Run `LLMClient.stream(request)` instead of `generate` when you want incremental `LLMEvent`s. The event stream is provider-neutral — same shape across OpenAI Chat, OpenAI Responses, Anthropic Messages, Gemini, Bedrock Converse, and any OpenAI-compatible deployment.
## Public API
- **`LLM.request({...})`** — build a provider-neutral `LLMRequest`. Accepts ergonomic inputs (`system: string`, `prompt: string`) that normalize into the canonical Schema classes.
- **`LLM.generate` / `LLM.stream`** — re-exported from `LLMClient` for one-import use.
- **`LLMClient.prepare(request)`** — compile a request through protocol body construction, validation, and HTTP preparation without sending. Useful for inspection and testing.
Prompt caching is **on by default**. Every `LLMRequest` resolves to `cache: "auto"` unless the caller opts out with `cache: "none"`. Each protocol translates `CacheHint`s to its wire format (`cache_control` on Anthropic, `cachePoint` on Bedrock; OpenAI and Gemini do implicit caching server-side and don't need inline markers — auto is a no-op there).
`"auto"` places three breakpoints — last tool definition, last system part, latest user message. The last-user-message boundary is the load-bearing detail: in a tool-use loop, a single user turn expands into many assistant/tool round-trips, all sharing that prefix. Caching at that boundary lets every intra-turn API call hit.
The math justifies the default: Anthropic's 5-minute cache write is 1.25× base, read is 0.1×, so a single reuse within 5 minutes already wins. One-shot completions below the per-model minimum-cacheable-token threshold silently no-op on the wire, so the worst case is harmless.
Inline `CacheHint` on any text / system / tool / tool-result part overrides automatic placement. The auto policy preserves manual hints; it only fills gaps.
3.**`http: { body, headers, query }`** — last-resort serializable overlays merged into the final HTTP request. Reach for this only when a stable typed path doesn't yet exist.
Model-level defaults are overridden by request-level values for each axis.
## Routes
Adding a new model or deployment is usually 5–15 lines using `Route.make({ protocol, transport, ... })`. The four orthogonal pieces are protocol (body construction + stream parsing), transport (endpoint + auth + framing + encoding), defaults, and capabilities. See `AGENTS.md` for the architectural detail.
## Effect
This package is built on Effect. Public methods return `Effect` or `Stream`; provide `LLMClient.layer` (the default registers every shipped route) for runtime dispatch. The example at `example/tutorial.ts` is a runnable walkthrough.