---
title: "Managing the Provider Library"
description: "Adding, removing, renaming, setting defaults, and the deletion guard that prevents breaking active workflows."
slug: guides/providers/managing-the-provider-library
section: guides
subsection: providers
canonical_url: https://cerevisor.com/docs/guides/providers/managing-the-provider-library
last_verified: 2026-05-18
last_verified_version: "1.2.0"
updated_at: 2026-05-18T15:08:18.053416+00:00
---

Open **Settings → Providers** to manage the library. The tab lists every credential you've added.

## Adding a provider

Click **+ Add provider**. The Provider Setup wizard opens. Pick a type (Anthropic / OpenAI-compatible / Codex CLI / Cursor Agent) and walk through the type-specific setup.

See [Connect a model provider](../../getting-started/connecting-a-provider.md) for the per-type walkthroughs.

## Renaming a provider

Click the pencil icon next to the provider's name. Type a new label. Press Enter.

Names are display-only; they don't affect behavior. Make them descriptive ("Ollama: M2 MacBook", "OpenRouter via personal account") if you have many.

## Setting the default

Click **Set as default** on any entry. The old default loses the badge; the new entry gains it. Background features (chat builder fallback, retrospectives, etc.) switch over immediately.

You can't unset the default, there's always exactly one.

## Removing a provider

Click the trash icon on the entry. Cerevisor checks if any open workflow has agents that reference this provider:

- **No agents reference it:** Removal proceeds immediately.
- **One or more agents reference it:** Removal is blocked. A toast lists the affected agents (workflow name + agent name).

To fix:

1. Open each affected workflow.
2. For each affected agent, change the provider (Agent Config → Provider) to a different library entry, or revert to inherit.
3. Re-try the removal.

This guard exists because silently deleting a provider would leave agents in a broken state.

## Key rotation

To rotate an API key:

1. Open Settings → Providers.
2. Click **Edit** on the entry.
3. Paste the new key.
4. Click **Test connection.**
5. Save.

The OS keychain entry is overwritten. Workflows using this provider pick up the new key on their next run, no restart needed.

## Multiple OpenAI-compatible entries

The `openai-compatible` type is the only one that allows multiple entries. Common pattern:

- **OpenAI (hosted)**: for production work where reliability matters.
- **Ollama (local)**: for cheap iteration during development.
- **OpenRouter**: for trying exotic models.

Each entry is independent. The default is one of them; agents can override per-agent to any other.

## Workflow-level provider override

In addition to the library default, each workflow can pin its own default in **Settings → Workflow → Provider override**. This is per-`.cerevisor`-file; it travels with the workflow when you share it.

If a recipient doesn't have a matching credential, Cerevisor falls back to the library default at run time.

## Model defaults per provider

In each library entry's settings, the **Default model** picker lets you set the model that **(auto)** falls back to. Useful when you have a strong preference (e.g. "always Sonnet on this provider, never Opus").

The model dropdown is populated from `/v1/models` on the provider, refreshed every 5 minutes (cached locally for that window).

## Auth troubleshooting

Some failure modes by provider:

| Provider | Symptom | Likely fix |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | 401 | Key revoked or wrong. Regenerate in console. |
| OpenAI-compatible (OpenAI) | 401 | Same. Check `platform.openai.com`. |
| Ollama | ECONNREFUSED | Ollama isn't running. `ollama serve` or open the desktop app. |
| Codex CLI | "Codex not found" | Codex CLI not installed, or PATH issue. Reinstall: `npm install -g @openai/codex`. |
| Codex CLI | "Not signed in" | Re-run the device-auth step. |
| Cursor Agent | "@cursor/sdk not installed" | Install: `npm install -g @cursor/sdk` (or check the install command Cerevisor surfaces). |
| Cursor Agent | "Invalid API key" | Regenerate at cursor.com/dashboard. |