AI Models Reference
Find the right AI model for your task with capabilities and cost comparisons.
Installation
- Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.
Skills load from
~/.claude/skills/when Claude Code starts up β so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then runclaudein any terminal to verify.One-time setupnpm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeAlready have it? Skip ahead.
- Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.
This copies the whole skill folder into
~/.claude/skills/ai-models-alinaqi/β the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)
Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates β they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.
Quick install (SKILL.md only)Sign up to copy - Restart Claude Code.
Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from
~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup. - Just ask Claude.
Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description β no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the βWhat this skill doesβ section above.
Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.
When Claude uses it
Latest AI models reference - Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Eleven Labs, Replicate
What this skill does
AI Models Reference Skill
Last Updated: December 2025
Philosophy
Use the right model for the job. Bigger isn't always better - match model capabilities to task requirements. Consider cost, latency, and accuracy tradeoffs.
Model Selection Matrix
| Task | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Complex reasoning | Claude Opus 4.5, o3, Gemini 3 Pro | Highest accuracy |
| Fast chat/completion | Claude Haiku, GPT-4.1 mini, Gemini Flash | Low latency, cheap |
| Code generation | Claude Sonnet 4.5, Codestral, GPT-4.1 | Strong coding |
| Vision/images | Claude Sonnet, GPT-4o, Gemini 3 Pro | Multimodal |
| Embeddings | text-embedding-3-small, Voyage | Cost-effective |
| Voice synthesis | Eleven Labs v3, OpenAI TTS | Natural sounding |
| Image generation | FLUX.2, DALL-E 3, SD 3.5 | Different styles |
Anthropic (Claude)
Documentation
- API Docs: https://docs.anthropic.com
- Models Overview: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/about-claude/models/overview
- Pricing: https://www.anthropic.com/pricing
Latest Models (December 2025)
const CLAUDE_MODELS = {
// Flagship - highest capability
opus: 'claude-opus-4-5-20251101',
// Balanced - best for most tasks
sonnet: 'claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929',
// Previous generation (still excellent)
opus4: 'claude-opus-4-20250514',
sonnet4: 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514',
// Fast & cheap - high volume tasks
haiku: 'claude-haiku-3-5-20241022',
} as const;
Usage
import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';
const anthropic = new Anthropic({
apiKey: process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY,
});
const response = await anthropic.messages.create({
model: 'claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929',
max_tokens: 1024,
messages: [
{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello, Claude!' }
],
});
Model Selection
claude-opus-4-5-20251101 (Opus 4.5)
βββ Best for: Complex analysis, research, nuanced writing
βββ Context: 200K tokens
βββ Cost: $5/$25 per 1M tokens (input/output)
βββ Use when: Accuracy matters most
claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 (Sonnet 4.5)
βββ Best for: Code, general tasks, balanced performance
βββ Context: 200K tokens
βββ Cost: $3/$15 per 1M tokens
βββ Use when: Default choice for most applications
claude-haiku-3-5-20241022 (Haiku 3.5)
βββ Best for: Classification, extraction, high-volume
βββ Context: 200K tokens
βββ Cost: $0.25/$1.25 per 1M tokens
βββ Use when: Speed and cost matter most
OpenAI
Documentation
- API Docs: https://platform.openai.com/docs
- Models: https://platform.openai.com/docs/models
- Pricing: https://openai.com/pricing
Latest Models (December 2025)
const OPENAI_MODELS = {
// GPT-5 series (latest)
gpt5: 'gpt-5.2',
gpt5Mini: 'gpt-5-mini',
// GPT-4.1 series (recommended for most)
gpt41: 'gpt-4.1',
gpt41Mini: 'gpt-4.1-mini',
gpt41Nano: 'gpt-4.1-nano',
// Reasoning models (o-series)
o3: 'o3',
o3Pro: 'o3-pro',
o4Mini: 'o4-mini',
// Legacy but still useful
gpt4o: 'gpt-4o', // Still has audio support
gpt4oMini: 'gpt-4o-mini',
// Embeddings
embeddingSmall: 'text-embedding-3-small',
embeddingLarge: 'text-embedding-3-large',
// Image generation
dalle3: 'dall-e-3',
gptImage: 'gpt-image-1',
// Audio
tts: 'tts-1',
ttsHd: 'tts-1-hd',
whisper: 'whisper-1',
} as const;
Usage
import OpenAI from 'openai';
const openai = new OpenAI({
apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY,
});
// Chat completion
const response = await openai.chat.completions.create({
model: 'gpt-4.1',
messages: [
{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello!' }
],
});
// With vision
const visionResponse = await openai.chat.completions.create({
model: 'gpt-4.1',
messages: [
{
role: 'user',
content: [
{ type: 'text', text: 'What is in this image?' },
{ type: 'image_url', image_url: { url: 'https://...' } },
],
},
],
});
// Embeddings
const embedding = await openai.embeddings.create({
model: 'text-embedding-3-small',
input: 'Your text here',
});
Model Selection
o3 / o3-pro
βββ Best for: Math, coding, complex multi-step reasoning
βββ Context: 200K tokens
βββ Cost: Premium pricing
βββ Use when: Hardest problems, need chain-of-thought
gpt-4.1
βββ Best for: General tasks, coding, instruction following
βββ Context: 1M tokens (!)
βββ Cost: Lower than GPT-4o
βββ Use when: Default choice, replaces GPT-4o
gpt-4.1-mini / gpt-4.1-nano
βββ Best for: High-volume, cost-sensitive
βββ Context: 1M tokens
βββ Cost: Very low
βββ Use when: Simple tasks at scale
o4-mini
βββ Best for: Fast reasoning at low cost
βββ Context: 200K tokens
βββ Cost: Budget reasoning
βββ Use when: Need reasoning but cost-conscious
Google (Gemini)
Documentation
- API Docs: https://ai.google.dev/docs
- Models: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/models/gemini
- Pricing: https://ai.google.dev/pricing
Latest Models (December 2025)
const GEMINI_MODELS = {
// Gemini 3 (Latest)
gemini3Pro: 'gemini-3-pro-preview',
gemini3ProImage: 'gemini-3-pro-image-preview',
gemini3Flash: 'gemini-3-flash-preview',
// Gemini 2.5 (Stable)
gemini25Pro: 'gemini-2.5-pro',
gemini25Flash: 'gemini-2.5-flash',
gemini25FlashLite: 'gemini-2.5-flash-lite',
// Specialized
gemini25FlashTTS: 'gemini-2.5-flash-preview-tts',
gemini25FlashAudio: 'gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-12-2025',
// Previous generation
gemini2Flash: 'gemini-2.0-flash',
} as const;
Usage
import { GoogleGenerativeAI } from '@google/generative-ai';
const genAI = new GoogleGenerativeAI(process.env.GOOGLE_API_KEY);
const model = genAI.getGenerativeModel({ model: 'gemini-2.5-flash' });
const result = await model.generateContent('Hello!');
const response = result.response.text();
// With vision
const visionModel = genAI.getGenerativeModel({ model: 'gemini-2.5-pro' });
const imagePart = {
inlineData: {
data: base64Image,
mimeType: 'image/jpeg',
},
};
const result = await visionModel.generateContent(['Describe this:', imagePart]);
Model Selection
gemini-3-pro-preview
βββ Best for: "Best model in the world for multimodal"
βββ Context: 2M tokens
βββ Cost: Premium
βββ Use when: Need absolute best quality
gemini-2.5-pro
βββ Best for: State-of-the-art thinking, complex tasks
βββ Context: 2M tokens
βββ Cost: $1.25/$5 per 1M tokens
βββ Use when: Long context, complex reasoning
gemini-2.5-flash
βββ Best for: Fast, balanced performance
βββ Context: 1M tokens
βββ Cost: $0.075/$0.30 per 1M tokens
βββ Use when: Speed and cost matter
gemini-2.5-flash-lite
βββ Best for: Ultra-fast, lowest cost
βββ Context: 1M tokens
βββ Cost: $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens
βββ Use when: High volume, simple tasks
Eleven Labs (Voice)
Documentation
- API Docs: https://elevenlabs.io/docs
- Models: https://elevenlabs.io/docs/models
- Pricing: https://elevenlabs.io/pricing
Latest Models (December 2025)
const ELEVENLABS_MODELS = {
// Latest - highest quality (alpha)
v3: 'eleven_v3',
// Production ready
multilingualV2: 'eleven_multilingual_v2',
turboV2_5: 'eleven_turbo_v2_5',
// Ultra-low latency
flashV2_5: 'eleven_flash_v2_5',
flashV2: 'eleven_flash_v2', // English only
} as const;
Usage
import { ElevenLabsClient } from 'elevenlabs';
const elevenlabs = new ElevenLabsClient({
apiKey: process.env.ELEVENLABS_API_KEY,
});
// Text to speech
const audio = await elevenlabs.textToSpeech.convert('voice-id', {
text: 'Hello, world!',
model_id: 'eleven_turbo_v2_5',
voice_settings: {
stability: 0.5,
similarity_boost: 0.75,
},
});
// Stream audio (for real-time)
const audioStream = await elevenlabs.textToSpeech.convertAsStream('voice-id', {
text: 'Streaming audio...',
model_id: 'eleven_flash_v2_5',
});
Model Selection
eleven_v3 (Alpha)
βββ Best for: Highest quality, emotional range
βββ Latency: ~1s+ (not for real-time)
βββ Languages: 74
βββ Use when: Quality over speed, pre-rendered
eleven_turbo_v2_5
βββ Best for: Balanced quality and speed
βββ Latency: ~250-300ms
βββ Languages: 32
βββ Use when: Good quality with reasonable latency
eleven_flash_v2_5
βββ Best for: Real-time, conversational AI
βββ Latency: <75ms
βββ Languages: 32
βββ Use when: Live voice agents, chatbots
Replicate
Documentation
- API Docs: https://replicate.com/docs
- Models: https://replicate.com/explore
- Pricing: https://replicate.com/pricing
Popular Models (December 2025)
const REPLICATE_MODELS = {
// FLUX.2 (Latest - November 2025)
flux2Pro: 'black-forest-labs/flux-2-pro',
flux2Flex: 'black-forest-labs/flux-2-flex',
flux2Dev: 'black-forest-labs/flux-2-dev',
// FLUX.1 (Still excellent)
flux11Pro: 'black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro',
fluxKontext: 'black-forest-labs/flux-kontext', // Image editing
fluxSchnell: 'black-forest-labs/flux-schnell',
// Video
stableVideo4D: 'stability-ai/sv4d-2.0',
// Audio
musicgen: 'meta/musicgen',
// LLMs (if needed outside main providers)
llama: 'meta/llama-3.2-90b-vision',
} as const;
Usage
import Replicate from 'replicate';
const replicate = new Replicate({
auth: process.env.REPLICATE_API_TOKEN,
});
// Image generation with FLUX.2
const output = await replicate.run('black-forest-labs/flux-2-pro', {
input: {
prompt: 'A serene mountain landscape at sunset',
aspect_ratio: '16:9',
output_format: 'webp',
},
});
// Image editing with Kontext
const edited = await replicate.run('black-forest-labs/flux-kontext', {
input: {
image: 'https://...',
prompt: 'Change the sky to sunset colors',
},
});
Model Selection
flux-2-pro
βββ Best for: Highest quality, up to 4MP
βββ Speed: ~6s
βββ Cost: $0.015 + per megapixel
βββ Use when: Professional quality needed
flux-2-flex
βββ Best for: Fine details, typography
βββ Speed: ~22s
βββ Cost: $0.06 per megapixel
βββ Use when: Need precise control
flux-2-dev (Open source)
βββ Best for: Fast generation
βββ Speed: ~2.5s
βββ Cost: $0.012 per megapixel
βββ Use when: Speed over quality
flux-kontext
βββ Best for: Image editing with text
βββ Speed: Variable
βββ Cost: Per run
βββ Use when: Edit existing images
Stability AI
Documentation
- API Docs: https://platform.stability.ai/docs/api-reference
- Models: https://stability.ai/stable-image
- Pricing: https://platform.stability.ai/pricing
Latest Models (December 2025)
const STABILITY_MODELS = {
// Image generation
sd35Large: 'sd3.5-large',
sd35LargeTurbo: 'sd3.5-large-turbo',
sd3Medium: 'sd3-medium',
// Video
sv4d: 'sv4d-2.0', // Stable Video 4D 2.0
// Upscaling
upscale: 'esrgan-v1-x2plus',
} as const;
Usage
const response = await fetch(
'https://api.stability.ai/v2beta/stable-image/generate/sd3',
{
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.STABILITY_API_KEY}`,
},
body: JSON.stringify({
prompt: 'A futuristic city at night',
output_format: 'webp',
aspect_ratio: '16:9',
model: 'sd3.5-large',
}),
}
);
Mistral AI
Documentation
- API Docs: https://docs.mistral.ai
- Models: https://docs.mistral.ai/getting-started/models
- Pricing: https://mistral.ai/technology/#pricing
Latest Models (December 2025)
const MISTRAL_MODELS = {
// Flagship
large: 'mistral-large-latest', // Points to 2411
// Medium tier
medium: 'mistral-medium-2505', // Medium 3
// Small/Fast
small: 'mistral-small-2506', // Small 3.2
// Code specialized
codestral: 'codestral-2508',
devstral: 'devstral-medium-2507',
// Reasoning (Magistral)
magistralMedium: 'magistral-medium-2507',
magistralSmall: 'magistral-small-2507',
// Audio
voxtral: 'voxtral-small-2507',
// OCR
ocr: 'mistral-ocr-2505',
} as const;
Usage
import MistralClient from '@mistralai/mistralai';
const client = new MistralClient(process.env.MISTRAL_API_KEY);
const response = await client.chat({
model: 'mistral-large-latest',
messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello!' }],
});
// Code completion with Codestral
const codeResponse = await client.chat({
model: 'codestral-2508',
messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Write a Python function to...' }],
});
Model Selection
mistral-large-latest (123B params)
βββ Best for: Complex reasoning, knowledge tasks
βββ Context: 128K tokens
βββ Use when: Need high capability
codestral-2508
βββ Best for: Code generation, 80+ languages
βββ Speed: 2.5x faster than predecessor
βββ Use when: Code-focused tasks
magistral-medium-2507
βββ Best for: Multi-step reasoning
βββ Specialty: Transparent chain-of-thought
βββ Use when: Need reasoning traces
Voyage AI (Embeddings)
Documentation
- API Docs: https://docs.voyageai.com
- Models: https://docs.voyageai.com/docs/embeddings
- Pricing: https://www.voyageai.com/pricing
Latest Models (December 2025)
const VOYAGE_MODELS = {
// General purpose
large2: 'voyage-large-2',
large2Instruct: 'voyage-large-2-instruct',
// Code specialized
code2: 'voyage-code-2',
code3: 'voyage-code-3',
// Multilingual
multilingual2: 'voyage-multilingual-2',
// Domain specific
law2: 'voyage-law-2',
finance2: 'voyage-finance-2',
} as const;
Usage
const response = await fetch('https://api.voyageai.com/v1/embeddings', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.VOYAGE_API_KEY}`,
},
body: JSON.stringify({
model: 'voyage-code-3',
input: ['Your code to embed'],
}),
});
const { data } = await response.json();
const embedding = data[0].embedding;
Quick Reference
Cost Comparison (per 1M tokens, approx.)
| Provider | Cheap | Mid | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $0.25 (Haiku) | $3 (Sonnet 4.5) | $5 (Opus 4.5) |
| OpenAI | $0.15 (4.1-nano) | $2 (4.1) | $15+ (o3) |
| $0.04 (Flash-lite) | $0.08 (Flash) | $1.25 (Pro) | |
| Mistral | $0.25 (Small) | $2.70 (Medium) | $8 (Large) |
Best For Each Task
Reasoning/Analysis β Claude Opus 4.5, o3, Gemini 3 Pro
Code Generation β Claude Sonnet 4.5, Codestral 2508, GPT-4.1
Fast Responses β Claude Haiku, GPT-4.1-mini, Gemini Flash
Long Context β Gemini 2.5 Pro (2M), GPT-4.1 (1M), Claude (200K)
Vision β GPT-4.1, Claude Sonnet, Gemini 3 Pro
Embeddings β Voyage code-3, text-embedding-3-small
Voice Synthesis β Eleven Labs v3/flash, OpenAI TTS
Image Generation β FLUX.2 Pro, DALL-E 3, SD 3.5
Video Generation β Stable Video 4D 2.0, Runway
Image Editing β FLUX Kontext, gpt-image-1
Environment Variables Template
# .env.example (NEVER commit actual keys)
# LLMs
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
GOOGLE_API_KEY=AI...
MISTRAL_API_KEY=...
# Media
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=...
REPLICATE_API_TOKEN=r8_...
STABILITY_API_KEY=sk-...
# Embeddings
VOYAGE_API_KEY=pa-...
Model Update Checklist
When models update:
β‘ Check official changelog/blog
β‘ Update model ID strings
β‘ Test with existing prompts
β‘ Compare output quality
β‘ Check pricing changes
β‘ Update context limits if changed
Sources
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