Service Root vs Full Request Address

Every service has an Address Type setting.

Service Root

Use Service Root when you enter the base address of the provider. SpotAsk appends the chat path automatically:

https://api.openai.com/v1

For an OpenAI-compatible service, SpotAsk appends /chat/completions. For Anthropic, it appends the Messages path when needed.

This mode also makes model discovery possible, because SpotAsk can request the provider's model list.

Full Request Address

Use Full Request Address when the provider gives you the exact chat endpoint and you want to send requests directly to that path:

https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions

The full address must point to the correct chat endpoint for the selected API format. Model discovery is not available in this mode; add models manually.

Which one should I choose?

Choose Service Root unless the provider documentation explicitly gives you a full endpoint that should not be derived from a base address.

flowchart TD
  A{What does the provider document?}
  A -->|Base address| B[Service Root]
  A -->|Complete chat endpoint| C[Full Request Address]
  class A entry
  class B,C outcome

Open Settings in SpotAsk

Opens the Service page in SpotAsk. If SpotAsk is not installed this link does nothing — open it by hand instead: SpotAsk menu bar icon → Settings... → Service, or press ⌘ + , to open Settings. Direct link: spotask://settings/provider

Local services

SpotAsk accepts http only for local services such as http://localhost or http://127.0.0.1. Remote addresses must use https.

Related: Connect an OpenAI-Compatible Service, Connect Anthropic