diff --git a/src/agent/loop.ts b/src/agent/loop.ts
index f9940ed9..65b1feac 100644
--- a/src/agent/loop.ts
+++ b/src/agent/loop.ts
@@ -280,33 +280,58 @@ export async function runAgentLoop(
 
       // ── Inference Call (via router when available) ──
       const survivalTier = getSurvivalTier(financial.creditsCents);
-      log(config, `[THINK] Routing inference (tier: ${survivalTier}, model: ${inference.getDefaultModel()})...`);
-
       const inferenceTools = toolsToInferenceFormat(tools);
-      const routerResult = await inferenceRouter.route(
-        {
-          messages: messages,
-          taskType: "agent_turn",
-          tier: survivalTier,
-          sessionId: db.getKV("session_id") || "default",
-          turnId: ulid(),
-          tools: inferenceTools,
-        },
-        (msgs, opts) => inference.chat(msgs, { ...opts, tools: inferenceTools }),
-      );
 
-      // Build a compatible response for the rest of the loop
-      const response = {
-        message: { content: routerResult.content, role: "assistant" as const },
-        toolCalls: routerResult.toolCalls as any[] | undefined,
-        usage: {
-          promptTokens: routerResult.inputTokens,
-          completionTokens: routerResult.outputTokens,
-          totalTokens: routerResult.inputTokens + routerResult.outputTokens,
-        },
-        finishReason: routerResult.finishReason,
+      // ── Inference Call ──
+      // When openrouterApiKey is set in automaton.json, bypass the InferenceRouter
+      // (which only knows about baseline OpenAI models) and call inference.chat()
+      // directly. inference.chat() already has the routing logic: if the model ID
+      // contains "/" and openrouterApiKey is set, it sends the request to OpenRouter.
+      let response: {
+        message: { content: string; role: "assistant" };
+        toolCalls: any[] | undefined;
+        usage: { promptTokens: number; completionTokens: number; totalTokens: number };
+        finishReason: string;
       };
 
+      if (config.openrouterApiKey) {
+        log(config, `[THINK] Sending to OpenRouter (model: ${config.inferenceModel})...`);
+        const directResp = await inference.chat(messages, {
+          model: config.inferenceModel,
+          maxTokens: config.maxTokensPerTurn,
+          tools: inferenceTools,
+        });
+        response = {
+          message: { content: directResp.message?.content || "", role: "assistant" },
+          toolCalls: directResp.toolCalls,
+          usage: directResp.usage,
+          finishReason: directResp.finishReason || "stop",
+        };
+      } else {
+        log(config, `[THINK] Routing inference (tier: ${survivalTier}, model: ${inference.getDefaultModel()})...`);
+        const routerResult = await inferenceRouter.route(
+          {
+            messages: messages,
+            taskType: "agent_turn",
+            tier: survivalTier,
+            sessionId: db.getKV("session_id") || "default",
+            turnId: ulid(),
+            tools: inferenceTools,
+          },
+          (msgs, opts) => inference.chat(msgs, { ...opts, tools: inferenceTools }),
+        );
+        response = {
+          message: { content: routerResult.content, role: "assistant" },
+          toolCalls: routerResult.toolCalls as any[] | undefined,
+          usage: {
+            promptTokens: routerResult.inputTokens,
+            completionTokens: routerResult.outputTokens,
+            totalTokens: routerResult.inputTokens + routerResult.outputTokens,
+          },
+          finishReason: routerResult.finishReason,
+        };
+      }
+
       const turn: AgentTurn = {
         id: ulid(),
         timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
@@ -316,7 +341,7 @@ export async function runAgentLoop(
         thinking: response.message.content || "",
         toolCalls: [],
         tokenUsage: response.usage,
-        costCents: routerResult.costCents,
+        costCents: 0,
       };
 
       // ── Execute Tool Calls ──
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 0083e697..c525ad2b 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ export function createConfig(params: {
   apiKey: string;
   openaiApiKey?: string;
   anthropicApiKey?: string;
+  openrouterApiKey?: string;
   parentAddress?: Address;
   treasuryPolicy?: TreasuryPolicy;
 }): AutomatonConfig {
@@ -135,6 +136,7 @@ export function createConfig(params: {
     conwayApiKey: params.apiKey,
     openaiApiKey: params.openaiApiKey,
     anthropicApiKey: params.anthropicApiKey,
+    openrouterApiKey: params.openrouterApiKey,
     inferenceModel: DEFAULT_CONFIG.inferenceModel || "gpt-5.2",
     maxTokensPerTurn: DEFAULT_CONFIG.maxTokensPerTurn || 4096,
     heartbeatConfigPath:
diff --git a/src/conway/inference.ts b/src/conway/inference.ts
index 39fcf1af..db4fe134 100644
--- a/src/conway/inference.ts
+++ b/src/conway/inference.ts
@@ -26,14 +26,15 @@ interface InferenceClientOptions {
   lowComputeModel?: string;
   openaiApiKey?: string;
   anthropicApiKey?: string;
+  openrouterApiKey?: string;
 }
 
-type InferenceBackend = "conway" | "openai" | "anthropic";
+type InferenceBackend = "conway" | "openai" | "anthropic" | "openrouter";
 
 export function createInferenceClient(
   options: InferenceClientOptions,
 ): InferenceClient {
-  const { apiUrl, apiKey, openaiApiKey, anthropicApiKey } = options;
+  const { apiUrl, apiKey, openaiApiKey, anthropicApiKey, openrouterApiKey } = options;
   const httpClient = new ResilientHttpClient({
     baseTimeout: INFERENCE_TIMEOUT_MS,
     retryableStatuses: [429, 500, 502, 503, 504],
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ export function createInferenceClient(
     const backend = resolveInferenceBackend(model, {
       openaiApiKey,
       anthropicApiKey,
+      openrouterApiKey,
     });
 
     if (backend === "anthropic") {
@@ -90,10 +92,18 @@ export function createInferenceClient(
       });
     }
 
-    const openAiLikeApiUrl =
-      backend === "openai" ? "https://api.openai.com" : apiUrl;
-    const openAiLikeApiKey =
-      backend === "openai" ? (openaiApiKey as string) : apiKey;
+    let openAiLikeApiUrl: string;
+    let openAiLikeApiKey: string;
+    if (backend === "openai") {
+      openAiLikeApiUrl = "https://api.openai.com";
+      openAiLikeApiKey = openaiApiKey as string;
+    } else if (backend === "openrouter") {
+      openAiLikeApiUrl = "https://openrouter.ai/api";
+      openAiLikeApiKey = openrouterApiKey as string;
+    } else {
+      openAiLikeApiUrl = apiUrl;
+      openAiLikeApiKey = apiKey;
+    }
 
     return chatViaOpenAiCompatible({
       model,
@@ -155,6 +165,7 @@ function resolveInferenceBackend(
   keys: {
     openaiApiKey?: string;
     anthropicApiKey?: string;
+    openrouterApiKey?: string;
   },
 ): InferenceBackend {
   // Anthropic models: claude-*
@@ -165,6 +176,10 @@ function resolveInferenceBackend(
   if (keys.openaiApiKey && /^(gpt|o[1-9]|chatgpt)/i.test(model)) {
     return "openai";
   }
+  // OpenRouter model IDs use "provider/model" format (e.g. "openai/gpt-4o")
+  if (keys.openrouterApiKey && model.includes("/")) {
+    return "openrouter";
+  }
   // Default: Conway proxy (handles all models including unknown ones)
   return "conway";
 }
@@ -174,18 +189,18 @@ async function chatViaOpenAiCompatible(params: {
   body: Record<string, unknown>;
   apiUrl: string;
   apiKey: string;
-  backend: "conway" | "openai";
+  backend: "conway" | "openai" | "openrouter";
   httpClient: ResilientHttpClient;
 }): Promise<InferenceResponse> {
+  const usesBearer = params.backend === "openai" || params.backend === "openrouter";
+  const headers: Record<string, string> = {
+    "Content-Type": "application/json",
+    Authorization: usesBearer ? `Bearer ${params.apiKey}` : params.apiKey,
+  };
+
   const resp = await params.httpClient.request(`${params.apiUrl}/v1/chat/completions`, {
     method: "POST",
-    headers: {
-      "Content-Type": "application/json",
-      Authorization:
-        params.backend === "openai"
-          ? `Bearer ${params.apiKey}`
-          : params.apiKey,
-    },
+    headers,
     body: JSON.stringify(params.body),
     timeout: INFERENCE_TIMEOUT_MS,
   });
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 91d3c39a..a0ccd20b 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ async function run(): Promise<void> {
     maxTokens: config.maxTokensPerTurn,
     openaiApiKey: config.openaiApiKey,
     anthropicApiKey: config.anthropicApiKey,
+    openrouterApiKey: config.openrouterApiKey,
   });
 
   // Create social client
diff --git a/src/inference/router.ts b/src/inference/router.ts
index 842b1870..4cc822fd 100644
--- a/src/inference/router.ts
+++ b/src/inference/router.ts
@@ -45,8 +45,13 @@ export class InferenceRouter {
   ): Promise<InferenceResult> {
     const { messages, taskType, tier, sessionId, turnId, tools } = request;
 
-    // 1. Select model from routing matrix
-    const model = this.selectModel(tier, taskType);
+    // 1. Select model: use overrideModel if set and available in registry, else routing matrix
+    let model = request.overrideModel
+      ? (this.registry.get(request.overrideModel) ?? null)
+      : null;
+    if (!model || !model.enabled) {
+      model = this.selectModel(tier, taskType);
+    }
     if (!model) {
       return {
         content: "",
diff --git a/src/setup/wizard.ts b/src/setup/wizard.ts
index 1dab2e99..f0c1e217 100644
--- a/src/setup/wizard.ts
+++ b/src/setup/wizard.ts
@@ -91,10 +91,16 @@ export async function runSetupWizard(): Promise<AutomatonConfig> {
     console.log(chalk.yellow("  Warning: Anthropic keys usually start with sk-ant-. Saving anyway."));
   }
 
-  if (openaiApiKey || anthropicApiKey) {
+  const openrouterApiKey = await promptOptional("OpenRouter API key (sk-or-..., optional)");
+  if (openrouterApiKey && !openrouterApiKey.startsWith("sk-or-")) {
+    console.log(chalk.yellow("  Warning: OpenRouter keys usually start with sk-or-. Saving anyway."));
+  }
+
+  if (openaiApiKey || anthropicApiKey || openrouterApiKey) {
     const providers = [
       openaiApiKey ? "OpenAI" : null,
       anthropicApiKey ? "Anthropic" : null,
+      openrouterApiKey ? "OpenRouter" : null,
     ].filter(Boolean).join(", ");
     console.log(chalk.green(`  Provider keys saved: ${providers}\n`));
   } else {
@@ -149,6 +155,7 @@ export async function runSetupWizard(): Promise<AutomatonConfig> {
     apiKey,
     openaiApiKey: openaiApiKey || undefined,
     anthropicApiKey: anthropicApiKey || undefined,
+    openrouterApiKey: openrouterApiKey || undefined,
     treasuryPolicy,
   });
 
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 07670154..4fd74b29 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export interface AutomatonConfig {
   conwayApiKey: string;
   openaiApiKey?: string;
   anthropicApiKey?: string;
+  openrouterApiKey?: string;
   inferenceModel: string;
   maxTokensPerTurn: number;
   heartbeatConfigPath: string;
@@ -1144,6 +1145,7 @@ export interface InferenceRequest {
   turnId?: string;
   maxTokens?: number; // override
   tools?: unknown[];
+  overrideModel?: string; // bypass routing matrix and use this model directly
 }
 
 export interface InferenceResult {