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 2 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; unrecognized ones are silently ignored. Categories are merged with any existing ones (up to 10 total).

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

Productivity — Writing and productivity tools:

• writing-assistant — AI-powered writing tools
• general-chat — General chat apps
• personal-agent — Personal AI agents

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. Unrecognized values are silently dropped. 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.

Implementation Examples

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import { OpenRouter } from '@openrouter/sdk';
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const openRouter = new OpenRouter({
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  apiKey: '<OPENROUTER_API_KEY>',
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  httpReferer: 'https://myapp.com', // Your app's URL
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  appTitle: 'My AI Assistant', // Your app's display name
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  appCategories: 'cli-agent,cloud-agent', // Optional categories
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});
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const completion = await openRouter.chat.send({
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  model: 'openai/gpt-5.2',
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  messages: [
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    {
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      role: 'user',
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      content: 'Hello, world!',
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    },
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  ],
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  stream: false,
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});
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console.log(completion.choices[0].message);

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 — this is 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

Related Documentation

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