bot/docs/providers/venice.md

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Use Venice AI privacy-focused models in HanzoBot	You want privacy-focused inference in HanzoBot You want Venice AI setup guidance	Venice AI

Venice AI (Venice highlight)

Venice is our highlight Venice setup for privacy-first inference with optional anonymized access to proprietary models.

Venice AI provides privacy-focused AI inference with support for uncensored models and access to major proprietary models through their anonymized proxy. All inference is private by default—no training on your data, no logging.

Why Venice in HanzoBot

• Private inference for open-source models (no logging).
• Uncensored models when you need them.
• Anonymized access to proprietary models (Opus/GPT/Gemini) when quality matters.
• OpenAI-compatible /v1 endpoints.

Privacy Modes

Venice offers two privacy levels — understanding this is key to choosing your model:

Mode	Description	Models
Private	Fully private. Prompts/responses are never stored or logged. Ephemeral.	Llama, Qwen, DeepSeek, Venice Uncensored, etc.
Anonymized	Proxied through Venice with metadata stripped. The underlying provider (OpenAI, Anthropic) sees anonymized requests.	Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, MiniMax

Features

• Privacy-focused: Choose between "private" (fully private) and "anonymized" (proxied) modes
• Uncensored models: Access to models without content restrictions
• Major model access: Use Claude, GPT-5.2, Gemini, Grok via Venice's anonymized proxy
• OpenAI-compatible API: Standard /v1 endpoints for easy integration
• Streaming: ✅ Supported on all models
• Function calling: ✅ Supported on select models (check model capabilities)
• Vision: ✅ Supported on models with vision capability
• No hard rate limits: Fair-use throttling may apply for extreme usage

Setup

1. Get API Key

1. Sign up at venice.ai
2. Go to Settings → API Keys → Create new key
3. Copy your API key (format: vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx)

2. Configure HanzoBot

Option A: Environment Variable

export VENICE_API_KEY="vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Option B: Interactive Setup (Recommended)

hanzo-bot onboard --auth-choice venice-api-key

This will:

1. Prompt for your API key (or use existing VENICE_API_KEY)
2. Show all available Venice models
3. Let you pick your default model
4. Configure the provider automatically

Option C: Non-interactive

hanzo-bot onboard --non-interactive \
  --auth-choice venice-api-key \
  --venice-api-key "vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

3. Verify Setup

hanzo-bot agent --model venice/llama-3.3-70b --message "Hello, are you working?"

Model Selection

After setup, HanzoBot shows all available Venice models. Pick based on your needs:

• Default model: venice/llama-3.3-70b for private, balanced performance.
• High-capability option: venice/claude-opus-45 for hard jobs.
• Privacy: Choose "private" models for fully private inference.
• Capability: Choose "anonymized" models to access Claude, GPT, Gemini via Venice's proxy.

Change your default model anytime:

hanzo-bot models set venice/claude-opus-45
hanzo-bot models set venice/llama-3.3-70b

List all available models:

hanzo-bot models list | grep venice

Configure via hanzo-bot configure

1. Run hanzo-bot configure
2. Select Model/auth
3. Choose Venice AI

Which Model Should I Use?

Use Case	Recommended Model	Why
General chat	llama-3.3-70b	Good all-around, fully private
High-capability option	claude-opus-45	Higher quality for hard tasks
Privacy + Claude quality	claude-opus-45	Best reasoning via anonymized proxy
Coding	qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct	Code-optimized, 262k context
Vision tasks	qwen3-vl-235b-a22b	Best private vision model
Uncensored	venice-uncensored	No content restrictions
Fast + cheap	qwen3-4b	Lightweight, still capable
Complex reasoning	deepseek-v3.2	Strong reasoning, private

Available Models (25 Total)

Private Models (15) — Fully Private, No Logging

Model ID	Name	Context (tokens)	Features
llama-3.3-70b	Llama 3.3 70B	131k	General
llama-3.2-3b	Llama 3.2 3B	131k	Fast, lightweight
hermes-3-llama-3.1-405b	Hermes 3 Llama 3.1 405B	131k	Complex tasks
qwen3-235b-a22b-thinking-2507	Qwen3 235B Thinking	131k	Reasoning
qwen3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507	Qwen3 235B Instruct	131k	General
qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct	Qwen3 Coder 480B	262k	Code
qwen3-next-80b	Qwen3 Next 80B	262k	General
qwen3-vl-235b-a22b	Qwen3 VL 235B	262k	Vision
qwen3-4b	Venice Small (Qwen3 4B)	32k	Fast, reasoning
deepseek-v3.2	DeepSeek V3.2	163k	Reasoning
venice-uncensored	Venice Uncensored	32k	Uncensored
mistral-31-24b	Venice Medium (Mistral)	131k	Vision
google-gemma-3-27b-it	Gemma 3 27B Instruct	202k	Vision
openai-gpt-oss-120b	OpenAI GPT OSS 120B	131k	General
zai-org-glm-4.7	GLM 4.7	202k	Reasoning, multilingual

Anonymized Models (10) — Via Venice Proxy

Model ID	Original	Context (tokens)	Features
claude-opus-45	Claude Opus 4.5	202k	Reasoning, vision
claude-sonnet-45	Claude Sonnet 4.5	202k	Reasoning, vision
openai-gpt-52	GPT-5.2	262k	Reasoning
openai-gpt-52-codex	GPT-5.2 Codex	262k	Reasoning, vision
gemini-3-pro-preview	Gemini 3 Pro	202k	Reasoning, vision
gemini-3-flash-preview	Gemini 3 Flash	262k	Reasoning, vision
grok-41-fast	Grok 4.1 Fast	262k	Reasoning, vision
grok-code-fast-1	Grok Code Fast 1	262k	Reasoning, code
kimi-k2-thinking	Kimi K2 Thinking	262k	Reasoning
minimax-m21	MiniMax M2.5	202k	Reasoning

Model Discovery

HanzoBot automatically discovers models from the Venice API when VENICE_API_KEY is set. If the API is unreachable, it falls back to a static catalog.

The /models endpoint is public (no auth needed for listing), but inference requires a valid API key.

Streaming & Tool Support

Feature	Support
Streaming	✅ All models
Function calling	✅ Most models (check supportsFunctionCalling in API)
Vision/Images	✅ Models marked with "Vision" feature
JSON mode	✅ Supported via response_format

Pricing

Venice uses a credit-based system. Check venice.ai/pricing for current rates:

• Private models: Generally lower cost
• Anonymized models: Similar to direct API pricing + small Venice fee

Comparison: Venice vs Direct API

Aspect	Venice (Anonymized)	Direct API
Privacy	Metadata stripped, anonymized	Your account linked
Latency	+10-50ms (proxy)	Direct
Features	Most features supported	Full features
Billing	Venice credits	Provider billing

Usage Examples

# Use default private model
hanzo-bot agent --model venice/llama-3.3-70b --message "Quick health check"

# Use Claude via Venice (anonymized)
hanzo-bot agent --model venice/claude-opus-45 --message "Summarize this task"

# Use uncensored model
hanzo-bot agent --model venice/venice-uncensored --message "Draft options"

# Use vision model with image
hanzo-bot agent --model venice/qwen3-vl-235b-a22b --message "Review attached image"

# Use coding model
hanzo-bot agent --model venice/qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct --message "Refactor this function"

Troubleshooting

API key not recognized

echo $VENICE_API_KEY
hanzo-bot models list | grep venice

Ensure the key starts with vapi_.

Model not available

The Venice model catalog updates dynamically. Run hanzo-bot models list to see currently available models. Some models may be temporarily offline.

Connection issues

Venice API is at https://api.venice.ai/api/v1. Ensure your network allows HTTPS connections.

Config file example

{
  env: { VENICE_API_KEY: "vapi_..." },
  agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "venice/llama-3.3-70b" } } },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      venice: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.venice.ai/api/v1",
        apiKey: "${VENICE_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "llama-3.3-70b",
            name: "Llama 3.3 70B",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 131072,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

Links

• Venice AI
• API Documentation
• Pricing
• Status