The whole 9router install comes down to one command: npm install -g 9router, then run 9router, and the dashboard opens at http://localhost:20128 — from there you simply connect the coding accounts you already own. No sign-up form, no credit card, no hosted middleman between you and your models. I've already covered what 9router is and why I run it; this page is the clean install reference — every documented route, what happens on first run, and the one thing to grab from the dashboard before you wire up a tool.
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I set this up on my own Mac as part of my daily AI stack, so everything below is either straight from the official documentation or something I watched happen on my own screen — and where those two differ, I'll tell you which is which.
Before you install 9router: two things worth knowing
First, the prerequisite. 9router ships through npm, which means you need Node.js on your machine — the same requirement as almost every modern developer tool. If you haven't got it, download Node from the official site and click through the installer; it takes a couple of minutes and you'll never think about it again. That's the entire shopping list. No databases, no accounts, no config files to hand-edit before you start.
Second, the promise that made me bother in the first place: 9router is local. It's a folder on your machine serving a dashboard on localhost, not a cloud service holding your credentials. It wires into the OAuth sessions you're already signed into — Claude, Copilot, Cursor and friends — so setup is mostly connecting access you already own rather than creating anything new. The project is open source under the MIT licence, and the router itself never charges you a penny; your existing subscriptions and API keys remain the only bills in the building.
The 9router install, step by step
Here's the npm route — the one I'd point practically everyone at:
- Open your terminal and run: npm install -g 9router
- When npm finishes, run: 9router
- Your browser opens the dashboard at http://localhost:20128 — you're in.
The first command pulls the package down and puts the 9router command on your path globally; the second starts the router and serves the dashboard. Two commands, one browser tab, and the install portion of your day is over.
Before you close that tab, grab the one thing every client needs: the dashboard issues a Bearer token, and that token is what your coding tools present when they talk to the router. You don't have to do anything with it yet — just note where it lives, because every wiring job later starts with copying your token from the dashboard.
Want the exact provider order, fallback settings and daily routing routine I run behind my own dashboard? I share the lot inside AI Profit Boardroom — grab my full 9router setup checklist here. Rather talk it through first? Book a free SEO strategy session and I'll map it onto your workflow.
The other documented routes, in plain English
If you'd rather run 9router from source — because you want to read the code, tweak it, or ride the newest commits — the documentation keeps it simple: clone the repository, copy the example environment file (.env.example) to .env, install the dependencies with npm, and start the dev server, which binds to the same port 20128. I'm deliberately not printing those command lines here, because the repo keeps them current and copy-paste-ready; take them straight from decolua/9router on GitHub.
There's also a documented Docker route: a one-line container run that maps port 20128 and a data folder in your home directory, so your provider connections survive restarts. Again, the exact line belongs in the README rather than retyped on a blog. If containers are your comfort zone, it's there and it works; if you've never touched Docker, you lose absolutely nothing by ignoring it — the npm route above gives you the same 9router.
First-run setup: connecting providers to 9router
With the dashboard open on port 20128, the first-run job is connecting providers, and the documentation splits them into three tidy buckets:
- Five subscription providers — Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor and Antigravity. These are OAuth sign-ins to subscriptions you likely already pay for, which is why first-run setup feels more like plugging in than signing up.
- Three free-tier providers — Kiro, OpenCode Free and Vertex AI, the bottom rung of the fallback ladder.
- Twenty-plus API-key providers — paste-a-key connections covering everything else.
Connect whatever you genuinely have; there's no minimum. For scale: once I'd signed into my own accounts, my 9router install showed 573+ models across 40+ providers sitting behind a single endpoint. That's my number from my dashboard rather than a documented guarantee — yours will depend on what you connect — but it shows how wide this gets once the OAuth handshakes are done.
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Wiring your first tool to the router
Every client points at the same place: the OpenAI-compatible endpoint at http://localhost:20128/v1, presented with the Bearer token from your dashboard. The documentation covers the wiring tool by tool — Claude Code takes the router's address via the anthropic_api_base setting in its config file; Codex reads it from the OPENAI_BASE_URL environment variable; Cursor accepts it in the OpenAI base-URL field in its settings. I've written a click-by-click walkthrough for the client I use most, 9router with Claude Code, and that exact pattern is what runs inside my Agent OS every single day.
What works immediately after the install
Two headline 9router features are live out of the box with zero configuration. Smart 3-Tier Fallback routes every request down a documented ladder — Subscription first, then Cheap, then Free — so a rate-limited subscription doesn't halt your afternoon; the request quietly falls through to the next tier. And RTK Token Saver, which the docs credit with 20–40% input-token savings, is switched on by default, trimming what you send before it ever reaches a provider. If you want the mechanics of how requests actually travel through the middle layer, I've unpacked that in how the 9router proxy works. And when I wanted proof the routing wasn't quietly degrading output quality, I ran identical tasks through Goldie Bench — my own testing rig, and where everything goes before it earns a permanent seat in my stack.
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Honest notes before you lean on it
9router's README flags its own wobbly bits, which I respect enormously. Kiro's free tier is capped at 50 credits a month. OpenCode Free fluctuates — availability comes and goes without warning. And some 2026 free tiers have been discontinued outright, so don't build your business plan on the Free rung of the fallback ladder; treat it as a bonus, not a foundation. My own caution on top: read any savings figure — including that 20–40% RTK range — as an estimate until your own provider bills confirm it. The router never charges you, but it can't change what your providers charge either.
Install page vs how-to-use guide
This page is the clean install reference; the day-to-day driving lives in my companion guide, how to use 9router — provider order, model selection, and the routine I actually run each morning. Keep the two bookmarked as a pair.
| Route | What's involved | Where it's documented |
|---|---|---|
| Global npm | npm install -g 9router, then 9router; dashboard opens on port 20128 | README quick start |
| From source | Clone the repo, copy .env.example to .env, install dependencies, run the dev server on port 20128 | README, in the repo |
| Docker | One-line container run mapping port 20128 and a data folder in your home directory | README Docker section |
9router install FAQ
How do I install 9router?
Run npm install -g 9router in your terminal, then run 9router. The dashboard opens at http://localhost:20128 and you connect your providers from there. Node.js is the only prerequisite.
Do I need Docker to run 9router?
No. The npm route is the simple, recommended path for almost everyone. Docker is documented for people who already live in containers and want the tidy data-folder mapping — nice to have, never required.
What port does 9router use?
Port 20128, per the documentation. The dashboard sits at http://localhost:20128 and your tools point at the http://localhost:20128/v1 endpoint.
Is 9router safe to install?
It's open source under the MIT licence and runs entirely on your machine — credentials stay in local OAuth sessions and nothing routes through a hosted middleman. If you'd rather inspect before you trust, I've toured the source and the licence in my 9router GitHub breakdown.
What should I do straight after installing?
Connect one subscription provider, copy your Bearer token, and wire a single tool to the /v1 endpoint. Get one tool routing cleanly before you connect everything you own — debugging is far easier one piece at a time.
Verdict: the easiest install in my stack
A fresh 9router install is about as low-friction as developer tooling gets: one npm command, one run command, one localhost dashboard, and you're routing through access you already own. The from-source and Docker routes exist for the people who want them, but for most of us the npm route is the entire story. Install it, connect two or three providers, wire one tool — then go and read the how-to-use guide and make the thing earn its keep.
Just finished the install and want the routing playbook that actually saves money? Join me inside AI Profit Boardroom for my post-install 9router playbook — or book a free SEO strategy session and we'll wire it into your content pipeline together.
