> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.clearmaas.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Named Routers

> Save a routing strategy and invoke it by name.

ClearMaas lets you save a routing strategy as a named router. Call it
from your code as `clearmaas/{name}` and ClearMaas resolves it to a
concrete model at request time, based on the rules you configured.

This is useful when you want to:

* Swap routing behavior without redeploying your app (change the router
  in the dashboard; your code stays the same).
* Let different teams or services choose their own routing policy
  independently of the application that calls the API.
* Reference routing logic that's too complex to inline in `extra_body`.

## Using a router

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python theme={null}
  response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="clearmaas/production-chat",
    messages=[...],
  )
  ```

  ```ts TypeScript theme={null}
  const response = await openai.chat.completions.create({
  model: "clearmaas/production-chat",
  messages: [...],
  });
  ```
</CodeGroup>

To find out which concrete model a router resolved to, read the
`X-Clear-Router` and `X-Clear-Resolved-Model` response headers — see
[Response Headers](/routing/response-headers). The `model` field in
the response body itself reflects whatever the upstream returned (often
the bare upstream name, e.g. `gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18`).

## Creating a router

Routers are created in the dashboard under **Routing**. Each router has:

* **Name** — the `{name}` in `clearmaas/{name}`. Must be unique within
  your workspace; lowercase letters, digits, `_`, and `-` (1-50 chars).
  The name `clearmaas` is reserved.
* **Allowed models** — one or more glob patterns (comma- or
  newline-separated, case-insensitive) limiting which models this
  router can pick. Examples: `openai/*` or
  `openai/*, anthropic/claude-haiku-*`. Empty matches every model
  your account has access to.
* **Strategy** — how to pick among matching models. Three options:
  `cheapest` (lowest per-token price among live candidates), `quality`,
  and `balanced` (the default for new routers).
* **Default model** — a safety-net model used if the pattern resolves
  to nothing.
* **Enabled** — disable the router without deleting it.

## Seeded router: `clearmaas/auto`

Every ClearMaas account is seeded with a default router called `auto`
on signup — see [Auto Router](/routing/auto-router). You can use
it immediately without any configuration.