AI API Configuration

AI API Configuration

mdedit.io includes an AI assistant for editing and document work. You bring your own API key — no key is bundled with the app.

Supported Providers

Provider	Env Variable	Free Tier	Default Model
Groq (recommended)	GROQ_API_KEY	Yes — console.groq.com	llama-3.3-70b-versatile
Google Gemini	GEMINI_API_KEY	Yes — ai.google.dev	gemini-2.5-flash
OpenAI	OPENAI_API_KEY	No	gpt-4.1
Anthropic Claude	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	No	claude-3-7-sonnet-latest

Groq is the recommended starting point — it has a free developer tier and fast inference.

Setup

Add the key to your .env file (based on .env.example):

# Groq (recommended)
GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key_here

# Optional: Google Gemini fallback
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here

# Optional: override which provider and model to use by default
DEFAULT_AI_PROVIDER=groq
DEFAULT_AI_MODEL=llama-3.3-70b-versatile

Restart the container after changing .env:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate

Provider Priority

If no DEFAULT_AI_PROVIDER is set, the app picks the first provider that has a valid API key, in this order:

1. Groq
2. Gemini
3. OpenAI
4. Claude

Using AI in the Editor

Open the AI panel with Alt+Space (primary) or Ctrl+Space (fallback on Linux where Alt+Space conflicts with the window manager). Type your request in plain language — the assistant reads your current document and applies changes directly.

Available Actions

Action	What happens
ADVICE	The AI explains or answers — no document change
REPLACE	Replaces the entire document with the AI's version
APPEND	Appends text at the end of the document
PREPEND	Prepends text at the start
INSERT	Inserts text at the cursor position

API Endpoint

For programmatic use or integration:

POST /api/chat/complete

Request

{
  "prompt": "The user request",
  "document": "The current Markdown document (optional)",
  "history": []
}

Response

{
  "message": "Response / explanation to the user",
  "markdown": "Updated Markdown — or null for ADVICE",
  "action": "REPLACE | INSERT | APPEND | PREPEND | ADVICE"
}

Example

curl -X POST http://localhost:3210/api/chat/complete \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"prompt": "Write an introduction about AI", "document": ""}'

See Also

• Docker Setup
• Architecture Overview
• Keyboard Shortcuts