Model provider request

Also called: API request, API call, LLM call, model request, round trip, provider request

One trip from an AI product to the model provider and back. The product sends everything the model should see, and gets one reply. A single task can take dozens of these behind the scenes, and each one is billed.

For example: A founder asks a coding agent to fix one bug, and the agent quietly makes 30 model provider requests while it reads files, edits code and reruns the tests.