go to OpenAI with the client’s credential; Novita requests use only the Novita key. Without a ChatGPT login, novi uses a standalone Novita provider. A login stored only in a system keychain is not yet detected.
DeepSeek Harness requires a version with --patch support (verified with 0.2.0-rc.2). Pi requires its provider extension API. OpenCode 2 runs with a private server so it inherits the session configuration.

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Models

Every Novita model the harness can use appears in its own model picker (/model), with prices and context sizes. The default lineup: Pick another model for a session with --model <id>, and list everything available with prices:
Tools, MCP servers, subagents and web search keep working on Novita models, and so does Codex’s tool search. Web search runs through Novita AI Search and is billed to your account; set NOVI_NO_WEB_SEARCH=1 to turn it off.

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How your key stays safe

  • Your key stays with novi. Each session runs through a local relay on 127.0.0.1. The harness only gets a session token that works there, so neither the harness nor anything it runs can read your Novita API key.
  • Nothing is left behind. CLI sessions inject everything into the harness process. Settings a harness saves on its own during the session (model, effort) are put back when it exits.

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Desktop apps (Beta)

On macOS, novi can connect Claude Desktop and Codex Desktop to Novita. Open the novi menu and choose the app, or run:
  • Launch desktop app opens the app with a long-term Novita setup, and reuses an existing setup instead of reconfiguring every time. The setup keeps one background relay on 127.0.0.1:17861 for both apps.
  • One-time use (Codex Desktop only, experimental) starts an isolated instance with its own CODEX_HOME and app data. Your original configuration stays untouched; you may need to complete first-run setup.
  • Disconnect / restore settings (press m in the menu for connection management) puts back what novi changed and keeps your later edits. Every change is journaled.
Claude Desktop runs in third-party gateway mode with a Novita profile. Cloud sessions and Remote Control are unavailable in this mode, and earlier Anthropic conversations stay in the original data directory. Use Switch to official Claude to go back while keeping the Novita profile for later.
On Linux, use Connect / start in the menu, then quit and reopen the app yourself. Run novi desktop status for desktop app and connection diagnostics.

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Usage receipts

CLI sessions print a receipt on stderr when they exit, without changing the agent’s stdout. To summarize locally observed input, output and cache tokens by model:
Add --json for request-level records. Usage metadata is stored privately under ~/.config/novi/usage; no prompts, response text, credentials or working directories are recorded.
Totals are estimates based on the catalog price at request time, not your actual Novita bill, and exclude search and other charges. Check your billing page for actual charges.

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Commands

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Environment variables

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Update and uninstall

novi update downloads the latest release, verifies its checksum and version, then replaces novi in place. A running desktop relay is restarted on the new binary. To go back, reinstall a specific version with NOVI_VERSION=x.y.z and the installer.
Uninstall restores desktop connections, then removes novi and ~/.config/novi/. Your harness configs and session history stay. Usage history and recovery backups are preserved; remove them separately if you no longer need them.

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Known limitations

  • Tested with Claude Code 2.1.283–2.1.295 and Codex 0.153.4–0.162.0. novi doctor flags older versions.
  • Codex conversations started through novi can’t be resumed with plain codex resume.
  • Codex’s own sandbox needs unprivileged user namespaces, which Ubuntu 24.04 blocks by default.
  • Claude Desktop gateway mode does not use Anthropic sign-in; Remote Control and other features that require the official endpoint are unavailable.
  • macOS and Linux only.

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FAQ

No. CLI sessions inject Novita settings into the harness process only, and settings the harness saves on its own during the session are put back when it exits. To use your harness without Novita, run it as usual (for example claude instead of novi claude).
No. The harness talks to a local relay on 127.0.0.1 using a session token that only works there. Your API key stays with novi.
Pass --model <id> right after the harness name, for example novi claude --model zai-org/glm-5.3, or switch inside the harness with /model. Run novi models to see every available model with prices.
If direct access works, run NOVI_NOVITA_DIRECT=1 novi to bypass the proxy for api.novita.ai only. Set "novita_direct": true in novi’s config.json to persist this, including for the background desktop relay.
Run novi doctor. It checks your key, connectivity, harness versions and updates, and includes desktop app paths, configuration paths and connection status.

Claude Code

Configure Claude Code manually with Novita’s Anthropic-compatible API.

Codex

Configure Codex manually with Novita’s OpenAI-compatible API.
Last modified on October 15, 2026