diff --git a/intermodel/callgpt.py b/intermodel/callgpt.py
index 2b19cf6..2d91cb2 100755
--- a/intermodel/callgpt.py
+++ b/intermodel/callgpt.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
+import dataclasses
 import re
 import traceback
 import asyncio
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@
     stop=tenacity.stop_after_attempt(6),
 )
 async def complete(
-    model,
+    raw_model,
     prompt=None,
     temperature=None,
     top_p=None,
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ async def complete(
     vendor_config=None,
     **kwargs,
 ):
-    model = MODEL_ALIASES.get(model, model)
+    model = parse_model_string(MODEL_ALIASES.get(raw_model, raw_model)).model
     # todo: multiple completions, top k, logit bias for all vendors
     # todo: detect model not found on all vendors and throw the same exception
     if vendor is None:
@@ -314,7 +315,7 @@ async def complete(
         return {"prompt": {"text": prompt}, "completions": {}}
     elif vendor == "fake-local":
         return intermodel.callgpt_faker.fake_local(
-            model=model,
+            model=parse_model_string(raw_model).tokenize_as,
             vendor=vendor,
             prompt=prompt,
             max_tokens=max_tokens,
@@ -404,7 +405,7 @@ def complete_sync(*args, **kwargs):
 def tokenize(model: str, string: str) -> List[int]:
     import tiktoken
 
-    model = MODEL_ALIASES.get(model, model)
+    model = parse_model_string(MODEL_ALIASES.get(model, model)).tokenize_as
     try:
         vendor = pick_vendor(model)
     except NotImplementedError:
@@ -443,6 +444,27 @@ def tokenize(model: str, string: str) -> List[int]:
             return tokenizer.encode(string).ids
 
 
+@dataclasses.dataclass
+class Model:
+    model: str
+    tokenize_as: str
+    max_token_len: int
+
+
+def parse_model_string(model: str):
+    # returns: model, tokenization model, max token length
+    match = re.match(r"^(.+?)(?:\^(.+?))?(?:@(\d+))?$", model)
+    return Model(
+        model=match.group(1),
+        tokenize_as=match.group(2) or match.group(1),
+        max_token_len=(
+            int(match.group(3))
+            if match.group(3) is not None
+            else max_token_length_inner(model)
+        ),
+    )
+
+
 def count_tokens(model: str, string: str) -> int:
     return len(tokenize(model, string))
 
@@ -516,6 +538,10 @@ def pick_vendor(model, custom_config=None):
 
 
 def max_token_length(model):
+    return parse_model_string(model).max_token_len
+
+
+def max_token_length_inner(model):
     """
     The maximum number of tokens in the prompt and completion
     """
diff --git a/intermodel/test_model_string.py b/intermodel/test_model_string.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0cde034
--- /dev/null
+++ b/intermodel/test_model_string.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+from intermodel.callgpt import parse_model_string, Model, max_token_length_inner
+
+
+def test_plain():
+    assert parse_model_string("davinci-002") == Model(
+        "davinci-002", "davinci-002", max_token_length_inner("davinci-002")
+    )
+
+
+def test_both():
+    assert parse_model_string("davinci-002^davinci@32000") == Model(
+        "davinci-002", "davinci", 32000
+    )
+
+
+def test_tokenizer():
+    assert parse_model_string("davinci-002^davinci") == Model(
+        "davinci-002", "davinci", max_token_length_inner("davinci")
+    )
+
+
+def test_length():
+    assert parse_model_string("davinci-002@12") == Model(
+        "davinci-002", "davinci-0022", 12
+    )
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ff2ef82..70a2fc5 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "intermodel"
-version = "0.0.49"
+version = "0.0.50"
 dependencies = [
     "openai==0.28",
     "httpx",