App Attribution

App attribution allows developers to associate their API usage with their application, enabling visibility in OpenRouter’s public rankings and detailed analytics. By including simple headers in your requests, your app can appear in our leaderboards and gain insights into your model usage patterns.

Benefits of app attribution

When you properly attribute your app usage, you gain access to:

Public App Rankings: Your app appears in OpenRouter’s public rankings with daily, weekly, and monthly leaderboards
Model Apps Tabs: Your app is featured on individual model pages showing which apps use each model most
Detailed Analytics: Access comprehensive analytics showing your app’s model usage over time, token consumption, and usage patterns
Professional Visibility: Showcase your app to the OpenRouter developer community

Attribution headers

OpenRouter tracks app attribution through the following HTTP headers:

HTTP-Referer (required)

The HTTP-Referer header identifies your app’s URL and is used as the primary identifier for rankings. This header is required for app attribution. Without it, no app page will be created and your usage will not appear in rankings. Your app’s URL becomes its unique identifier in the system.

X-OpenRouter-Title

The X-OpenRouter-Title header sets or modifies your app’s display name in rankings and analytics. X-Title is still supported for backwards compatibility. This header alone does not create an app page. It must be paired with HTTP-Referer.

X-OpenRouter-Categories

The X-OpenRouter-Categories header assigns your app to one or more marketplace categories. Pass a comma-separated list of up to categories per request. Categories must be lowercase, hyphen-separated, and each category is limited to 30 characters. Only recognized categories from the list below are accepted; OpenRouter drops unrecognized ones without an error. Categories are merged with any existing ones (up to total).

X-OpenRouter-App-Visibility

The X-OpenRouter-App-Visibility header controls whether a new app is listed publicly. Send hidden to create the app hidden: it is excluded from the public rankings, the app marketplace, and public app pages, while attribution keeps working and the app’s usage still shows in your own analytics. Any other value, or no header at all, creates a public app. hidden applies only when the request creates a brand-new app: an HTTP-Referer that resolves to an app that already exists — including through origin grouping, or through an app created by a prior OAuth authorization — keeps that app’s current visibility. The header is ignored on every later request, so it cannot list a hidden app publicly, and a caller of somebody else’s app cannot hide it. To change an app that already exists, contact support.

HTTP-Referer: https://internal-service.example.com
X-OpenRouter-App-Visibility: hidden

Category groups

Categories are organized into groups for the marketplace: Coding (tools for software development):

cli-agent: Terminal-based coding assistants
ide-extension: Editor/IDE integrations
cloud-agent: Cloud-hosted coding agents
programming-app: Programming apps
native-app-builder: Mobile and desktop app builders

Creative (creative apps):

creative-writing: Creative writing tools
video-gen: Video generation apps
image-gen: Image generation apps
audio-gen: Audio generation apps

Productivity (writing and productivity tools):

writing-assistant: AI-powered writing tools
general-chat: General chat apps
personal-agent: Personal AI agents
legal: Legal tools and assistants

Entertainment (entertainment apps):

roleplay: Roleplay apps and other character-based chat apps
game: Gaming and interactive entertainment apps

Custom categories

Only recognized categories from the list above are accepted. OpenRouter drops unrecognized values without an error. If you have a use case that doesn’t fit the existing categories, reach out to us and we may add new categories in the future.

HTTP-Referer is required to create an app page and appear in rankings. Setting only X-OpenRouter-Title without a URL will not create an app entry. Apps using localhost URLs must also include X-OpenRouter-Title to be tracked.

Implementation examples

import { OpenRouter } from '@openrouter/sdk';

const openRouter = new OpenRouter({
  apiKey: '<OPENROUTER_API_KEY>',
  httpReferer: 'https://myapp.com', // Your app's URL
  appTitle: 'My AI Assistant', // Your app's display name
  appCategories: 'cli-agent,cloud-agent', // Optional categories
});

const response = await openRouter.responses.send({
  responsesRequest: {
    model: 'openai/gpt-5.2',
    input: 'Hello, world!',
    stream: false,
  },
});

if (!('output' in response)) {
  throw new Error('Expected a non-streaming response');
}

console.log(response.output.find((item) => item.type === 'message'));

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
  base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
  api_key="<OPENROUTER_API_KEY>",
)

response = client.responses.create(
  extra_headers={
    "HTTP-Referer": "https://myapp.com", # Your app's URL
    "X-OpenRouter-Title": "My AI Assistant", # Your app's display name
    "X-OpenRouter-Categories": "cli-agent,cloud-agent", # Optional
  },
  model="openai/gpt-5.2",
  input="Hello, world!",
)

import OpenAI from 'openai';

const openai = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: 'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1',
  apiKey: '<OPENROUTER_API_KEY>',
  defaultHeaders: {
    'HTTP-Referer': 'https://myapp.com', // Your app's URL
    'X-OpenRouter-Title': 'My AI Assistant', // Your app's display name
    'X-OpenRouter-Categories': 'cli-agent,cloud-agent', // Optional
  },
});

async function main() {
  const response = await openai.responses.create({
    model: 'openai/gpt-5.2',
    input: 'Hello, world!',
  });

  console.log(response.output_text);
}

main();

import requests
import json

response = requests.post(
  url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses",
  headers={
    "Authorization": "Bearer <OPENROUTER_API_KEY>",
    "HTTP-Referer": "https://myapp.com", # Your app's URL
    "X-OpenRouter-Title": "My AI Assistant", # Your app's display name
    "X-OpenRouter-Categories": "cli-agent,cloud-agent", # Optional
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  data=json.dumps({
    "model": "openai/gpt-5.2",
    "input": "Hello, world!"
  })
)

fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer <OPENROUTER_API_KEY>',
    'HTTP-Referer': 'https://myapp.com', // Your app's URL
    'X-OpenRouter-Title': 'My AI Assistant', // Your app's display name
    'X-OpenRouter-Categories': 'cli-agent,cloud-agent', // Optional
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: 'openai/gpt-5.2',
    input: 'Hello, world!',
  }),
});

curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "HTTP-Referer: https://myapp.com" \
  -H "X-OpenRouter-Title: My AI Assistant" \
  -H "X-OpenRouter-Categories: cli-agent,cloud-agent" \
  -d '{
  "model": "openai/gpt-5.2",
  "input": "Hello, world!"
}'

Where your app appears

App rankings

Your attributed app will appear in OpenRouter’s main rankings page at openrouter.ai/rankings. The rankings show:

Top Apps: Largest public apps by token usage
Time Periods: Daily, weekly, and monthly views
Usage Metrics: Total token consumption across all models

Model apps tabs

On individual model pages (e.g., GPT-4o), your app will be featured in the “Apps” tab showing:

Top Apps: Apps using that specific model most
Weekly Rankings: Updated weekly based on usage
Usage Context: How your app compares to others using the same model

Individual app analytics

Once your app is tracked, you can access detailed analytics at openrouter.ai/apps?url=<your-app-url> including:

Model Usage Over Time: Charts showing which models your app uses
Token Consumption: Detailed breakdown of prompt and completion tokens
Usage Patterns: Historical data to understand your app’s AI usage trends

Best practices

URL requirements

Always include HTTP-Referer. It’s the minimum requirement for app attribution.
Use your app’s primary domain (e.g., https://myapp.com)
Avoid using subdomains unless they represent distinct apps
For localhost development, always include X-OpenRouter-Title as well
You can view your app’s page at openrouter.ai/apps?url=<your-referer-url>

Title guidelines

Keep titles concise and descriptive
Use your app’s actual name as users know it
Avoid generic names like “AI App” or “Chatbot”

Privacy considerations

Only public apps, meaning those that send headers, are included in rankings
Attribution headers don’t expose sensitive information about your requests

Keeping attributed apps private

If you use attribution as internal telemetry for services you don’t want listed publicly, send X-OpenRouter-App-Visibility: hidden alongside HTTP-Referer:

curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/responses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "HTTP-Referer: https://internal-service.example.com" \
  -H "X-OpenRouter-Title: Internal Service" \
  -H "X-OpenRouter-App-Visibility: hidden" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "openai/gpt-4o", "input": "Hello"}'

Set it once in the client every internal service shares and each new URL you add lands hidden the first time it sends traffic — no request afterwards, from you or anyone else, changes that app’s visibility in either direction.

Quickstart Guide - Basic setup with attribution headers
API Reference - Complete header documentation
Usage Accounting - Understanding your API usage

Overview

Models & Routing

Tool Calling

Features

Observability

Authentication

Ori

Developer Tools

Privacy

Best Practices

Providers

Community

App Attribution

Benefits of app attribution

Attribution headers

HTTP-Referer (required)

X-OpenRouter-Title

X-OpenRouter-Categories

X-OpenRouter-App-Visibility

Category groups

Custom categories

Implementation examples

Where your app appears

App rankings

Model apps tabs

Individual app analytics

Best practices

URL requirements

Title guidelines

Privacy considerations

Keeping attributed apps private

Benefits of app attribution

Attribution headers

HTTP-Referer (required)

X-OpenRouter-Title

X-OpenRouter-Categories

X-OpenRouter-App-Visibility

Category groups

Custom categories

Implementation examples

Where your app appears

App rankings

Model apps tabs

Individual app analytics

Best practices

URL requirements

Title guidelines

Privacy considerations

Keeping attributed apps private

Related documentation