LLM Provider Setup

The AI agent needs at least one language model provider. Blabble supports five, each with different trade-offs between privacy, cost, and capability.

Adding a provider

Open Blabble → Preferences (⌘,).
Go to the AI tab.
Click + and choose a provider.
Enter your API key (if required) and select a model.

The Add LLM Provider dialog showing OpenAI configuration

Available providers

Apple IntelligenceOn-device

Runs entirely on your device. No API key, no data leaves your Mac, no cost. Requires Apple Silicon and macOS with Apple Intelligence enabled.

OpenAICloud

Cloud-based models (GPT-4o and others). Requires an API key from platform.openai.com. An API key is separate from a ChatGPT Plus subscription.

AnthropicCloud

Cloud-based Claude models (Sonnet, Haiku, Opus). Requires an API key from console.anthropic.com. An API key is separate from a Claude Pro subscription.

Google GeminiCloud

Cloud-based models (Gemini Pro, Gemini Flash). Google offers a generous free tier for personal use. Requires an API key from aistudio.google.com. An API key is separate from a Google One AI Premium subscription.

Local ModelsOn-device / local network

Run open-source models on your machine using Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, or any OpenAI-compatible server. Blabble auto-detects Ollama (localhost:11434) and LM Studio (localhost:1234). No data leaves your network.

Local vs. cloud models

	Local / on-device	Cloud
Examples	Apple Intelligence, Ollama, LM Studio	OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini
Size	Small — limited by your Mac's memory	Large — run on powerful remote servers
Strengths	Fast for simple tasks: translation, spell check, short summaries	Complex reasoning, long conversations, detailed analysis, multi-step agent tasks
Privacy	All data stays on your Mac	Data sent to provider's servers
Cost	Free	Pay-per-use via API key

Tip — If a local model gives an unsatisfactory response, try switching to a cloud provider. Click the provider pill in the agent drawer and choose a larger model — the quality difference can be significant for complex requests.

Provider selector showing Apple, Claude, and Gemini

The provider pill menu showing Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus model options for Claude

Default model selection

In Preferences → AI, set default models for each agent mode:

Agent model — Used for Full Agent conversations
Translation model — Used for Translate mode
Utility model — Used for Summarize and Spell & Grammar modes
Spam Check model — Used for email spam and fraud detection (requires a large model)

Default Model Selection showing Blabble Agent, Translation, Summarization, and Spam Check models

Blabble automatically tracks the latest release in each model family, so you always have access to the newest models without changing any settings.

API key security

All API keys are stored securely in your macOS Keychain — the same secure storage used by Safari for passwords. They are never written to disk in plain text.

Important — When you use a cloud provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini), the content of your messages — including private conversations, names, and attachments — is sent to that provider's servers. Review each provider's data usage and retention policies before sending sensitive information.

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