Bedrock for AI Coding Tools: Mantle vs Gateway vs LiteLLM — A Decision Guide for AWS Credit Burners

You have AWS credits. You want to use them on AI coding tools — OpenCode, Codex CLI, Claude Code, whatever. Amazon Bedrock has the models. But how do you actually connect them? There are three approaches, and picking the wrong one wastes time. Here's the decision guide I wish I had. All data in this post is as of March 2026. Model counts and API support may change — check amazonbedrockmodels.github.io for the latest. TL;DR Just want it to work? Mantle + OpenCode. Five minutes, zero infra. Need Claude models via OpenAI API? bedrock-access-gateway on Lambda. Need Claude Code specifically? LiteLLM. It's the only path. Codex CLI? Broken with all three. Wait for LiteLLM to fix a tool translation bug. The three paths One thing all three have in common: your API keys and code context stay within your AWS account or your own infrastructure. Third-party AI gateways exist (Bifrost, Portkey, etc.), but they require routing your Bedrock API keys and code context through someone else's servers. Sel