AI providers

An AI provider is one connection to an AI service, plus the list of models you want to use from it. Baserow uses those models for AI fields, AI formula suggestions, AI Agent actions in the Application Builder and Automations, and the Kuma assistant.

Where to configure them

  • Instance admins: click the workspace name at the top of the sidebar, then Admin tools → AI providers. Models added here are available to every workspace on the instance.
  • Workspace admins: go to Home, click the workspace name at the top of the page, then Settings → AI providers. Models added here are available to that workspace only.

Each page allows one provider per type: one OpenAI, one Anthropic, and so on. Other users see changes made in Admin tools → AI providers after they reload the page.

For every model you add, choose which features may use it under Available for, and use Test model before selecting it anywhere. A model that is not available for a feature does not appear in that feature’s model list.

Kuma also needs a model chosen under AI features in Admin tools → AI providers. Workspaces inherit that choice unless a workspace admin picks another model or disables Kuma. See AI assistant configuration.

Upgrading to Baserow 2.4

From Baserow 2.4, the environment variables below are no longer read. The upgrade imports them once into Admin tools → AI providers, and each workspace’s own AI settings into that workspace’s Settings → AI providers. Rotate keys and change models there: changing or removing a variable has no effect.

Provider Variables
OpenAI BASEROW_OPENAI_API_KEY, BASEROW_OPENAI_MODELS, BASEROW_OPENAI_ORGANIZATION, BASEROW_OPENAI_BASE_URL
OpenRouter BASEROW_OPENROUTER_API_KEY, BASEROW_OPENROUTER_MODELS, BASEROW_OPENROUTER_ORGANIZATION
Anthropic BASEROW_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, BASEROW_ANTHROPIC_MODELS
Mistral BASEROW_MISTRAL_API_KEY, BASEROW_MISTRAL_MODELS
Ollama BASEROW_OLLAMA_HOST, BASEROW_OLLAMA_MODELS

Keep the variables until you have checked the imported providers, since rolling back to 2.3 needs them. Then remove them. The imported API keys are stored in the database, so database backups now contain them.

There are two exceptions:

  • Kuma’s model is not imported. Kuma keeps using BASEROW_ENTERPRISE_ASSISTANT_LLM_MODEL until you make a model available to Kuma and select it under AI features. Imported models are only available to AI fields and AI Agent actions. Bedrock and Vertex AI can’t be added in AI providers, so keep their environment configuration. See AI assistant configuration.
  • Variables still work for a provider that isn’t in AI providers: for example one the upgrade skipped (the upgrade log says why), one whose variables you add after upgrading, or an imported provider you deleted. This fallback is deprecated: add the provider in Admin tools → AI providers instead.

If complete workspace settings are skipped because an API key or model name exceeds the database limits, their existing connection and model list remain in use until you create a workspace provider.

Three workspace setups behave differently after the upgrade. Fix them in the workspace’s Settings → AI providers:

  • A workspace with a credential but no models now gets no models, instead of the instance’s list.
  • A workspace with models but no credential now gets the instance’s full list, instead of its own shorter one.
  • A workspace with a credential but no endpoint or organization now uses the provider’s defaults, instead of the instance’s.

How instance and workspace providers combine

A workspace sees its own models first, and inherits the instance models on top:

  • A workspace model replaces an instance model with the same name.
  • Instance models the workspace has not redefined stay available.
  • A workspace can switch off an inherited instance provider. Its own models then stand alone, and turning the switch back on restores inheritance.
  • Disabling a model hides it from every feature in that scope.

If a workspace configures its own provider because it wants to use its own account, switch off the inherited instance provider of the same type. Otherwise that workspace can still use models that bill to the instance account. The switch does not affect Kuma: it keeps using the instance’s Kuma model until the workspace chooses another model or Disabled under AI features.

The upgrade does this for you: any workspace whose settings were imported is switched off from the matching instance provider, because its own settings replaced the instance ones before the upgrade. An instance provider added after the upgrade is inherited by those workspaces, so switch it off there yourself.

AI integrations in the Builder and Automations

An AI integration normally inherits its workspace’s providers. It can also carry its own settings:

  • A complete connection with its own model list is independent. Central credentials, disabled models and feature availability do not apply to it.
  • A connection without a model list inherits which models are allowed.
  • An incomplete connection cannot borrow a credential from anywhere else. It can only narrow the inherited model list, and its connection fields are ignored.

Published applications

An application published before the upgrade kept a copy of the workspace settings that were in force at publish time, so rotating a credential centrally does not reach it. Applications published since resolve their workspace’s providers when they run, so they follow central changes.

Either way, an integration that carries its own complete connection keeps using it. Republishing adopts current workspace resolution — and also publishes every other pending draft change, so confirm the draft with the application owner first.