Sohay works with OpenAI or Google (Gemini). You choose one under Sohay → AI Settings, and OpenAI is the default.
The choice is not permanent. Each provider’s key and model selection are stored separately, so you can switch back and forth without re-entering anything.
The asymmetry to know about first
The Knowledge Base always runs on OpenAI, whichever provider answers the chat. Indexing your articles and searching them are both OpenAI operations, and there is no Google equivalent wired up behind them.
In practice that means:
- On OpenAI — one key covers everything.
- On Gemini with the Knowledge Base off — one Google key covers everything.
- On Gemini with the Knowledge Base on — you need both keys. Keep an OpenAI key saved alongside your Google one.
If you select Gemini, switch the Knowledge Base on, and have no OpenAI key, nothing breaks loudly. The chatbot still replies — it just stops consulting your articles, which is the one thing you installed it to do. It is a quiet failure, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.
How to actually choose
If you have no existing preference, stay on OpenAI. It is the default, one key covers the whole plugin, and there is no configuration to think about.
Reasons to pick Gemini anyway:
- You already have Google Cloud billing set up and would rather not open an account elsewhere.
- You want Gemini-specific request settings — safety thresholds, thinking
budget, or search grounding — which a developer can set through the
sohaychat_provider_optionsfilter. - You have priced both for your expected volume and Gemini wins.
Note that Google applies different data-handling terms to free-tier and paid API keys. Read the terms for the tier you are actually on, not the one you read about.
Switching later
Change the provider under AI Settings and save. New conversations use the new provider immediately; conversations already in progress are unaffected.
Nothing about your Knowledge Base changes when you switch, because that side was never running on the provider you swapped.
Where to go next
Getting an API key and saving it covers where the keys come from. Picking a model covers the choice inside whichever provider you land on.
