SAP AI Core and the generative AI hub help you to integrate LLMs and AI into new business processes in a cost-efficient manner. Website: SAP Help Portal
đź’ˇ Information SAP AI Core, and Generative AI Hub, are offerings from SAP BTP. You need an active SAP BTP contract and a existing subaccount with a SAP AI Core instance with the extended service plan (For more details about SAP AI Core service plans and their capabilities, see the Service Plans documentation) to perform these steps.

Getting a Service Binding

  1. Access: Go to your subaccount via BTP Cloud Cockpit
  2. Create a Service Binding: Go to “Instances and Subscriptions”, select your SAP AI Core service instance and click on Service Bindings > Create.
  3. Copy the Service Binding: Copy the service binding values.

Supported Models

SAP AI Core supports a large and growing number of models. Refer to the Generative AI Hub Supported Models page for the complete and up-to-date list.

Configuration in Cline

  1. Open Cline Settings: Click the settings icon (⚙️) in the Cline panel.
  2. Select Provider: Choose “SAP AI Core” from the “API Provider” dropdown.
  3. Enter Client Id: Add the .clientid field from the service binding into the “AI Core Client Id” field.
  4. Enter Client Secret: Add the .clientsecret field from the service binding into the “AI Core Client Secret” field.
  5. Enter Base URL: Add the .serviceurls.AI_API_URL field from the service binding into the “AI Core Base URL” field.
  6. Enter Auth URL: Add the .url field from the service binding into the “AI Core Auth URL” field.
  7. Enter Resource Group: Add the resource group where you have your model deployments. See Create a Deployment for a Generative AI Model.
  8. Configure Orchestration Mode: If you have an extended service plan, the “Orchestration Mode” checkbox will automatically appear.
  9. Select Model: Choose your desired model from the “Model” dropdown.

Orchestration Mode vs Native API

Orchestration Mode:
  • Simplified usage: Provides access to all available models without requiring individual deployments using the Harmonized API
Native API Mode:
  • Manual deployments: Requires manual model deployment and management in your SAP AI Core service instance

Tips and Notes

  • Service Plan Requirement: You must have the SAP AI Core extended service plan to use LLMs with Cline. Other service plans do not provide access to Generative AI Hub.
  • Orchestration Mode (Recommended): Keep Orchestration Mode enabled for the simplest setup. It provides automatic access to all available models without requiring manual deployments.
  • Native API Mode: Only disable Orchestration Mode if you have specific requirements that necessitate direct AI Core API access or need features not supported by the orchestration mode.
  • When using Native API Mode:
    • Model Selection: The model dropdown displays models in two separate lists:
      • Deployed Models: These models are already deployed in your specified resource group and are ready to use immediately.
      • Not Deployed Models: These models don’t have active deployments in your specified resource group. You won’t be able to use these models until you create deployments for them in SAP AI Core.
    • Creating Deployments: To use a model that has not been deployed yet, you’ll need to create a deployment in your SAP AI Core service instance. See Create a Deployment for a Generative AI Model for instructions.

Configuring Reasoning Effort for OpenAI Models

When using OpenAI reasoning models (such as o1, o3, o3-mini, o4-mini) through SAP AI Core, you can control the reasoning effort to balance performance and cost:
  1. Open Cline Settings: Click the settings icon (⚙️) in the Cline panel.
  2. Navigate to Features: Go to the “Features” section in the settings.
  3. Find OpenAI Reasoning Effort: Locate the “OpenAI Reasoning Effort” setting.
  4. Choose Effort Level: Select between:
    • Low: Faster responses with lower token usage, suitable for simpler tasks
    • Medium: Balanced performance and token usage for most tasks
    • High: More thorough analysis with higher token usage, better for complex reasoning tasks
đź’ˇ Note This setting only applies when using OpenAI reasoning models (o1, o3, o3-mini, o4-mini, gpt-5, etc.) deployed through SAP AI Core. Other models will ignore this setting.