How to run your first OpenAI-compatible API call with curl, Python, and Node.js

When you are testing an OpenAI-compatible API endpoint, the fastest path is not to wire it into a full app immediately. Start with one small request, confirm the base URL, API key, model name, and response shape, then move the working call into your product. I put together a compact examples repo for that exact first-call workflow: https://github.com/OriginStartAI/openai-compatible-api-examples It includes curl, Python, Node.js, streaming responses, JSON structured output, migration notes, and a small error reference. 1. Set environment variables first Keep credentials out of source code and use environment variables: ORIGINSTARTAI_API_KEY = your_api_key_here ORIGINSTARTAI_BASE_URL = https://your-api-base-url/v1 ORIGINSTARTAI_MODEL = your_enabled_model The important parts are simple: base_url or baseURL points to your OpenAI-compatible endpoint. api_key or apiKey is your provider key. model must be enabled for your account. Streaming support should be tested separately. 2. Test with curl Curl is useful because it removes SDK behavior from the equation: curl " $ORIGINSTARTAI_BASE_URL /chat/completions" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $ORIGINSTARTAI_API_KEY " \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "model": "' " $ORIGINSTARTAI_MODEL " '", "messages": [ {"role": "user", "content": "Say hello from OriginStartAI"} ] }' If this works, your endpoint, key, and model are probably configured correctly. 3. Then test Python from openai import OpenAI import os client = OpenAI ( api_key = os . environ [ " ORIGINSTARTAI_API_KEY " ], base_url = os . environ [ " ORIGINSTARTAI_BASE_URL " ], ) response = client . chat . completions . create ( model = os . environ [ " ORIGINSTARTAI_MODEL " ], messages = [{ " role " : " user " , " content " : " Write one friendly onboarding sentence. " }], ) print ( response . choices [ 0 ]. message . content ) 4. Then test Node.js import OpenAI from " openai " ; const client = new OpenAI ({ apiKey : process . env . ORIGINSTARTAI_API_KEY , baseURL : p