Set up AI

What needs AI

Pills that copy, paste, open things, play music, take notes or find files by name work without AI. Pills that write, explain, translate or answer need an AI provider (a cloud service you have a key for), a built-in model (an AI model Rondell downloads and runs on your PC) or a local server (Ollama or LM Studio running on your PC).

Add a provider key

You need your own API key from the provider. A key is separate from signing in to the provider’s chat app. You can also add one in the welcome window, step 1.

1. 1In Settings, open Models.
2. 2Choose a provider under Providers or More providers.
3. 3Set the key to Paste and paste it into the API key box. Variable reads it from a Windows environment variable instead, and Off turns the provider off.
4. 4Choose Test to check it.
5. 5To delete a saved key, choose Remove key at the foot of the provider’s pane, below its models list.

• Providers: Anthropic, Google Gemini, OpenAI, Local, Built-in and TypeSafe.
• More providers: OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Mistral, xAI, Groq, Moonshot, MiniMax, Z.ai, Together AI, Fireworks, Hugging Face, Vercel AI Gateway and NVIDIA.
• Rondell encrypts a pasted key for your Windows user and leaves it out of exports.
• Add model under a provider’s models opens a dialog. Pick the Model, give it a Name (the name you see when choosing a model for an action) and set Effort to Low, Medium or High. Higher effort thinks longer: better answers, slower replies. For Anthropic, Automatic fallback lets it switch to a backup model when the first is busy.
• To delete a model, open it and choose Delete. If pills use it, choose Switch and delete to move them to another model. If there is no other model, choose Delete anyway; those pills then need a model chosen later.

Download a model that runs on your PC

Built-in models answer on your PC, with no key and nothing sent. In Settings, open Models, and under Built-in models choose Download next to one. The Recommended badge marks the one that suits your PC, and Minimal marks the smallest.

• Qwen3.5 4B, 3.4 GB: the largest and most capable.
• Qwen3.5 2B, 1.9 GB: lighter.
• Qwen3.5 0.8B, 0.7 GB: the smallest, for PCs with little memory.
• Multilingual E5 small, 132 MB: finds files by meaning and recognizes what you selected, for ring rules. Search by meaning needs this and a second search model, about 0.6 GB in all. Its badges Used for Find files and Used for rules show what it helps with. Used for chat titles is on the smallest chat model.
• Voice input, 475 MB: lets you speak instead of type. See Voice input.
• Switch a downloaded model off and Rondell stops using it but keeps its files. Delete appears while it’s off and removes them.
• In Settings, open System, then Built-in models for three more controls. Free memory (Sooner, Normal or Later) sets how soon idle models leave memory; the next use then takes a moment longer. Models folder takes a full path such as D:\Models or a network share, and models already there count as downloaded; Delete is hidden for any folder other than the default one. The Runtime row shows what runs the models, and its Licenses button lists the licenses for the software included.

Connect Ollama or LM Studio

Start your server, then open Settings, then Models, and choose Local. Type its Address and choose Test. Local connects only to your PC.

• Ollama: http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1
• LM Studio: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1

TypeSafe and Jev

TypeSafe is a provider whose Jev model answers yes-or-no, sorting and rating questions and finds things on screen. Add a TypeSafe key in Models to use the Check, Sort into, Rate and Find on screen actions.

Build with agent

Build with agent writes a pill from your description. It needs a Google Gemini key; add one in Models first.

Web search

Search the web works with Anthropic, Google Gemini and OpenRouter. With other providers, Local or Built-in, the pill answers without searching, and the answer says so.

Keys for API call actions

An API call action sends a request to a website you name. In Settings, open Models, and under API keys choose Add key. Save the key with the website it’s for.

What a provider receives

When a pill runs, Rondell sends the prompt, your selected text and any pictures or files the pill uses straight from your PC to the provider you picked. Your provider bills you and handles the data under its own terms.