GitHub Models
GitHub Models is a model playground built directly into GitHub.com. It lets you test and compare foundation models — GPT-4o, Claude, Llama, Mistral, Phi, and others — in a chat interface, inspect their API format, and get ready-to-use code snippets, all without signing up for separate provider accounts or managing API keys.
What It Is
GitHub Models is accessed at github.com/marketplace/models and is available to all GitHub users (free and paid). Think of it as a model comparison playground that also connects directly to your development workflow:
- Interactive chat interface to test any listed model with custom prompts
- Side-by-side model comparison — run the same prompt against multiple models simultaneously
- Token usage display — see how many tokens each response consumes
- Parameter controls — adjust temperature, max tokens, and system prompts per model
- Code snippets — auto-generated Python, JavaScript, and curl examples for each model's API
- Direct integration into Codespaces — open a Codespace pre-configured for AI development
Available Models
OpenAI
GPT-4o, GPT-4o-mini, o3-mini, o4-mini
Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3.7 Sonnet
Gemini 1.5 Pro, Gemini 1.5 Flash
Meta
Llama 3.3 70B, Llama 3.1 8B, Llama 4 Scout
Mistral
Mistral Large, Mistral Small, Codestral
Microsoft
Phi-4, Phi-4-mini, Phi-4-multimodal
Model availability changes frequently. GitHub adds new models as providers make them available via Azure AI. Check github.com/marketplace/models for the current list.
How to Use It
- Go to github.com/marketplace/models — available to all GitHub users
- Select a model from the catalog
- Open the Playground tab to interact with it via chat
- Adjust parameters (temperature, max tokens, system prompt) in the settings panel
- Click Compare to run the same prompt against multiple models side-by-side
- Click Code to get ready-to-paste API call examples in your preferred language
GitHub Models vs Going Directly to the Provider
| Aspect | GitHub Models | Direct provider API |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | None — use your GitHub account | Separate account + API key per provider |
| Cost (testing) | Free (rate-limited) | Pay per token from first call |
| Rate limits | Low — designed for experimentation | Higher limits on paid tiers |
| Model variety | Multi-provider, one place | Only the provider's own models |
| Production use | Not recommended (low rate limits) | Yes — full SLA and capacity |
GitHub Models is ideal for exploration and prototyping — compare models, understand API formats, test prompt strategies. For production workloads, use the provider's direct API or Azure AI Foundry.
Checklist: Do You Understand This?
- GitHub Models = free model playground at github.com/marketplace/models, no separate API keys needed
- Supports: GPT-4o, Claude, Llama, Mistral, Phi, Gemini and more — all in one place
- Side-by-side comparison: run same prompt against multiple models simultaneously
- Code snippets auto-generated for Python, JavaScript, curl for any model
- Rate-limited — for exploration and prototyping, not production workloads