Use Your University's AI Gateway
Rename files with NameQuick through your university's or public administration's AI gateway, such as ELM (University of Edinburgh), Chat AI (GWDG Academic Cloud) or Albert API (France). Any OpenAI-compatible gateway works.
Many universities and public bodies run their own AI gateway: one address and one key that give staff and students access to models such as GPT, Qwen, Llama and Mistral under the institution's own data-protection terms. NameQuick works with these gateways. Your files go to your institution's gateway, and you pay nothing per rename to NameQuick.
Gateways NameQuick knows#
On Mac, NameQuick fills in the address of these gateways for you. You add your own key and pick a model.
| Gateway | Run by | For | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELM | University of Edinburgh (EDINA) | UK universities | https://elm.edina.ac.uk/api/v1 |
| Chat AI | GWDG / KISSKI, Academic Cloud | Researchers and staff at German universities | https://chat-ai.academiccloud.de/v1 |
| Albert API | DINUM / Etalab | French public administration | https://albert.api.etalab.gouv.fr/v1 |
Your gateway isn't listed? It works the same way if it speaks the OpenAI API, which almost all of them do (most run LiteLLM or vLLM). Ask your IT department for the address, usually ending in /v1, and enter it yourself.
Connect your gateway#
Open SettingsAI.
Choose Custom
Select Custom under Provider.
Pick your gateway
On Mac, choose your gateway under Gateway. NameQuick fills in the Base URL. For any other gateway, keep Other / your own server and paste the address your IT department gave you. On Windows, paste the address into Base URL.
Paste your key
Paste the API key from your gateway. NameQuick checks it with the gateway and saves it in the macOS Keychain or the Windows Credential Manager.
Pick a model
Choose a model from the list your gateway reports, or type its exact name. For photos, scans and PDFs, pick a model that can read images (for example GPT, Qwen-VL, Gemma or Mistral Small).
Try one file
Rename one test file and check the name before you run a whole folder.
Read PDFs as text#
Gateways limit how much one request may carry. By default NameQuick sends a PDF as a document, and as page images when the gateway can't take the document itself. Fifteen pages of images can reach 20 MB, which many gateways refuse with "This file is larger than your provider accepts in one request."
On Mac, set Read PDFs as to Text only under SettingsAI. NameQuick then sends only the text inside each PDF, which is usually a few hundred kilobytes. Use this when:
- your gateway refuses large PDFs, or
- the names don't match what's in the PDF. Some gateways quietly drop document attachments, and the model then guesses from the file name.
A scanned PDF has no text inside it. With Text only, NameQuick doesn't rename such a file and tells you why, rather than guessing. Switch back to PDF and images for scans.
Good to know#
- Your files go to the gateway, not to NameQuick. What leaves your computer is the same as with any own API key: extracted text, an image, or the file itself, sent only to the address you entered. See Privacy & Your Data.
- Reasoning models work. Some gateways serve models that "think" before they answer. NameQuick ignores the thinking and reads only the answer.
- Limits come from your gateway. If renaming pauses on a rate limit, your gateway allows only so many requests per minute. Run smaller batches or ask IT about your quota.
Common issues#
“This file is larger than your provider accepts in one request.”
Set Read PDFs as to Text only (see above), or pick a model your gateway allows larger requests for.
“NameQuick couldn’t use the model’s answer to suggest a name.”
The model's reply had no usable name, and nothing was renamed. Try another model on your gateway. If it keeps happening, copy the diagnostics from SettingsAbout and send them to support. They show what kind of reply came back, without your files or your key.
The key is refused
Check that you copied the whole key and that it belongs to this gateway. Some gateways issue keys per project or per course, and they can expire.
The model list is empty
Some gateways don't publish a model list. Type the model's exact name as your IT department or the gateway's documentation gives it.
For everything else, see Troubleshooting.