Using Kilo Code

Compatibility: works, with setup caveats. Kilo Code's Custom provider with Provider API OpenAI Compatible is built for Chat Completions endpoints like luv13's. Kilo can list luv13's models automatically. Two catches: luv13 doesn't publish context or output limits, and a custom model without limits turns off Kilo's automatic context compaction. Tool calling also isn't confirmed per luv13 model.

Before you start

You need:

• Kilo Code (the VS Code extension or the Kilo CLI). These steps follow Kilo's "OpenAI Compatible" and "Custom Models" docs, read 2026-09-30. The newest tag in the Kilo-Org/kilocode repo that day was v7.8.1.
• A luv13 API key. The Quickstart shows how to get one.
• The model id luv13/glm-5.3-flash, from the live list at https://api.luv13.ai/v1/models. See GLM-5.3 Flash for details on the model.

Facts about luv13 that affect this setup:

• luv13 serves one generation endpoint, POST /v1/chat/completions, plus GET /v1/models. /v1/responses, /v1/messages, /v1/completions and /v1/embeddings return 404 (checked 2026-09-30). See Endpoints.
• Every model costs a flat $0.33 per 1M tokens, input the same as output. See Pricing.
• The model list at https://api.luv13.ai/v1/models doesn't report context length, so luv13 publishes no per-model limits. See the model list.

Test your key and model first

Run these two checks in a terminal before you touch the tool. They take a few seconds and rule out key and model problems.

1. The model id exists. This call needs no key:

curl -s https://api.luv13.ai/v1/models

The list should include "id":"luv13/glm-5.3-flash".

2. Your key works for chat. Set the key in your shell first (export LUV13_API_KEY="your luv13 key"), then run:

curl -s https://api.luv13.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LUV13_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "luv13/glm-5.3-flash",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Reply with the word ready."}],
    "max_tokens": 20
  }'

With a valid key you should get back a JSON chat completion whose choices[0].message.content holds the reply, plus a usage block. If you see {"error":{"code":401,"message":"unauthorized","type":"invalid_auth"}} instead, the key is missing or wrong, and no tool setting will fix that.

Option A: add luv13 in Settings

1. Open Settings (the gear icon) and go to the Providers tab.
2. Scroll to the bottom and click Custom provider.
3. Fill in the dialog:

4. Click Submit. luv13's models then show up in the model picker.
5. Pick luv13/glm-5.3-flash and ask something small, like "Reply with the word ready."

To change the provider later, click Edit provider next to it in the connected providers section.

Option B: kilo.jsonc

Kilo's docs say token limits, tool calling and other model options go in kilo.jsonc. The global config is ~/.config/kilo/kilo.jsonc. On Windows it's C:\Users\<you>\.config\kilo\kilo.jsonc.

This follows the "OpenAI-compatible provider with a custom endpoint" example in Kilo's docs. It uses the documented id field so the model key doesn't need a slash, while the id sent to luv13 stays luv13/glm-5.3-flash:

{
  "$schema": "https://app.kilo.ai/config.json",
  "model": "openai-compatible/glm-5.3-flash",
  "provider": {
    "openai-compatible": {
      "options": {
        "apiKey": "{env:LUV13_API_KEY}",
        "baseURL": "https://api.luv13.ai/v1"
      },
      "models": {
        "glm-5.3-flash": {
          "id": "luv13/glm-5.3-flash",
          "name": "GLM-5.3 Flash (luv13)",
          "tool_call": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Set LUV13_API_KEY in your environment before starting Kilo. Then run kilo models to check that the model is listed.

About {env:LUV13_API_KEY}: Kilo's docs say {env:...} only resolves in trusted config, meaning your global config, KILO_CONFIG or KILO_CONFIG_CONTENT, or managed config. In a project kilo.jsonc committed to a repo, it's ignored, so the provider won't authenticate. Kilo does this so a repo can't send your keys to a baseURL of its choosing.

Token limits

Kilo's docs say that a custom model with no limit and no match in its catalog ends up with context and output set to 0. When that happens:

• Automatic compaction is off, so conversations grow until the provider rejects them.
• The output cap falls back to 32,000 tokens and is sent as max_tokens.
• Context usage isn't tracked.

luv13 doesn't publish per-model context or output limits, and /v1/models doesn't include them. So this guide doesn't give numbers. If you want compaction, ask luv13 support for the model's real limits and add them as "limit": { "context": ..., "output": ... }. Don't guess.

What works and what doesn't

Common errors

General tip: put the base URL https://api.luv13.ai/v1 in the Base URL field, not the full /v1/chat/completions URL. Kilo's docs say full endpoint URLs are supported, but Kilo issue #2035 reported /chat/completions being appended twice. The issue was closed in November 2025.

Sources

• Kilo Code docs, "Using OpenAI-Compatible Providers with Kilo Code" (read 2026-09-30)
• Kilo Code docs, "Custom Models" (read 2026-09-30). Covers config fields, token limits, the id mapping, provider options and the trusted-config rule for {env:...}.
• Kilo Code docs, "Settings" (config file locations, read 2026-09-30)
• Kilo-Org/kilocode tags on GitHub (newest v7.8.1 on 2026-09-30)
• Kilo issue #2035, "Base URL field incorrectly appends /chat/completions" (read 2026-09-30)
• luv13 endpoints checked live with curl on 2026-09-30

Related: Using Cline, Using VS Code, Using Claude Code, Compatible Tools.