Model type · Tool calling

Free LLM API with tool calling

Free models that can call your functions, with probe-failed models excluded and automatic failover behind one OpenAI-compatible id.

Call it with one model id

Point any OpenAI-compatible client at your local Ficelle endpoint and ask for ficelle/auto-tools. The general agent profile: tool calling without coding-quality certification.

python

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="http://127.0.0.1:8646/v1", api_key="ficelle-local")

reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="ficelle/auto-tools",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "..."}],
)

What a model needs to be routed here

Free pricing: a model with any price is never eligible, and paid fallback is hardcoded off.
Tool calling support.
At least 64,000 tokens of context by default.
Tool calling, checked by Ficelle's tool-call probe.

How the probe gate decides:

A model that failed the probe is excluded.
A model is eligible when it passed the probe, or when its provider's catalog declares the capability.
A capability Ficelle only inferred from provider defaults must pass the probe first.
If the gate would exclude every candidate, Ficelle keeps the pool rather than empty it, and labels the served model in the route log so the fallback is visible.

Good for

Agents that call your own functions (search, database, ticketing)
MCP-style tool use from an OpenAI-compatible client
Multi-step workflows where one bad tool call breaks the run

Worth knowing

Catalogs often list tool support that a model does not deliver. A model that fails the probe is excluded from this profile.
Read-inactivity budget for this profile: 60 seconds before Ficelle gives up on a silent provider and fails over.

Where the models come from

The pool is built from the free models of the providers you configure. The open core ships OpenRouter and Nous; Pro maintains the broader provider pack. Whether a given provider has a model eligible for this type changes as catalogs change, so Ficelle decides at routing time, not this page.

Popular free models built for this

Models whose developers build them for this kind of work, and where they are free today. Whether ficelle/auto-tools routes to one on your install is still decided per request.

Questions

Is ficelle/auto-tools free?

Yes. The profile only routes to models with free pricing, and paid fallback is hardcoded off, so a routed request cannot incur a paid-model charge. You bring your own provider keys; the open core is free, and Pro adds a maintained provider pool.

What happens when the model behind ficelle/auto-tools fails?

Ficelle marks it as cooling down or quarantined depending on the failure, tries the next eligible free model in the same pool, and probes the failed one until it recovers. Your client keeps calling the same id.

Which clients can call ficelle/auto-tools?

Anything that speaks the OpenAI API: the OpenAI SDKs, Cursor, Codex, Continue, Open WebUI, LangChain, CrewAI or plain curl, pointed at http://127.0.0.1:8646/v1. Claude Code connects through Ficelle's native Anthropic Messages endpoint. Hermes and OpenClaw use packaged connectors.