GET A MODEL RUNNING

Covenant is bring-your-own-model: the super-agent, fix suggestions and AOM all run on a model you point it at. Here are two ways to get going that cost nothing — pick one, you're done in a minute. get Covenant →

local · free · private

Option A — Ollama (runs on your machine)

Nothing leaves your laptop, no key, no limits. Best if you have a recent Mac with some RAM to spare.

  1. Install Ollama from ollama.com/download.
  2. Pull a small model: 
    ollama pull llama3.2
  3. Open Covenant. The welcome card auto-detects Ollama — click Use Ollama. Done.
cloud · free tier · no card

Option B — a free cloud key (Gemini)

No local install. Google's Gemini free tier needs no credit card and is plenty to feel the agent. Covenant never hosts or pays for this — it's your key.

  1. Get a key at aistudio.google.com/apikey (sign in with Google → Create API key).
  2. In Covenant's welcome card, click Use a free cloud key, paste it, hit Save & start.
  3. Already past onboarding? Settings → Providers → Add, pick an OpenAI-compatible provider with base URL 
    https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai

Prefer another provider? See Option C — they all work the same way.

cloud · free tiers · no card

Option C — more free clouds

All OpenAI-compatible, all with a no-credit-card free tier as of mid-2026 (limits vary — check each). Same flow: grab a key, then in Covenant Settings → Providers → Add → an OpenAI-compatible provider, paste the base URL below + your key.

  1. Cerebras — ~1M tokens/day, blazing fast. get key 
    https://api.cerebras.ai/v1
  2. Groq — every model it hosts, LPU-fast. get key 
    https://api.groq.com/openai/v1
  3. Mistral — free "Experiment" plan, all models. get key 
    https://api.mistral.ai/v1
  4. SambaNova — permanent free tier. get key 
    https://api.sambanova.ai/v1
  5. OpenRouter — one key, many :free models. get key 
    https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
  6. GitHub Models — free with your GitHub account (a PAT is the key). browse 
    https://models.github.ai/inference

Want top quality? Add your own Anthropic or OpenAI key any time in Settings → Providers — same flow, just paste the key.