Using Qwen Code with SoAI

Qwen Code can use SoAI as an OpenAI-compatible model provider and as a remote Streamable HTTP MCP server.

Configure model access

  1. In the SoAI WebUI, select the Settings button at the right of the header, choose Settings, and open OpenAI. This tab appears only to an Administrator with API key management (OPENAI_API_ADMIN). Select Create key and copy the key when it is shown.
  2. Open MCP > MCP tokens. The MCP tab appears only to an Administrator with MCP administration (MCP_ADMIN), and creating a personal token also requires MCP usage (MCP_USE). Changing server mode or its exposed tools also requires Configuration changes (CONFIG_PATCH).
  3. Open Models and copy the exact ID of a Chat Completions model. This requires Model read access (MODEL_READ).

Configure the model provider

Merge this provider into ~/.qwen/settings.json:

{
  "security": {
    "auth": { "selectedType": "openai" }
  },
  "modelProviders": {
    "openai": [
      {
        "id": "YOUR_MODEL_ID",
        "name": "SoAI model",
        "envKey": "OPENAI_API_KEY",
        "baseUrl": "https://SOAI_HOST:5090/v1"
      }
    ]
  }
}
export OPENAI_API_KEY='YOUR_SOAI_API_KEY'
export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS='/path/to/soai-ca.pem'
qwen --model YOUR_MODEL_ID

Select SoAI in Qwen Code

Start qwen, enter /model, and select openai > YOUR_MODEL_ID. The picker reads the provider entry from settings.json; it does not create the base URL. Send a short prompt after selection to verify the model connection.

Configure MCP and troubleshoot the connection

export SOAI_MCP_TOKEN='YOUR_MCP_TOKEN'
qwen mcp add --scope user --transport http \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $SOAI_MCP_TOKEN" \
  soai https://SOAI_HOST:5090/mcp
qwen mcp list

The add command writes the resolved header to the selected Qwen settings scope, so protect that file as a secret. Start Qwen Code in a trusted workspace, enter /mcp, and confirm that the interactive MCP dialog reports soai as connected and exposes its tools.

Troubleshooting

Trust the workspace through Qwen Code's normal trust prompt; do not globally disable workspace security. Model failures use the SoAI API key and /v1 URL, while MCP failures use the separate token and /mcp URL. For either TLS path, trust the server CA with NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS.

Related documentation