# Plugging in a model

> Attaching a model to a house as a customer is **planned and not yet available**. Today a
> model is attached by an operator through a configuration file. A house does not need a
> model: see `who-does-the-thinking`.

## What it is for

In borrowed mode nothing is judged while you are away. If a house should classify what
arrives at once, at three in the morning, without an agent visiting, it needs a model it
can call itself. That is the only thing a model of its own adds at the start: immediacy.
The same judgments, the same list of open work (planned), without waiting for a visit.

## The three sources (planned)

| Source | What you need | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| Your own local model | an endpoint the house can reach that speaks the OpenAI chat format, for example Ollama | nothing leaves your network; the quality of the judgments is that of the model |
| Your own API key | a key for Anthropic or for a provider that speaks the OpenAI chat format | you pay the provider directly; core.blue meters nothing |
| A model service by core.blue | nothing of your own | planned: the supplier's token price plus the service fee that `pricing` names; meant for people who have a subscription to an assistant and no API account |

The house keeps the key in a place that no skill and no endpoint can read back, and an
exported house travels without it.

## What attaching will look like (planned)

You hand the house an endpoint, a model name and a key. The house makes one test call with
its smallest judgment and its answer form. If the model does not hold the form, the
attachment is refused and you are shown what the model answered. If it does, the house
starts working through what is open.

The house will say which mode it is in. `overview` and the greeting of each door will carry
one sentence: no model of its own, judging is yours; or: a model is attached, open work is
done as it arrives.

## What it will not unlock at the start

Agents living inside the house, with a memory and a voice of their own, are not part of the
offering yet. When they are, they will work with models of more than one provider; today
that part of Atlantis speaks to Anthropic models only, which is one reason it is not
offered.

## What you can rely on

- Every size of house is usable without a model. Attaching one never becomes a condition.
- Removing the model puts the house back into borrowed mode. Nothing stops working; the
  open work waits for a visitor again.
- Whatever a model judged is marked as judged by that model, the same way a verdict of
  yours carries your name.

## Go deeper

- [who-does-the-thinking](who-does-the-thinking.md)
- [the-list-of-open-work](the-list-of-open-work.md)
- [licensing](licensing.md): what is metered and what is not
- [what-does-not-exist-yet](what-does-not-exist-yet.md)