# Getting Started

llm-id checks whether an API endpoint really serves the model it claims to serve. Relays and resellers sometimes swap in a cheaper model, serve a degraded copy, send part of the traffic elsewhere, or sell a copy with its refusals removed. llm-id asks the endpoint short questions many times and compares the answers with answers collected from the model's official provider.

## What a Test Can Tell You

Every test ends with one verdict and a confidence rating:

- **Genuine:** it's the claimed model.
- **Degraded:** the claimed model, but measurably weaker than the official deployment.
- **Abliterated:** the claimed model with its refusals removed.
- **Substituted:** a different, named model answered.
- **Unknown Model:** no model in the baseline fits the answers.
- **Mixed Routing:** requests go to several models.
- **Inconclusive:** not enough evidence either way.

[Reading a Report](https://llm-id.sh/docs/reading-a-report) explains each verdict and what to do about it.

## Your First Test

1. Select **Sign In** at the top of any page, then **Create an Account**, and enter your email address and a password of at least 8 characters. Next time, sign in with them.
2. Select **+ Test Endpoint** in the header.
3. In **Endpoint Base URL**, enter the address the endpoint gives you, such as `https://relay.example/v1`. The field shows an example for the chosen API.
4. In **Model ID at the Endpoint**, enter the model name the endpoint expects. **List** asks the endpoint for its model list, and you can pick from it.
5. In **Claims to Be**, pick the model the endpoint says it serves.
6. Paste your key into **API Key**.
7. Leave **API**, **Tier** and the options as they are for a first test.
8. Select **Start Test**. The page follows the test as answers arrive. Most tests take a few minutes; reasoning models take longer.
9. Read the verdict at the top of the report, then the sections below it.

[Testing an Endpoint](https://llm-id.sh/docs/testing-an-endpoint) explains every field and option.

## What a Test Costs

Every request goes to the endpoint on your key, so the endpoint bills it as usual. The side panel shows the count before you start.

| Tier | Identity probes | Refusal probes, if on | Competence items, if on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 80 | 24 | 60 |
| Thorough | 160 | 48 | 120 |

Identity and refusal probes are short questions. Competence items are the expensive part: reasoning models spend hundreds to thousands of tokens on each. That's why the competence and refusal checks are off unless you switch them on.

## Your Account, Key and Results

- **Every test is saved to your account.** It's stored on our side with its full report, so it stays available from any device you sign in on. It appears under **Checks**, where you can reopen the report, filter by verdict and export it. Only your account can see it.
- **Your key is used for one test only.** It's held in memory while the test runs, and it's never stored or written into a report. To rerun a test, enter it again.
- **Your password is stored only as a salted hash.** A sign-in lasts 30 days on a device; **Sign Out** in the header ends it sooner. After 10 wrong passwords in a row, sign-in pauses for up to 15 minutes.

## Before You Act on a Verdict

A verdict other than Genuine is evidence, not proof of intent. Confirm it with a separate test at the **Thorough** tier, and read [Limits](https://llm-id.sh/docs/limits) first.

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From the llm-id.sh guides: https://llm-id.sh/docs/getting-started