NewsAgent/MODELS.md

OpenRouter Model Reference

Quick reference for choosing the right AI model for News Agent.

Recommended Models

Best Overall: google/gemini-flash-1.5-8b

• Cost: ~$0.05-0.15/day
• Quality: Excellent
• Speed: Very fast
• Best for: Production use, daily digests

Best Free: google/gemini-2.0-flash-exp:free

• Cost: FREE
• Quality: Good (experimental)
• Speed: Fast
• Best for: Testing, low-budget setups
• Note: Experimental, may change

Budget Option: meta-llama/llama-3.1-8b-instruct:free

• Cost: FREE
• Quality: Decent
• Speed: Moderate
• Best for: Testing, development

High Quality: anthropic/claude-3.5-haiku

• Cost: ~$0.10-0.25/day
• Quality: Excellent
• Speed: Fast
• Best for: When quality matters most

OpenAI Option: openai/gpt-4o-mini

• Cost: ~$0.08-0.20/day
• Quality: Very good
• Speed: Fast
• Best for: Balanced quality/cost

How to Change Model

Edit config.yaml:

ai:
  model: "google/gemini-flash-1.5-8b"  # Change this line

Full Model List

See all available models at: https://openrouter.ai/models

Filter by:

• Free models - Search for :free suffix
• Context length - Important for long articles
• Supported features - JSON mode, function calling, etc.

Cost Comparison (Daily Estimates)

Based on processing ~50 articles/day with 15 summaries:

Model	Daily Cost	Monthly Cost	Quality
google/gemini-2.0-flash-exp:free	$0.00	$0.00	Good
meta-llama/llama-3.1-8b-instruct:free	$0.00	$0.00	Decent
google/gemini-flash-1.5-8b	$0.05-0.15	$1.50-4.50	Excellent
openai/gpt-4o-mini	$0.08-0.20	$2.40-6.00	Very Good
anthropic/claude-3.5-haiku	$0.10-0.25	$3.00-7.50	Excellent
openai/gpt-4o	$0.50-1.50	$15-45	Outstanding

Costs vary based on article length and quantity

Testing a New Model

1. Update config.yaml:

   ai:
     model: "new-model-name"
   

2. Run a test:

   source .venv/bin/activate
   python -m src.main
   

3. Check quality of summaries in the email

4. Monitor costs at: https://openrouter.ai/activity

Model Selection Tips

Choose FREE models if:

• You're testing the system
• Cost is a major concern
• Article quality/accuracy is less critical

Choose PAID models if:

• You want best quality summaries
• You need reliable daily digests
• You value accurate relevance scoring

Performance vs Cost:

• Gemini Flash 1.5-8b - Best balance
• Claude Haiku - Best quality for cost
• GPT-4o-mini - Good all-rounder
• Free models - Testing/development

Troubleshooting

Error: "No endpoints found for [model]"

The model name is incorrect or not available on OpenRouter.

Solution:

1. Check model name at: https://openrouter.ai/models
2. Copy exact model ID (e.g., google/gemini-flash-1.5-8b)
3. Update config.yaml
4. Restart the service

Model Seems Slow

Some models are slower than others.

Solutions:

• Try google/gemini-flash-1.5-8b (fastest)
• Reduce max_articles in config (process fewer articles)
• Use cheaper/faster models for filtering, premium for summarization

Poor Summary Quality

The model might not be good at summarization.

Solutions:

• Try anthropic/claude-3.5-haiku (excellent summarization)
• Adjust prompts in src/ai/prompts.py
• Increase temperature for more creative summaries
• Try different models

High Costs

You're using an expensive model or processing too many articles.

Solutions:

1. Switch to cheaper model (Gemini Flash or free options)
2. Increase min_score to filter more aggressively
3. Reduce max_articles limit
4. Monitor usage: https://openrouter.ai/activity

Advanced: Using Different Models for Different Tasks

You could modify the code to use:

• Fast/cheap model for filtering (scoring articles)
• High-quality model for summarization

Edit src/main.py to instantiate different clients for different tasks.

Need Help?

• Model pricing: https://openrouter.ai/models (click model for details)
• API docs: https://openrouter.ai/docs
• Check costs: https://openrouter.ai/activity
• Model comparison: Test different models and compare results