The basics
What is a model?
In one line
One specific “version” of an AI you can use.
A model is a particular AI you can talk to — like a specific make of car. Some are faster and cheaper, some are slower but smarter. Names like Haiku, Sonnet or Opus are just different models in the same family. When you're starting out, you don't need to pick the “best” one — any modern model is more than good enough.
Where this comes up