AI

The Backdrop CMS AI module provides a provider-agnostic foundation for AI
features in Backdrop CMS. It supports multiple providers, shared APIs, and
feature modules for text generation, embeddings, moderation, assistants, and
search.

Requirements

• PHP 8.2 or later
• Key

You must configure at least one AI provider before you can use the provided
services.

Documentation

Please review the bundled documentation in this module family and the project
issue queue for updates.

Installation

• Install this module using the official Backdrop CMS instructions.

• Enable the core ai module and the feature modules that meet your needs.

Model capability assignments

Open admin/config/ai/settings/capabilities and choose Configure for a
provider. Automatic classification uses API metadata where available and
provider fallback rules otherwise.

Enable Override above a capability column, select the models that support
it, then save. This replaces automatic classification for that column across
the shared AI API and its capability-specific selectors. Select no models to
disable a capability; untick Override to restore automatic detection. Models
can belong to several categories. Manual assignments cannot add an operation
that the provider adapter does not implement.

Columns cover text/chat, vision, image generation, embeddings, TTS, STT,
moderation, tools, thinking, fill-in-the-middle, audio input, OCR, and voice
conversion. Audio input does not imply dedicated TTS/STT support. Unknown
capabilities remain unclassified and can be assigned manually.

Overrides are exportable under
ai.settings: providers.PROVIDER.manual_capability_models. Missing capability
keys mean automatic detection; an empty array explicitly means no models.
Saving clears model caches. Large submissions that exceed PHP input limits are
rejected without saving partial assignments.

Offline regression tests:
php modules/contrib/ai/tests/model_capabilities.php from the site root.

Model catalog

Cron syncs a model catalog once a day from the public
models.dev feed, with the
LiteLLM price map filling models and
fields models.dev lacks. Configure or sync it at
admin/config/ai/settings/catalog. Entries are stored in the
ai_model_catalog table, not in config, and cover only enabled providers with
a hosted catalog entry.

The catalog is a hint, never the authority:

• Capabilities: it fills tool calling, vision, and thinking only when the
  provider reports no models for that capability, and only with models the
  provider lists. Manual capability assignments always win.
• Temperature: adapters that drop rejected params (OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock)
  omit temperature up front for models the catalog says refuse it.
• Output tokens: max_tokens is capped at the model's catalog output limit.
• Model lists: labels show the release date and a deprecated marker.
• Prices: ai_usage reads per-token and cached-input prices from it.

When models.dev fails the previous catalog is kept; a LiteLLM failure only skips the fallback.

Included Submodules

ai_alt

Generates alt text for images using AI.

ai_ckeditor

Adds an AI prompt action to CKEditor editing workflows.

ai_content

Provides assistive tools for tone adjustment, summaries, title suggestions,
and content analysis during the editing process.

ai_dblog

Uses AI to help analyze watchdog errors and suggest likely explanations.

ai_devel

Adds AI-powered realistic content generation to Devel Generate commands.

ai_explorer

Interactive UI for testing chat, image, audio, and speech AI capabilities.

ai_guardrails

Active input and output guardrails that block prompt injection attacks, PII
leakage, and configurable content violations.

ai_moderation

Interface for testing AI content moderation with model selection.

ai_privacy

Controls which content types, bundles, and roles may send content to external
AI providers. Includes log redaction to prevent prompt and response storage.

ai_rate_limit

Enforces per-provider request rate limits to prevent runaway costs and respect
upstream provider limits.

ai_tools

Function-calling framework used by agents and integrations to register and
dispatch tools to AI providers.

ai_upgrade

Optional admin UI for migrating legacy openai_* modules to their ai_*
replacements.

Issues

Bugs and feature requests should be reported in the Issue Queue.

Current Maintainer

Justin Keiser

Credits

• Created for Backdrop CMS by Justin Keiser.
• Inspired by the Drupal OpenAI module
  and the Drupal AI module.
• Developed with AI assistance.

License

This project is GPL v2 software. See the LICENSE.txt file in this directory for complete text.