Responses API Beta Basic Usage - Simple Text Requests

Beta APIThis API is in beta stage and may have breaking changes.

The Responses API Beta supports both simple string input and structured message arrays, making it easy to get started with basic text generation.

Simple String Input

The simplest way to use the API is with a string input:

const response = await fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: 'openai/o4-mini',
    input: 'What is the meaning of life?',
    max_output_tokens: 9000,
  }),
});

const result = await response.json();
console.log(result);

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'model': 'openai/o4-mini',
        'input': 'What is the meaning of life?',
        'max_output_tokens': 9000,
    }
)

result = response.json()
print(result)

curl -X POST https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "openai/o4-mini",
    "input": "What is the meaning of life?",
    "max_output_tokens": 9000
  }'

Structured Message Input

For more complex conversations, use the message array format:

const response = await fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: 'openai/o4-mini',
    input: [
      {
        type: 'message',
        role: 'user',
        content: [
          {
            type: 'input_text',
            text: 'Tell me a joke about programming',
          },
        ],
      },
    ],
    max_output_tokens: 9000,
  }),
});

const result = await response.json();

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'model': 'openai/o4-mini',
        'input': [
            {
                'type': 'message',
                'role': 'user',
                'content': [
                    {
                        'type': 'input_text',
                        'text': 'Tell me a joke about programming',
                    },
                ],
            },
        ],
        'max_output_tokens': 9000,
    }
)

result = response.json()

curl -X POST https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "openai/o4-mini",
    "input": [
      {
        "type": "message",
        "role": "user",
        "content": [
          {
            "type": "input_text",
            "text": "Tell me a joke about programming"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "max_output_tokens": 9000
  }'

Response Format

The API returns a structured response with the generated content:

{
  "id": "resp_1234567890",
  "object": "response",
  "created_at": 1234567890,
  "model": "openai/o4-mini",
  "output": [
    {
      "type": "message",
      "id": "msg_abc123",
      "status": "completed",
      "role": "assistant",
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "output_text",
          "text": "The meaning of life is a philosophical question that has been pondered for centuries...",
          "annotations": []
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "usage": {
    "input_tokens": 12,
    "output_tokens": 45,
    "total_tokens": 57
  },
  "status": "completed"
}

Streaming Responses

Enable streaming for real-time response generation:

const response = await fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: 'openai/o4-mini',
    input: 'Write a short story about AI',
    stream: true,
    max_output_tokens: 9000,
  }),
});

const reader = response.body?.getReader();
const decoder = new TextDecoder();

while (true) {
  const { done, value } = await reader.read();
  if (done) break;

  const chunk = decoder.decode(value);
  const lines = chunk.split('\n');

  for (const line of lines) {
    if (line.startsWith('data: ')) {
      const data = line.slice(6);
      if (data === '[DONE]') return;

      try {
        const parsed = JSON.parse(data);
        console.log(parsed);
      } catch (e) {
        // Skip invalid JSON
      }
    }
  }
}

import requests
import json

response = requests.post(
    'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'model': 'openai/o4-mini',
        'input': 'Write a short story about AI',
        'stream': True,
        'max_output_tokens': 9000,
    },
    stream=True
)

for line in response.iter_lines():
    if line:
        line_str = line.decode('utf-8')
        if line_str.startswith('data: '):
            data = line_str[6:]
            if data == '[DONE]':
                break
            try:
                parsed = json.loads(data)
                print(parsed)
            except json.JSONDecodeError:
                continue

Example Streaming Output

The streaming response returns Server-Sent Events (SSE) chunks:

data: {"type":"response.created","response":{"id":"resp_1234567890","object":"response","status":"in_progress"}}

data: {"type":"response.output_item.added","response_id":"resp_1234567890","output_index":0,"item":{"type":"message","id":"msg_abc123","role":"assistant","status":"in_progress","content":[]}}

data: {"type":"response.content_part.added","response_id":"resp_1234567890","output_index":0,"content_index":0,"part":{"type":"output_text","text":""}}

data: {"type":"response.content_part.delta","response_id":"resp_1234567890","output_index":0,"content_index":0,"delta":"Once"}

data: {"type":"response.content_part.delta","response_id":"resp_1234567890","output_index":0,"content_index":0,"delta":" upon"}

data: {"type":"response.content_part.delta","response_id":"resp_1234567890","output_index":0,"content_index":0,"delta":" a"}

data: {"type":"response.content_part.delta","response_id":"resp_1234567890","output_index":0,"content_index":0,"delta":" time"}

data: {"type":"response.output_item.done","response_id":"resp_1234567890","output_index":0,"item":{"type":"message","id":"msg_abc123","role":"assistant","status":"completed","content":[{"type":"output_text","text":"Once upon a time, in a world where artificial intelligence had become as common as smartphones..."}]}}

data: {"type":"response.done","response":{"id":"resp_1234567890","object":"response","status":"completed","usage":{"input_tokens":12,"output_tokens":45,"total_tokens":57}}}

data: [DONE]

Common Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`model`	string	Required. Model to use (e.g., `openai/o4-mini`)
`input`	string or array	Required. Text or message array
`stream`	boolean	Enable streaming responses (default: false)
`max_output_tokens`	integer	Maximum tokens to generate
`temperature`	number	Sampling temperature (0-2)
`top_p`	number	Nucleus sampling parameter (0-1)

Error Handling

Handle common errors gracefully:

try {
  const response = await fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      model: 'openai/o4-mini',
      input: 'Hello, world!',
    }),
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.json();
    console.error('API Error:', error.error.message);
    return;
  }

  const result = await response.json();
  console.log(result);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Network Error:', error);
}

import requests

try:
    response = requests.post(
        'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses',
        headers={
            'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        },
        json={
            'model': 'openai/o4-mini',
            'input': 'Hello, world!',
        }
    )

    if response.status_code != 200:
        error = response.json()
        print(f"API Error: {error['error']['message']}")
    else:
        result = response.json()
        print(result)

except requests.RequestException as e:
    print(f"Network Error: {e}")

Multiple Turn Conversations

Since the Responses API Beta is stateless, you must include the full conversation history in each request to maintain context:

// First request
const firstResponse = await fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: 'openai/o4-mini',
    input: [
      {
        type: 'message',
        role: 'user',
        content: [
          {
            type: 'input_text',
            text: 'What is the capital of France?',
          },
        ],
      },
    ],
    max_output_tokens: 9000,
  }),
});

const firstResult = await firstResponse.json();

// Second request - include previous conversation
const secondResponse = await fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: 'openai/o4-mini',
    input: [
      {
        type: 'message',
        role: 'user',
        content: [
          {
            type: 'input_text',
            text: 'What is the capital of France?',
          },
        ],
      },
      {
        type: 'message',
        role: 'assistant',
        id: 'msg_abc123',
        status: 'completed',
        content: [
          {
            type: 'output_text',
            text: 'The capital of France is Paris.',
            annotations: []
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        type: 'message',
        role: 'user',
        content: [
          {
            type: 'input_text',
            text: 'What is the population of that city?',
          },
        ],
      },
    ],
    max_output_tokens: 9000,
  }),
});

const secondResult = await secondResponse.json();

import requests

# First request
first_response = requests.post(
    'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'model': 'openai/o4-mini',
        'input': [
            {
                'type': 'message',
                'role': 'user',
                'content': [
                    {
                        'type': 'input_text',
                        'text': 'What is the capital of France?',
                    },
                ],
            },
        ],
        'max_output_tokens': 9000,
    }
)

first_result = first_response.json()

# Second request - include previous conversation
second_response = requests.post(
    'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses',
    headers={
        'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    json={
        'model': 'openai/o4-mini',
        'input': [
            {
                'type': 'message',
                'role': 'user',
                'content': [
                    {
                        'type': 'input_text',
                        'text': 'What is the capital of France?',
                    },
                ],
            },
            {
                'type': 'message',
                'role': 'assistant',
                'id': 'msg_abc123',
                'status': 'completed',
                'content': [
                    {
                        'type': 'output_text',
                        'text': 'The capital of France is Paris.',
                        'annotations': []
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                'type': 'message',
                'role': 'user',
                'content': [
                    {
                        'type': 'input_text',
                        'text': 'What is the population of that city?',
                    },
                ],
            },
        ],
        'max_output_tokens': 9000,
    }
)

second_result = second_response.json()

Required FieldsThe id and status fields are required for any assistant role messages included in the conversation history.

Conversation HistoryAlways include the complete conversation history in each request. The API does not store previous messages, so context must be maintained client-side.

Next Steps

Learn about Reasoning capabilities
Explore Tool Calling functionality
Try Web Search integration

​Simple String Input

​Structured Message Input

​Response Format

​Streaming Responses

​Example Streaming Output

​Common Parameters

​Error Handling

​Multiple Turn Conversations

​Next Steps

Simple String Input

Structured Message Input

Response Format

Streaming Responses

Example Streaming Output

Common Parameters

Error Handling

Multiple Turn Conversations

Next Steps