When you are testing an OpenAI-compatible API endpoint, the fastest path is not to wire it into a full app immediately. Start with one small request, confirm the base URL, API key, model name, and response shape, then move the working call into your product.

I put together a compact examples repo for that exact first-call workflow:

https://github.com/OriginStartAI/openai-compatible-api-examples

It includes curl, Python, Node.js, streaming responses, JSON structured output, migration notes, and a small error reference.

1. Set environment variables first