Error adding custom provider (perplexity) "unsupported operand type(s) for +=: 'int' and 'str'"

Start at llms/extensions/app/init.py around lines 921-923, where the traceback shows request cost and token values are accumulated, then reproduce the failure with the Perplexity custom-provider configuration from the issue. Check how response usage values are represented for other providers and verify that a chat completes without the TypeError while usage totals remain valid.

Hi, i am having some issues with adding in perplexity AI as a custom provider

error from ui

unsupported operand type(s) for +=: 'int' and 'str'

deployment

docker container

]# docker exec -it aa5a6b10ffe7 /bin/bash
llms@aa5a6b10ffe7:/app$ llms
usage: llms [-h] [--config FILE] [--providers FILE] [-m MODEL] [--chat REQUEST] [-s PROMPT] [--tools TOOLS] [--image IMAGE] [--audio AUDIO] [--file FILE] [--out MODALITY] [--args PARAMS] [--raw] [--nohistory] [--nostore] [--list] [--check PROVIDER]
            [--serve PORT] [--enable PROVIDER] [--disable PROVIDER] [--default MODEL] [--init] [--update-providers] [--reset [TYPE]] [--auth EXTENSION] [--logprefix PREFIX] [--verbose] [--add [EXTENSION]] [--remove [EXTENSION]] [--update [EXTENSION]]
            [--adduser USERNAME] [--removeuser USERNAME] [--listusers] [--lockuser [USERNAME]] [--unlockuser USERNAME]

llms v3.0.42

configs

i added this to llms.json

    "perplexity": {
      "enabled": true,
      "id": "perplexity",
      "npm": "@ai-sdk/openai-compatible",
      "api": "https://api.perplexity.ai",
      "no_tools": true,
      "env": [
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY"
      ],
      "models": {
        "sonar": {
          "id": "sonar",
          "name": "Perplexity Sonar"
        },
        "sonar-pro": {
          "id": "sonar-pro",
          "name": "Perplexity Sonar Pro"
        },
        "sonar-deep-research": {
          "id": "sonar-deep-research",
          "name": "Perplexity Sonar Deep Research"
        }
      }
    }

Errorr logs

2026-04-08 06:22:43.604289+00:00======== Running on http://0.0.0.0:30335 ========
2026-04-08 06:22:43.604330+00:00(Press CTRL+C to quit)
2026-04-08 06:23:24.107246+00:00provider: perplexity OpenAiCompatible
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109400+00:00POST https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109583+00:00{
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109631+00:00"model": "sonar",
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109655+00:00"messages": [
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109678+00:00{
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109701+00:00"timestamp": 1775628830151,
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109743+00:00"role": "user",
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109766+00:00"content": [
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109789+00:00{
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109812+00:00"type": "text",
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109836+00:00"text": "hi"
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109860+00:00}
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109901+00:00],
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109929+00:00"model": "Perplexity Sonar",
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109953+00:00"usage": {
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109976+00:00"tokens": 2,
2026-04-08 06:23:24.109999+00:00"price": 0,
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110023+00:00"cost": 0
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110062+00:00}
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110085+00:00}
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110108+00:00],
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110130+00:00"modalities": [
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110154+00:00"text"
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110176+00:00],
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110236+00:00"metadata": {
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110259+00:00"tools": "none"
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110282+00:00},
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110304+00:00"stream": false
2026-04-08 06:23:24.110327+00:00}
2026-04-08 06:23:25.366572+00:00ERROR: Provider perplexity failed: unsupported operand type(s) for +=: 'int' and 'str'
2026-04-08 06:23:25.367530+00:00Traceback (most recent call last):
2026-04-08 06:23:25.367567+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/main.py", line 1987, in g_chat_completion
2026-04-08 06:23:25.367591+00:00await filter_func(final_response, context)
2026-04-08 06:23:25.367614+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/extensions/app/__init__.py", line 921, in chat_response
2026-04-08 06:23:25.367694+00:00total_costs += request.get("cost", 0) or 0
2026-04-08 06:23:25.367722+00:00TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +=: 'int' and 'str'
2026-04-08 06:23:25.367746+00:002026-04-08T06:23:25.367746180Z
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371193+00:00ERROR [app]: run_chat unsupported operand type(s) for +=: 'int' and 'str'
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371253+00:00Traceback (most recent call last):
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371277+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/extensions/app/__init__.py", line 229, in run_chat
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371301+00:00await ctx.chat_completion(chat_req, context=context_req)
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371359+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/main.py", line 3391, in chat_completion
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371383+00:00return await self.app.chat_completion(chat, context=context)
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371421+00:00^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371445+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/main.py", line 3069, in chat_completion
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371484+00:00response = await g_chat_completion(chat, context)
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371508+00:00^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371531+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/main.py", line 2004, in g_chat_completion
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371621+00:00raise first_exception
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371655+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/main.py", line 1987, in g_chat_completion
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371690+00:00await filter_func(final_response, context)
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371724+00:00File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/extensions/app/__init__.py", line 921, in chat_response
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371823+00:00total_costs += request.get("cost", 0) or 0
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371860+00:00TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +=: 'int' and 'str'
2026-04-08 06:23:25.371894+00:002026-04-08T06:23:25.371894194Z

Troubleshooting steps ive taken

• ive tried setting the costs manually in the json file
• tried moving the config to providers-extra.json
• i went to cluade.al for help

what the AI said to do:

modify /usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/llms/extensions/app/__init__.py or llms/llms/extensions/app/__init__.py lines 921-923

-                total_costs += request.get("cost", 0) or 0
-                total_input += request.get("inputTokens", 0) or 0
-                total_output += request.get("outputTokens", 0) or 0
+                try:
+                    _c = request.get("cost", 0) or 0
+                    if isinstance(_c, dict): total_costs += float(_c.get("total_cost", 0))
+                    elif isinstance(_c, str) and _c.startswith("{"): total_costs += float(__import__("json").loads(_c).get("total_cost", 0))
+                    elif _c: total_costs += float(_c)
+                except Exception: pass
+                total_input += int(float(request.get("inputTokens", 0) or 0))
+                total_output += int(float(request.get("outputTokens", 0) or 0))

Results

this did get rid of the error, however i dont know the code well enough to make PR and just dump AI code as a fix.
i did patch my local docker container and it seems fine but i dont know how that section of code is used by other models

comment

i am really new to this project and went digging through docs, and nothing really fit what if the model is in https://models.dev but not already listed in providers.json so i am totally open to the possibility that i did this adding of perplexity wrong or that im missing something