---
schema: 1
type: term
title: '**o1 mini**'
description: >-
  **o1 mini** is a smaller, faster variant of OpenAI's o1 reasoning model: it
  has less knowledge of the world than **o1 preview** but is notably better at
  **math and coding problems**[^4ef67c54-9505-5bc4-a565-9579a83f2827@268].
canonical: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/o1-mini-28b5209b971d'
markdown: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/o1-mini-28b5209b971d.md'
llms: null
parent: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt'
channel: everyinc
updated: '2026-10-23T22:12:35.346Z'
language: null
children: []
---


# \*\*o1 mini\*\*

Canonical: https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/o1-mini-28b5209b971d

Parent: [Channel index](https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt)

## Definition

**o1 mini** is a smaller, faster variant of OpenAI's o1 reasoning model: it has less knowledge of the world than **o1 preview** but is notably better at **math and coding problems**[^4ef67c54-9505-5bc4-a565-9579a83f2827@268].

**o1 mini** appears in this material as the *workhorse coding model* within OpenAI's o1 family — the smaller, faster sibling of **o1 preview**. Two videos show it in action and explain the choice[^20a397df-10fb-596f-826a-f54787502261@122][^4ef67c54-9505-5bc4-a565-9579a83f2827@41].The videos lay out a clear trade-off between the two o1 variants:In the Hermes demo — an SMS reading companion — the architecture assigns each model to its specialty: **GPT-4** handles image-to-text, **o1 preview** interprets the transcription, and **o1 mini** writes the code[^4ef67c54-9505-5bc4-a565-9579a83f2827@234]. The builder even feeds the models their own documentation when they don't know about newer capabilities[^4ef67c54-9505-5bc4-a565-9579a83f2827@302].When deciding which o1 model to use, the guidance from the material is:- **o1 mini** is the smaller, faster o1 model — a bit better at programming, but it knows less about the world.- Reach for it on **math and coding problems**; reach for **o1 preview** when questions need broad world knowledge.- In the Hermes build, o1 mini is deliberately assigned the **coding** step of the pipeline[^4ef67c54-9505-5bc4-a565-9579a83f2827@234].- Its speed makes it practical even when you can *do dumb stuff and still get this thing working really quick*[^4ef67c54-9505-5bc4-a565-9579a83f2827@585].