Virtual Models

Use GoModel virtual models to expose stable model names and test model swaps without changing app code.

What virtual models do

A virtual model is a model you define, instead of one a provider advertises. GoModel picks the kind from whether you give it a target:

• A redirect (an alias) is a stable name that points to a concrete provider model. Your app sends the name in the model field, and GoModel resolves it before sending the request upstream.
• An access policy has no target. It gates an existing model selector by user_path — or disables it entirely — without adding a new name. See User Path for access control.

Create and manage both in the admin dashboard at Models -> New virtual model. Fill Target model to make a redirect; leave it empty to make an access policy on the Source selector.

The rest of this page covers redirects.

Use stable names

You can expose names like regular and smarter instead of provider-specific model IDs.

• regular -> anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6
• smarter -> anthropic/claude-opus-4-6

Your app can then send:

{
  "model": "regular",
  "messages": []
}

Expose only redirects

To hide provider models from GET /v1/models, set:

KEEP_ONLY_ALIASES_AT_MODELS_ENDPOINT=true

When this is enabled, GoModel returns enabled redirects from /v1/models instead of the full provider model list. The setting is also listed in .env.template.

Shadow a model

A redirect can “shadow” a model by using the same name as an existing model and pointing it somewhere else. This lets you override a requested model without changing application code.

For example:

• source: anthropic/claude-opus-4-6
• target model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6

Your app can keep sending anthropic/claude-opus-4-6, while GoModel routes the request to anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6.

A/B testing

Redirects are useful for short model experiments. Move a redirect from one target to another, then compare app behavior, latency, and usage.

For example, point smarter at Opus for one test and Sonnet for another. You can also shadow opus-4-6 with sonnet-4-6 to check whether the same app flow still works.