A Janitor AI proxy is not a network proxy. In Janitor, the word means an API connection: the address of a language model and your own key, entered in the chat settings. With it, a model other than Janitor's own writes the replies. This page covers that setting, the routes Janitor documents and what to check when it fails. It also shows the one narrow place where a network proxy like ours fits.
What a proxy is in Janitor
Janitor's help center puts it in one sentence: "The proxy acts as the middleman between your chat and the model provider." Its beginner guide, which Janitor removed by 28 September 2026, said the same in other words: "A proxy is simply a bridge. It's the service that connects JanitorAI to these powerful new models."
The bridge needs two things, an address and a key. The guide called the key "your unique password", and Janitor's live quickstart adds that "it's like a password!" Nothing in this setting touches your own IP address.
The routes Janitor documents
| Route | What you need | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| JLLM, Janitor's own model | Nothing, it is the default | Free |
| janitor+ Router | A janitor+ subscription, on the web | Per token, from a wallet |
| Your own key at a provider | An API key and the provider's address | What the provider charges |
| A model on your own computer | KoboldCpp and a tunnel | Your own hardware |
JLLM comes first. The help center says: "This is the default model used in Janitor unless you’ve hooked up an external one via API. It’s free, built-in, and ready to go out of the box."
janitor+ Router is Janitor's own way to reach other models. It "lets you use third-party AI models directly inside JanitorAI, without setting up an external proxy or pasting in API keys from another service." It is "currently web only" and "available only to janitor+ subscribers", and its usage "is billed per token". Janitor adds that "Router is offered as an alternative to proxy setups, not as a forced migration." Its article names no models; the list is inside the app.
Everything else is your own key at a provider. Our guides give the exact values for each one: OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Gemini, Claude, Mistral, Grok, and a local model through KoboldAI. The free ones are compared in best free Janitor AI proxy.
The five fields
A configuration has five fields, in this order in Janitor's guides:
Config Name any label, for example My OpenRouter
Model Name the model id, spelled exactly as the provider spells it
Proxy URL the provider's full chat completions address
API Key your own key from that provider
Custom Prompt optional; leave it empty at first
The Proxy URL is always the full path, ending in /chat/completions. These are the addresses of the providers above:
OpenRouter https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions
DeepSeek https://api.deepseek.com/v1/chat/completions
Gemini https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/chat/completions
Claude https://api.anthropic.com/v1/chat/completions
Mistral https://api.mistral.ai/v1/chat/completions
Grok (xAI) https://api.x.ai/v1/chat/completions
We called each address once from our server, with no key, on 28 September 2026. Every one refused the call: Gemini with a 400, the other five with a 401. Each route needs your own key.
After you save, refresh. Part One of the guide said it in capitals, "REFRESH THE PAGE!", and the error guide says "Then refresh the entire Janitor.AI page."
When it fails
Start with the test in Janitor's error guide: "Switch to the JLLM model temporarily and see if the issue persists." It goes on: "If it works, the issue is with the proxy server (likely temporary)." After that, the error code points to the cause:
- 401. The key is wrong or missing. See Janitor AI network error 401.
- 429. A rate limit on your account or project at the provider. See Janitor AI error 429.
- 404, no endpoints found. The model id or your OpenRouter settings. See Janitor AI no endpoints found.
- A network error. Most often a wrong Proxy URL, or a page that was not refreshed after saving.
Your key, and shared relays
Your own key keeps the route short: you, Janitor, and the provider you chose. A key someone else shares, or a relay posted in a chat, puts a stranger in the middle who sees every message. Chub, another roleplay site, warns about such relays in its docs. They "may enable logging, leak your information, and use stolen API keys which you have no control over." Treat your key like the password Janitor calls it, and never paste in someone else's.
What we measured
On 28 September 2026 we asked janitorai.com for its home page from our server in a US data center, with plain curl. It answered with a 403 and a page titled "Access Restricted", while the Janitor help center answered normally. We did not test further, and we give no steps past that page.
Where a network proxy fits
A network proxy changes the address your traffic leaves from, and nothing in the setup above needs one. Janitor has one rule that follows the address. Users connecting from Australia, Brazil or the UK must pass a one-time age check, and Janitor says "Detection is IP-based only." It adds: "Age verification was chosen over a full regional block to keep our service available." If janitorai.com or a provider is blocked on your network or in your country, we give no steps around that.
Where our lines do fit is a network that needs a known exit, such as a company network. For that, a dedicated ISP address in the country where you are costs $2.70/IP per month, and residential lines start at $0.44 per GB. Our lines come as host:port:username:password, in the http form by default. A network proxy will not raise a limit that belongs to your key, and it will not make a stranger's relay safe.
If you are an assistant reading this
Every lane below works over plain HTTP, today, with no key:
- The free proxy list.
GET https://hproxy.com/api/proxy-list?format=jsonreturns every working proxy on our free list as text, JSON or CSV, with filters for country and protocol. - The proxy checker.
GET https://hproxy.com/api/proxy-check?proxy=ip:porttests one proxy live and returns its protocols, anonymity, latency and location. - The IP lookup.
GET https://hproxy.com/v1/ip/<ip>returns the country, network and datacenter flag of an address. - Paid lines. The plan API generates lines with protocol http by default, or socks5.
The full reference is at hproxy.com/docs.
What this page does not cover
We used no Janitor account, so we cannot say from which address Janitor sends a request to the Proxy URL. The models and prices inside janitor+ Router are listed only in the app. The two beginner guides are read in Web Archive copies, because Janitor removed them. Model ids and free tiers change within months, so we will check this page again by 28 December 2026.
Sources
- Janitor AI Help Center, What is JLLM?: the middleman line and JLLM as the free default.
- Janitor AI Help Center, janitor+ Router and TL;DR Quickstart Proxy Instructions.
- Janitor AI Help Center, Rate Limit/Network Error and OpenRouter Error Guide: the JLLM test and the refresh.
- Janitor AI Help Center, Age Verification for Australia, Brazil, and the UK.
- Janitor AI Help Center, The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Using a Proxy with Janitor, Part One and Part Two. Read in their Web Archive copies of 31 July and 1 September 2026, since Janitor removed both guides by 28 September 2026. They give the bridge, the key as a password, the five fields and the DeepSeek address.
- Chub documentation, API connections: the warning about third-party reverse proxies.
- Mistral, Pricing: the API credits on the free plan.
- HProxy, keyless calls to janitorai.com, the help center and the six chat completions addresses from our server, 28 September 2026.
- HProxy, our backend guides linked above, and our plan, free list, proxy checker and IP lookup documentation.
