# Connect SillyTavern to NezhaGate: 10-Minute Setup

A beginner-proof walkthrough: point SillyTavern at NezhaGate, pick a model and send your first message. Includes model picks and fixes for the usual errors.

> https://nezhagate.com/ko/docs/integrations/sillytavern

## What you need

- A computer running Windows, macOS or Linux.

- A NezhaGate account and API key (step 1 shows you how).

- About 10 minutes. Already have SillyTavern installed? Skip to step 3.

## Step 1: Sign up for NezhaGate and create an API key

1. Open [nezhagate.com](https://nezhagate.com/ko/) and click **Sign up free** in the top-right corner. Email works, and so does one-click sign-in with Google or GitHub.

2. Once you are in, go to **Console → API Keys**. Under **Create API Key**, give the key a name (for example `sillytavern`), leave **Per-Key Limit** at 0 for no limit, and click **Create Key**.

3. A key starting with `sk-` appears. **Copy it right away**: it is shown only once. Paste it into a notepad for the next steps.

Check and top up your balance on the **Billing** page. You pay only for what you use, and failed requests are never billed. Per-model rates are on the [pricing page](https://nezhagate.com/ko/pricing).

## Step 2: Install and start SillyTavern

SillyTavern needs two free tools first: **Node.js** (version 20 or newer; download the LTS installer and click through it) and **Git**.

### Windows

1. Create an ordinary folder such as `D:\AI`. Do **not** use a system folder like Program Files or System32.

2. Open that folder, type `cmd` into File Explorer's address bar and press Enter. A black command window opens.

3. Paste this line, press Enter and wait for the download to finish:

```
git clone https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern -b release
```

1. Open the new `SillyTavern` folder and double-click `Start.bat` (do not choose "Run as administrator"). The first start installs its dependencies, so give it a minute.

### macOS / Linux

Open Terminal, paste this line and press Enter:

```
git clone https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern -b release && cd SillyTavern && ./start.sh
```

When it is up, your browser opens `http://127.0.0.1:8000` by itself. Next time, just run `Start.bat` (or `./start.sh`) again, and keep that command window open while you use SillyTavern.

## Step 3: Connect SillyTavern to NezhaGate

1. Click the **plug icon** in the top bar (its tooltip says **API Connections**).

2. In the **API** dropdown, choose **Chat Completion**.

3. Set **Chat Completion Source** to **Custom (OpenAI-compatible)**.

4. In **Custom Endpoint (Base URL)**, enter:

```
https://nezhagate.com/v1
```

1. Paste the key from step 1 into **Custom API Key**.

2. Click **Connect**. When the status reads **Valid**, the address and key are right, and the **Available Models** list fills in.

3. Pick a model under **Available Models**; `deepseek-v4.1-flash` is a good first choice. You can also type a model ID into **Enter a Model ID**.

4. Click **Test Message**. **API connection successful!** means you are done. The test is one real call and costs a fraction of a cent.

Stop the address at `/v1`. SillyTavern adds `/chat/completions` on its own; adding it yourself gives a 404.

Now go back to the chat screen, pick a character card and start talking.

## Step 4: Change two settings (important)

Click the **sliders icon** at the far left of the top bar to open **AI Response Configuration**, and change these two values. SillyTavern's defaults are sized for small models and cause trouble with modern ones:

| Setting | Default | Use | Why |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Max Response Length (tokens) | 300 | 2000–4000 | DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM, Qwen and Grok think before they answer, and the thinking counts toward this length. At 300, replies get cut off or come back empty. |
| Context Size (tokens) | 4095 | 16000–32000 | How much chat history goes with each message. Too small and characters forget; too large and every message costs more. |

You are billed only for what the model actually generates, so a higher Max Response Length does not cost more by itself. It is just a ceiling.

## Recommended models

| You want | Model ID | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cheap and fast, for long campaigns | `deepseek-v4.1-flash` | Low price, natural English and Chinese. Turn thinking off for faster, cheaper replies (see below). |
| The best prose, narrative, long form | `claude-fable-5` | Keeps character motivation and emotional arcs coherent; made for fiction and script-style role-play. Priced higher. |
| Big lorebooks and heavy character cards | `kimi-k3` | Strong long-context understanding. Its temperature is fixed by the model, so the Temperature slider has no effect. |
| A good all-rounder | `glm-5.3`, `qwen3.7-max` | Both always think first: keep Max Response Length at 2000 or more. |

Current prices are on the [pricing page](https://nezhagate.com/ko/pricing). To switch models, pick another one under Available Models.

### Turn off DeepSeek's thinking

In the API Connections panel, click **Additional Parameters**, put these two lines into **Include Body Parameters** and save:

```
thinking:
  type: disabled
```

Remove them again when you switch to another model.

## Common problems and errors

| What you see | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| "Status check bypassed" after Connect, and the model list is empty | The address or key is wrong, or the network cannot reach us. Check that the address is `https://nezhagate.com/v1` and that the key was copied whole, with no spaces around it. |
| Test Message says "Could not get a reply from API" | Same checks as above, then make sure your account has a balance. |
| 404 | The address ends in `/chat/completions`. Delete that part and keep `/v1`. |
| 401 | The key is wrong or was deleted. Create a new one in the console and copy it. |
| 402 | Your balance ran out, or the key hit the limit you set. Top up on the Billing page or raise the key's limit. |
| 400 about an unsupported parameter (for example `stop` with `grok-4.7`) | Click Additional Parameters and add a line `- stop` to **Exclude Body Parameters** (use the parameter named in the error). |
| Replies stop halfway or come back empty | Raise Max Response Length (step 4). |
| Changing Temperature seems to do nothing | Some models (Claude 5 generation, Kimi K3, the GPT family) ignore sampling settings. That is expected and causes no error. |

Still stuck? See the [API docs](https://nezhagate.com/ko/docs-guide) or the [FAQ](https://nezhagate.com/ko/faq).