What I Changed After DeepSeek Went Down for Nearly 5 Hours (cc-switch alternative)

Description and use

Implementing the ServBay local gateway enabled automatic channel failover, eliminating manual config changes during DeepSeek outages.

Problem

An AI service outage caused repeated manual configuration changes and halted work.

Outcome

Work resumed without manual configuration changes; outages now trigger automatic failover to backup channels.

Workflow

• Add provider key to ServBay (encrypted locally).
• Issue virtual keys per project or tool.
• Point each tool’s base URL to the ServBay gateway. (Optional) Add backup channels for the same model and enable failover routing. Run connectivity tests to confirm backup usability.

Evidence

All tools go through the same local entry point, so switching a model or a channel no longer means editing each tool's config.

Source

The part that does not scale… Switching channels means changing configuration, and once that is done there is still the job of remembering to change it back.

Source

Failover only applies between channels that can serve the same model, and different models are never mixed.

Source