GitHub - demetrius-edelin/openrouter_monitor: A script to monitor new models added to Openrouter and send a Slack or Telegram notification when new ones are added.

GitHub

2 min read Original article ↗

This repository contains a small Bash-based monitor for new models listed on OpenRouter. It periodically checks the OpenRouter models API and sends a notification to Slack, Telegram, or both when it finds new models.

Files

  • monitor_openrouter_models.sh

    • Fetches models from https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models.
    • Maintains a local state file: .openrouter_models_last.json.
    • Uses environment-based configuration loaded from .env (see .env.example).
    • On each run:
      • Compares current model IDs with the previous run.
      • If new models exist:
        • Resolves display name and slug.
        • Sends a message to each channel that has a configuration:
          • Slack (via Incoming Webhook).
          • Telegram (via the Telegram Bot API).
        • The message lists:
          • Model name
          • Model ID
          • Direct link: https://openrouter.ai/models/{slug}
      • First run only initializes baseline (no notification).

  • .gitignore

    • Ignores:
      • .openrouter_models_last.json (local state)
      • .env (local secrets/config)

  • .env.example

    • Example configuration file.
    • Shows how to set:
      • SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL for Slack notifications.
      • TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN and TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID for Telegram notifications.

Requirements

  • bash
  • curl
  • jq
  • comm (typically part of coreutils)

Setup

  1. Create your environment file:
    • cp .env.example .env
  2. Edit .env. Set at least one notification channel:
    • For Slack, set SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL to your Slack Incoming Webhook URL.
    • For Telegram, set TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN and TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID. See Telegram setup.
    • To turn off a channel, leave its value empty.
  3. Make the script executable:
    • chmod +x ./monitor_openrouter_models.sh
  4. Run once manually to initialize the baseline:
    • ./monitor_openrouter_models.sh
  5. Add a cron job (example: every 15 minutes):
    • */15 * * * * /usr/bin/env bash /absolute/path/to/monitor_openrouter_models.sh >> /var/log/openrouter_models_monitor.log 2>&1

Telegram setup

  1. Open a chat with @BotFather in Telegram.
  2. Send /newbot and follow the instructions.
  3. Copy the bot token that @BotFather gives you into TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN.
  4. Send a message to your new bot. For a group, add the bot to the group and send a message in the group.
  5. Open https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getUpdates in a browser. Replace <TOKEN> with your bot token.
  6. Copy the chat.id value into TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID. A group chat ID starts with -.

Telegram accepts a maximum of 4096 characters in one message. If the list of new models is longer, the script sends more than one message.