Z.AI

The Z.AI provider gives you access to GLM language and vision models through the Z.AI API. You can use Z.AI models through AI Gateway (recommended) or connect directly with @ai-sdk/zai.

import { generateText } from 'ai';

const { text } = await generateText({
  model: 'anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5',
  prompt: 'Write a vegetarian lasagna recipe for 4 people.',
});

console.log(text);

Using AI Gateway

The AI SDK uses AI Gateway by default for model strings. Gateway provides access to models across providers through a single API key, with usage and cost tracking. Install ai:

pnpm add ai

npm install ai

yarn add ai

bun add ai

Set an AI Gateway API key in your environment:

export AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Vercel deployments can also use OIDC authentication. See the AI Gateway provider documentation for configuration and the model catalog for available models.

Gateway feature and provider-option support depends on the model and the provider serving the request. See Gateway provider options.

Using @ai-sdk/zai

For direct access to Z.AI, install ai and @ai-sdk/zai:

pnpm add ai @ai-sdk/zai

npm install ai @ai-sdk/zai

yarn add ai @ai-sdk/zai

bun add ai @ai-sdk/zai

Set your Z.AI API credential in the ZAI_API_KEY environment variable:

export ZAI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

AI Gateway does not expose every API in @ai-sdk/zai. Use the direct provider for provider-specific APIs or custom connection settings.

API keys can be created in the Z.AI API key console.

Provider Instance

Import the default provider instance zai from @ai-sdk/zai:

import { zai } from '@ai-sdk/zai';

For custom configuration, use createZai:

import { createZai } from '@ai-sdk/zai';

const zai = createZai({
  apiKey: process.env.ZAI_API_KEY,
  baseURL: 'https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4',
});

The provider accepts these optional settings:

• apiKey string

  API key sent in the Authorization header. It defaults to the ZAI_API_KEY environment variable.

• baseURL string

  URL prefix for API requests. It defaults to https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4.

• headers Record<string, string>

  Additional request headers.

• fetch FetchFunction

  Custom fetch implementation, for example to intercept requests in middleware.

Language Models

Create a language model by passing its model id to the provider:

import { zai } from '@ai-sdk/zai';
import { generateText } from 'ai';

const { text } = await generateText({
  model: zai('glm-5.3'),
  prompt: 'Explain quantum entanglement in simple terms.',
});

Current model families include GLM 5, GLM 4.7, GLM 4.6, GLM 4.5, and the GLM vision models. Model availability changes over time; see the Z.AI model documentation for the current catalog.

The provider supports:

• text generation and streaming
• reasoning output and reasoning history
• function calling, including incremental tool-call streaming
• JSON object output
• URL-based image and video inputs on compatible vision models

Provider Options

Z.AI-specific options can be passed through providerOptions.zai:

import { zai } from '@ai-sdk/zai';
import { generateText } from 'ai';

const result = await generateText({
  model: zai('glm-5.3'),
  prompt: 'Compare two approaches to implementing a rate limiter.',
  providerOptions: {
    zai: {
      thinking: { type: 'enabled', clearThinking: true },
      reasoningEffort: 'high',
      requestId: 'request-123456',
      userId: 'user-123456',
    },
  },
});

The following options are available:

• doSample boolean

  Enables sampling. When disabled, temperature and topP do not take effect.

• thinking object

  Controls thinking with type: 'enabled' | 'disabled'. Set clearThinking to false to retain reasoning from previous assistant messages.

• reasoningEffort 'none' | 'minimal' | 'low' | 'medium' | 'high' | 'xhigh' | 'max'

  Controls reasoning effort on supported models.

• toolStream boolean

  Enables incremental function-call argument streaming on supported models.

• requestId string

  A caller-provided request id between 6 and 64 characters.

• userId string

  A non-sensitive end-user id between 6 and 128 characters.

Streaming Tool Calls

Enable toolStream when you want supported GLM models to stream function-call arguments incrementally:

import { zai } from '@ai-sdk/zai';
import { streamText, tool } from 'ai';
import { z } from 'zod';

const result = streamText({
  model: zai('glm-5.3'),
  prompt: 'What is the weather in San Francisco?',
  tools: {
    weather: tool({
      description: 'Get the weather for a city',
      inputSchema: z.object({ city: z.string() }),
    }),
  },
  providerOptions: {
    zai: { toolStream: true },
  },
});

for await (const part of result.fullStream) {
  console.log(part);
}