AI Gateway has a unified fast mode abstraction, now in beta.

You can now request fast mode the same way for every model on AI Gateway. Set speed to fast, and the gateway serves the fast tier when it's available and falls back to standard speed when it isn't.

Fast mode trades a higher per-token cost for lower latency or higher throughput. You get it wherever it is available, without pinning a provider or wiring anything up yourself.

Copy link to headingRequesting fast mode

Set speed to fast under providerOptions.gateway to upgrade the model to its fast serving path when one is routable:

import { generateText } from 'ai';

const { text, providerMetadata } = await generateText({

model: 'anthropic/claude-opus-5',

prompt: 'Explain quantum computing in two sentences.',

providerOptions: {

gateway: {

speed: 'fast',

},

},

});

console.log('Served speed:', providerMetadata?.gateway?.routing?.speed);

You can also address a fast variant directly with its fast slug, such as anthropic/claude-opus-5-fast, which is the same as setting speed: 'fast' on the base model.

Use the speed option when you want to stay on the base model ID and fall back to standard speed. Use a fast slug when you want to name the fast variant directly, for example in a gateway.models fallback list. The speed option works across every AI Gateway API format.

Fast mode is available for a growing set of models. Find them in the models list with a lightning bolt next to the slug. Requesting fast mode on a model with no fast tier has no effect, and the request runs at standard speed. Fast variants of models are usually more expensive than the base model: check pricing for more details.

Copy link to headingUsing fast mode in coding agents

In Claude Code, toggle fast mode with /fast for Anthropic Opus models after setup. For other agents, select a fast slug in your model configuration, such as anthropic/claude-opus-5-fast.

For more information about fast mode, read the documentation.