Configuring a Backup LLM Provider

A backup provider is a secondary LLM that your agent falls back to when the primary provider is unavailable. If the primary provider goes down, hits rate limits, or returns errors, the agent seamlessly switches to the backup and continues responding. The failover is invisible to your users and only logged for you to review.

When to Use a Backup Provider

A backup provider is useful when your agent handles important conversations and you want to minimize downtime. Common scenarios include:

• Your primary provider occasionally hits rate limits during peak hours
• You want redundancy across different providers (for example, OpenAI primary with Anthropic backup)
• Your agent is customer-facing and any interruption is unacceptable

Setting Up a Backup Provider via Saved Provider

If you have already saved a provider at the account level, you can select it as a backup in a few clicks.

1. Open the Agento dashboard and click on your agent
2. Go to the AI Provider tab
3. Under Backup Provider, select a provider from the dropdown (must be different from your primary)
4. Click Saved provider and choose from your account-level providers
5. Click Set Backup Provider
6. Restart the agent when prompted

The backup provider will activate automatically the next time your primary provider fails.

Setting Up a Backup Provider via API Key

If you prefer to enter a key directly instead of using a saved provider:

1. Open the Agento dashboard and click on your agent
2. Go to the AI Provider tab
3. Under Backup Provider, select a provider from the dropdown
4. Click API key to switch to manual mode
5. Paste your API key into the field
6. Click Set Backup Provider
7. Restart the agent when prompted

Your key is encrypted at rest and never shown again after saving.

How Failover Works

When your primary provider returns an error, times out, or is rate-limited, the agent automatically retries the request using the backup provider. This happens within the same conversation turn, so the user sees a normal response with no indication that a switch occurred.

Failover events are logged and visible in your agent's activity feed. You can use these logs to understand how often your primary provider is unavailable and whether you need to adjust your setup.

Removing a Backup Provider

To remove a backup provider:

1. Go to your agent's AI Provider tab
2. Under Backup Provider, click Remove
3. Restart the agent when prompted

Your agent will continue using only the primary provider. If the primary goes down without a backup configured, the agent will return an error to the user.