diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 53800d610..bcf88ed9f 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -99,11 +99,12 @@ Core tools never need an LLM. Configuring one adds answer synthesis (`format: "a
 
 | Env var | Default | What it does |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| `WIGOLO_LLM_PROVIDER` | unset | `anthropic`, `openai`, `gemini`, `groq`, or `ollama` (any local OpenAI-compatible server). |
+| `WIGOLO_LLM_PROVIDER` | unset | `anthropic`, `openai`, `gemini`, `groq`, `ollama` (any local OpenAI-compatible server), or `openai-compatible` (any **authenticated** remote OpenAI-compatible endpoint — see below). |
 | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` / `OPENAI_API_KEY` / `GEMINI_API_KEY` / `GROQ_API_KEY` | unset | Per-provider keys, read from env. |
-| `WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY` | unset | Generic key slot (used by `init --provider=...`; stored in the OS keychain, never passed as a flag). |
+| `WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY` | unset | Generic key slot (used by `init --provider=...`; stored in the OS keychain, never passed as a flag). **Also the API key for the `openai-compatible` provider.** |
 | `WIGOLO_LLM_MODEL` | provider default | Override the model name. |
-| `WIGOLO_LLM_BASE_URL` | `http://localhost:11434` | Custom base URL for the `ollama` provider — point it at any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. |
+| `WIGOLO_LLM_MODEL_OPENAI_COMPATIBLE` | `gpt-4o-mini` | Model for the `openai-compatible` provider (set this to your endpoint's model id). |
+| `WIGOLO_LLM_BASE_URL` | `http://localhost:11434` | Custom base URL for the `ollama` **and** `openai-compatible` providers — point `openai-compatible` at your OpenAI-compatible `/v1` endpoint. |
 | `WIGOLO_LLM_CACHE_TTL_DAYS` | `7` | Cache lifetime for LLM outputs. |
 | `WIGOLO_LLM_MAX_CALLS_PER_REQUEST` | `1` | Hard cap on LLM calls per tool request. |
 
diff --git a/src/cli/init.ts b/src/cli/init.ts
index 26f9d737e..a394a9900 100644
--- a/src/cli/init.ts
+++ b/src/cli/init.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export async function maybePrintOllamaHint(print: (line: string) => void): Promi
   }
 }
 
-const KEYSTORE_PROVIDERS: readonly LLMProvider[] = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'groq'];
+const KEYSTORE_PROVIDERS: readonly LLMProvider[] = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'groq', 'openai-compatible'];
 
 /**
  * One-line hint printed on a `--no-warmup` init: nothing was pre-downloaded, so
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ const INIT_USAGE = [
   '  --agents=<csv>          Comma-separated agent ids to auto-wire (optional; omit to set up the engine only and point any MCP client at wigolo yourself)',
   '  --skip-verify           Skip the post-install verify step',
   '  --plain                 Force plain (non-TUI) output',
-  '  --provider=<name>       LLM provider for research/agent: anthropic|openai|gemini|ollama',
+  '  --provider=<name>       LLM provider for research/agent: anthropic|openai|gemini|groq|ollama|openai-compatible',
   '  --search=<backend>      Search backend: core|searxng|hybrid',
   '  --help, -h              Show this message',
   '',
diff --git a/src/cli/tui/flags.ts b/src/cli/tui/flags.ts
index 4e8c9cab4..8de3d9ad8 100644
--- a/src/cli/tui/flags.ts
+++ b/src/cli/tui/flags.ts
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ function parseCommon(args: readonly string[], known: ReadonlySet<string>): Raw {
   return raw;
 }
 
-const VALID_PROVIDERS = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'ollama'] as const;
+const VALID_PROVIDERS = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'ollama', 'openai-compatible'] as const;
 const VALID_SEARCH_BACKENDS = ['core', 'searxng', 'hybrid'] as const;
 
 function parseInitOnlyFlags(args: readonly string[]): { provider?: string; search?: string; interactive: boolean; wizard: boolean; warmup: boolean } {
diff --git a/src/extraction/llm-fallback.ts b/src/extraction/llm-fallback.ts
index 529ea7a6a..de2105962 100644
--- a/src/extraction/llm-fallback.ts
+++ b/src/extraction/llm-fallback.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { getConfig } from '../config.js';
 import { callAnthropic } from '../integrations/cloud/llm/anthropic.js';
-import { callOpenAI } from '../integrations/cloud/llm/openai.js';
+import { callOpenAI, callOpenAICompatible } from '../integrations/cloud/llm/openai.js';
 import { callGemini } from '../integrations/cloud/llm/gemini.js';
 import { callGroq } from '../integrations/cloud/llm/groq.js';
 import {
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ const ADAPTERS: Record<
   openai: callOpenAI,
   gemini: callGemini,
   groq: callGroq,
+  'openai-compatible': callOpenAICompatible,
 };
 
 export async function extractWithLLM(
diff --git a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/model-select.ts b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/model-select.ts
index 21de3ac35..3464a4a03 100644
--- a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/model-select.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/model-select.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ const PROVIDER_DEFAULTS: Record<LLMProvider, string> = {
   openai: 'gpt-4o-mini',
   gemini: 'gemini-2.5-flash-lite',
   groq: 'llama-3.3-70b-versatile',
+  // Generic default; override per-endpoint with WIGOLO_LLM_MODEL_OPENAI_COMPATIBLE.
+  'openai-compatible': 'gpt-4o-mini',
 };
 
 const PROVIDER_ENV: Record<LLMProvider, string> = {
@@ -18,6 +20,7 @@ const PROVIDER_ENV: Record<LLMProvider, string> = {
   openai: 'WIGOLO_LLM_MODEL_OPENAI',
   gemini: 'WIGOLO_LLM_MODEL_GEMINI',
   groq: 'WIGOLO_LLM_MODEL_GROQ',
+  'openai-compatible': 'WIGOLO_LLM_MODEL_OPENAI_COMPATIBLE',
 };
 
 export function resolveModel(
diff --git a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/openai.ts b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/openai.ts
index 07a10c391..6896b30ca 100644
--- a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/openai.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/openai.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import OpenAI from 'openai';
+import { getConfig } from '../../../config.js';
 import type { LLMCallOpts, LLMExtractResult } from './types.js';
 
 const DEFAULT_MODEL = 'gpt-4o-mini';
@@ -47,3 +48,56 @@ export async function callOpenAI(
     latencyMs: Date.now() - start,
   };
 }
+
+export async function callOpenAICompatible(
+  opts: LLMCallOpts,
+  apiKey: string,
+): Promise<LLMExtractResult> {
+  // OpenAI-compatible endpoint via WIGOLO_LLM_BASE_URL, with the API key sent
+  // as a Bearer token (unlike the keyless ollama/custom backend).
+  const baseURL = getConfig().llmBaseUrl ?? undefined;
+  if (!baseURL) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'openai-compatible: WIGOLO_LLM_BASE_URL is not set; point it at your OpenAI-compatible /v1 endpoint',
+    );
+  }
+  const client = new OpenAI({ apiKey, baseURL });
+  const model = opts.modelOverride ?? DEFAULT_MODEL;
+  const start = Date.now();
+
+  const response = await client.chat.completions.create(
+    {
+      model,
+      messages: [{ role: 'user', content: opts.prompt }],
+      response_format: {
+        type: 'json_schema',
+        json_schema: {
+          name: 'extract',
+          schema: opts.jsonSchema,
+          strict: true,
+        },
+      },
+    },
+    { signal: opts.signal },
+  );
+
+  const content = response.choices?.[0]?.message?.content;
+  if (!content) {
+    throw new Error('openai-compatible: empty content in response');
+  }
+
+  let values: Record<string, unknown>;
+  try {
+    values = JSON.parse(content);
+  } catch (e) {
+    throw new Error(`openai-compatible: invalid JSON in response: ${(e as Error).message}`);
+  }
+
+  return {
+    values,
+    provider: 'openai-compatible',
+    model: response.model ?? model,
+    cached: false,
+    latencyMs: Date.now() - start,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/select.ts b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/select.ts
index 3b52d1e07..10c0c5b2e 100644
--- a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/select.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/select.ts
@@ -3,13 +3,14 @@ import type { KeyStoreOpts } from '../../../security/key-store.js';
 import { readPersistedConfig, defaultConfigPath } from '../../../persisted-config.js';
 import { resolveCustomBackend } from './custom-backend.js';
 
-const PROVIDER_ORDER: LLMProvider[] = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'groq'];
+const PROVIDER_ORDER: LLMProvider[] = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'groq', 'openai-compatible'];
 
 const PROVIDER_ENV: Record<LLMProvider, string> = {
   anthropic: 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY',
   openai: 'OPENAI_API_KEY',
   gemini: 'GEMINI_API_KEY',
   groq: 'GROQ_API_KEY',
+  'openai-compatible': 'WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY',
 };
 
 // Extra env var names accepted for a provider's key, beyond the canonical one
@@ -19,6 +20,15 @@ const PROVIDER_ENV_ALIASES: Partial<Record<LLMProvider, readonly string[]>> = {
   gemini: ['GOOGLE_API_KEY'],
 };
 
+// Providers that have NO provider-specific key var — their key is the generic
+// WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY. Because that var is ambiguous without an explicit provider
+// (see issue #102), these providers are NEVER auto-detected; they are only
+// selected when WIGOLO_LLM_PROVIDER names them explicitly. `openai-compatible`
+// is the only such provider today.
+const EXPLICIT_ONLY_PROVIDERS: ReadonlySet<LLMProvider> = new Set<LLMProvider>([
+  'openai-compatible',
+]);
+
 /** Read a provider's API key from env, accepting the canonical var or an alias. */
 export function providerKeyFromEnv(
   p: LLMProvider,
@@ -43,8 +53,11 @@ export function selectProvider(
     if (providerKeyFromEnv(p, env) || env.WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY) return p;
   }
   // Auto-detect: WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY is ambiguous without an explicit provider,
-  // so it is intentionally NOT consulted in this loop.
+  // so it is intentionally NOT consulted in this loop. Explicit-only providers
+  // (e.g. openai-compatible, whose key IS WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY) are skipped so a
+  // bare generic key never auto-selects them.
   for (const p of PROVIDER_ORDER) {
+    if (EXPLICIT_ONLY_PROVIDERS.has(p)) continue;
     if (providerKeyFromEnv(p, env)) return p;
   }
   return null;
@@ -89,8 +102,10 @@ export async function selectProviderWithKeyStore(
     // Explicit provider specified but key not found — fall through to auto-detect
   }
 
-  // Auto-detect: first provider with any key (keychain → file → env)
+  // Auto-detect: first provider with any key (keychain → file → env).
+  // Explicit-only providers are skipped (see EXPLICIT_ONLY_PROVIDERS above).
   for (const p of PROVIDER_ORDER) {
+    if (EXPLICIT_ONLY_PROVIDERS.has(p)) continue;
     const key = await resolveProviderKey(p, opts);
     if (key) return { provider: p, key };
   }
diff --git a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/text-adapters.ts b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/text-adapters.ts
index 6fe93bf00..d7f8f573f 100644
--- a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/text-adapters.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/text-adapters.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 // MCP server startup (caught by the cold-start e2e timing test).
 
 import type { LLMProvider } from './types.js';
+import { getConfig } from '../../../config.js';
 
 /** Optional image attached to a text call, for vision-capable models. */
 export interface TextCallImage {
@@ -165,6 +166,40 @@ export async function callGroqText(opts: TextCallOpts, apiKey: string): Promise<
   };
 }
 
+export async function callOpenAICompatibleText(opts: TextCallOpts, apiKey: string): Promise<TextCallResult> {
+  const { default: OpenAI } = await import('openai');
+  // Routed to an arbitrary OpenAI-compatible endpoint via WIGOLO_LLM_BASE_URL
+  // (e.g. OpenRouter, DeepSeek, SensNova, a self-hosted vLLM). Unlike the
+  // keyless `ollama`/custom backend, this provider sends the API key as a
+  // Bearer token so authenticated remote endpoints work.
+  const baseURL = getConfig().llmBaseUrl ?? undefined;
+  if (!baseURL) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'openai-compatible: WIGOLO_LLM_BASE_URL is not set; point it at your OpenAI-compatible /v1 endpoint',
+    );
+  }
+  const client = new OpenAI({ apiKey, baseURL });
+  const start = Date.now();
+  const response = await client.chat.completions.create(
+    {
+      model: opts.model,
+      max_completion_tokens: opts.maxTokens ?? DEFAULT_MAX_TOKENS,
+      messages: [{ role: 'user', content: opts.prompt }],
+    },
+    { signal: opts.signal },
+  );
+  const text = response.choices?.[0]?.message?.content;
+  if (typeof text !== 'string' || text.trim().length === 0) {
+    throw new Error('openai-compatible: empty content in response');
+  }
+  return {
+    text,
+    provider: 'openai-compatible',
+    model: response.model ?? opts.model,
+    latencyMs: Date.now() - start,
+  };
+}
+
 export const TEXT_ADAPTERS: Record<
   LLMProvider,
   (opts: TextCallOpts, apiKey: string) => Promise<TextCallResult>
@@ -173,4 +208,5 @@ export const TEXT_ADAPTERS: Record<
   openai: callOpenAIText,
   gemini: callGeminiText,
   groq: callGroqText,
+  'openai-compatible': callOpenAICompatibleText,
 };
diff --git a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/types.ts b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/types.ts
index 98cc0a721..8b3c98d1b 100644
--- a/src/integrations/cloud/llm/types.ts
+++ b/src/integrations/cloud/llm/types.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-export type LLMProvider = 'anthropic' | 'openai' | 'gemini' | 'groq';
+export type LLMProvider = 'anthropic' | 'openai' | 'gemini' | 'groq' | 'openai-compatible';
 
 export interface LLMExtractResult {
   values: Record<string, unknown>;
diff --git a/src/research/synthesis-local.ts b/src/research/synthesis-local.ts
index c6a91f6cc..bad7f559c 100644
--- a/src/research/synthesis-local.ts
+++ b/src/research/synthesis-local.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ const log = createLogger('research');
 const DEFAULT_MAX_SOURCES = 8;
 const DEFAULT_MAX_CHARS_PER_SOURCE = 4000;
 const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000;
-const DEFAULT_MAX_TOKENS = 3000;
+// 8k tokens of headroom: reasoning-capable models (e.g. some OpenAI-compatible
+// endpoints) spend part of the budget on a hidden `reasoning` field and can
+// otherwise return empty `content`, which the adapter rejects and wigolo
+// downgrades to the heuristic fallback.
+const DEFAULT_MAX_TOKENS = 8000;
 
 export interface LocalSynthesisOptions {
   maxSources?: number;
diff --git a/src/security/key-store.ts b/src/security/key-store.ts
index 7866866b8..15eed289d 100644
--- a/src/security/key-store.ts
+++ b/src/security/key-store.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ export const PICKER_PROVIDERS: ReadonlyArray<LLMProvider | 'custom'> = [
 ];
 
 // All providers that can have keystore entries (including groq via env only)
-const STORE_PROVIDERS: ReadonlyArray<LLMProvider> = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'groq'];
+const STORE_PROVIDERS: ReadonlyArray<LLMProvider> = ['anthropic', 'openai', 'gemini', 'groq', 'openai-compatible'];
 
 /**
  * Process-lifetime memo for resolveProviderKey, keyed by `provider:dataDir`.
diff --git a/tests/unit/extraction/llm-fallback.test.ts b/tests/unit/extraction/llm-fallback.test.ts
index 8f0ea09a6..cc80c2bfe 100644
--- a/tests/unit/extraction/llm-fallback.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/extraction/llm-fallback.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ vi.mock('../../../src/integrations/cloud/llm/anthropic.js', () => ({
 }));
 vi.mock('../../../src/integrations/cloud/llm/openai.js', () => ({
   callOpenAI: vi.fn(),
+  callOpenAICompatible: vi.fn(),
 }));
 vi.mock('../../../src/integrations/cloud/llm/gemini.js', () => ({
   callGemini: vi.fn(),
diff --git a/tests/unit/extraction/llm/select.test.ts b/tests/unit/extraction/llm/select.test.ts
index 157dada8c..0f807d32f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/extraction/llm/select.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/extraction/llm/select.test.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,15 @@ describe('selectProvider', () => {
     expect(selectProvider({ WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY: 'x' })).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  it('selects openai-compatible only when WIGOLO_LLM_PROVIDER names it explicitly', () => {
+    expect(
+      selectProvider({
+        WIGOLO_LLM_PROVIDER: 'openai-compatible',
+        WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY: 'x',
+      }),
+    ).toBe('openai-compatible');
+  });
+
   it('provider-specific var wins over WIGOLO_LLM_API_KEY', () => {
     expect(
       selectProvider({
diff --git a/tests/unit/extraction/llm/types.test.ts b/tests/unit/extraction/llm/types.test.ts
index d8ffe9dc1..8438bf3d4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/extraction/llm/types.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/extraction/llm/types.test.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import type {
 describe('llm types', () => {
   it('LLMProvider is union of supported providers', () => {
     expectTypeOf<LLMProvider>().toEqualTypeOf<
-      'anthropic' | 'openai' | 'gemini' | 'groq'
+      'anthropic' | 'openai' | 'gemini' | 'groq' | 'openai-compatible'
     >();
   });