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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openclaw.ai/llms.txt

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tools.* config keys and custom provider / base-URL setup. For agents, channels, and other top-level config keys, see Configuration reference.

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Tools

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Tool profiles

tools.profile sets a base allowlist before tools.allow/tools.deny:
Local onboarding defaults new local configs to tools.profile: "coding" when unset (existing explicit profiles are preserved).
ProfileIncludes
minimalsession_status only
codinggroup:fs, group:runtime, group:web, group:sessions, group:memory, cron, image, image_generate, video_generate
messaginggroup:messaging, sessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send, session_status
fullNo restriction (same as unset)

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Tool groups

GroupTools
group:runtimeexec, process, code_execution (bash is accepted as an alias for exec)
group:fsread, write, edit, apply_patch
group:sessionssessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send, sessions_spawn, sessions_yield, subagents, session_status
group:memorymemory_search, memory_get
group:webweb_search, x_search, web_fetch
group:uibrowser, canvas
group:automationheartbeat_respond, cron, gateway
group:messagingmessage
group:nodesnodes
group:agentsagents_list, update_plan
group:mediaimage, image_generate, music_generate, video_generate, tts
group:openclawAll built-in tools (excludes provider plugins)

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tools.allow / tools.deny

Global tool allow/deny policy (deny wins). Case-insensitive, supports * wildcards. Applied even when Docker sandbox is off. 
{
  tools: { deny: ["browser", "canvas"] },
}
write and apply_patch are separate tool ids. allow: ["write"] also enables apply_patch for compatible models, but deny: ["write"] does not deny apply_patch. To block all file mutation, deny group:fs or list each mutating tool explicitly: 
{
  tools: { deny: ["write", "edit", "apply_patch"] },
}

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tools.byProvider

Further restrict tools for specific providers or models. Order: base profile → provider profile → allow/deny. 
{
  tools: {
    profile: "coding",
    byProvider: {
      "google-antigravity": { profile: "minimal" },
      "openai/gpt-5.4": { allow: ["group:fs", "sessions_list"] },
    },
  },
}

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tools.toolsBySender

Restricts tools for a specific requester identity. This is defense-in-depth on top of channel access control; sender values must come from the channel adapter, not message text. 
{
  tools: {
    toolsBySender: {
      "channel:discord:1234567890123": { alsoAllow: ["group:fs"] },
      "id:guest-user-id": { deny: ["group:runtime", "group:fs"] },
      "*": { deny: ["exec", "process", "write", "edit", "apply_patch"] },
    },
  },
}
Keys use explicit prefixes: channel:<channelId>:<senderId>, id:<senderId>, e164:<phone>, username:<handle>, name:<displayName>, or "*". Channel ids are canonical OpenClaw ids; aliases such as teams normalize to msteams. Legacy unprefixed keys are accepted as id: only. Matching order is channel+id, id, e164, username, name, then wildcard. Per-agent agents.list[].tools.toolsBySender overrides the global sender match when it matches, even with an empty {} policy.

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tools.elevated

Controls elevated exec access outside the sandbox: 
{
  tools: {
    elevated: {
      enabled: true,
      allowFrom: {
        whatsapp: ["+15555550123"],
        discord: ["1234567890123", "987654321098765432"],
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Per-agent override (agents.list[].tools.elevated) can only further restrict.
  • /elevated on|off|ask|full stores state per session; inline directives apply to single message.
  • Elevated exec bypasses sandboxing and uses the configured escape path (gateway by default, or node when the exec target is node).

​
tools.exec

{
  tools: {
    exec: {
      backgroundMs: 10000,
      timeoutSec: 1800,
      cleanupMs: 1800000,
      notifyOnExit: true,
      notifyOnExitEmptySuccess: false,
      commandHighlighting: false,
      applyPatch: {
        enabled: false,
        allowModels: ["gpt-5.5"],
      },
    },
  },
}

​
tools.loopDetection

Tool-loop safety checks are disabled by default. Set enabled: true to activate detection. Settings can be defined globally in tools.loopDetection and overridden per-agent at agents.list[].tools.loopDetection. 
{
  tools: {
    loopDetection: {
      enabled: true,
      historySize: 30,
      warningThreshold: 10,
      criticalThreshold: 20,
      globalCircuitBreakerThreshold: 30,
      detectors: {
        genericRepeat: true,
        knownPollNoProgress: true,
        pingPong: true,
      },
    },
  },
}
​
historySize
number
Max tool-call history retained for loop analysis.
​
warningThreshold
number
Repeating no-progress pattern threshold for warnings.
​
criticalThreshold
number
Higher repeating threshold for blocking critical loops.
​
globalCircuitBreakerThreshold
number
Hard stop threshold for any no-progress run.
​
detectors.genericRepeat
boolean
Warn on repeated same-tool/same-args calls.
​
detectors.knownPollNoProgress
boolean
Warn/block on known poll tools (process.poll, command_status, etc.).
​
detectors.pingPong
boolean
Warn/block on alternating no-progress pair patterns.
If warningThreshold >= criticalThreshold or criticalThreshold >= globalCircuitBreakerThreshold, validation fails.

​
tools.web

{
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        enabled: true,
        apiKey: "brave_api_key", // or BRAVE_API_KEY env
        maxResults: 5,
        timeoutSeconds: 30,
        cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
      },
      fetch: {
        enabled: true,
        provider: "firecrawl", // optional; omit for auto-detect
        maxChars: 50000,
        maxCharsCap: 50000,
        maxResponseBytes: 2000000,
        timeoutSeconds: 30,
        cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
        maxRedirects: 3,
        readability: true,
        userAgent: "custom-ua",
      },
    },
  },
}

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tools.media

Configures inbound media understanding (image/audio/video): 
{
  tools: {
    media: {
      concurrency: 2,
      asyncCompletion: {
        directSend: false, // deprecated: completions stay agent-mediated
      },
      audio: {
        enabled: true,
        maxBytes: 20971520,
        scope: {
          default: "deny",
          rules: [{ action: "allow", match: { chatType: "direct" } }],
        },
        models: [
          { provider: "openai", model: "gpt-4o-mini-transcribe" },
          { type: "cli", command: "whisper", args: ["--model", "base", "{{MediaPath}}"] },
        ],
      },
      image: {
        enabled: true,
        timeoutSeconds: 180,
        models: [{ provider: "ollama", model: "gemma4:26b", timeoutSeconds: 300 }],
      },
      video: {
        enabled: true,
        maxBytes: 52428800,
        models: [{ provider: "google", model: "gemini-3-flash-preview" }],
      },
    },
  },
}
Provider entry (type: "provider" or omitted):
  • provider: API provider id (openai, anthropic, google/gemini, groq, etc.)
  • model: model id override
  • profile / preferredProfile: auth-profiles.json profile selection
CLI entry (type: "cli"):
  • command: executable to run
  • args: templated args (supports {{MediaPath}}, {{Prompt}}, {{MaxChars}}, etc.; openclaw doctor --fix migrates deprecated {input} placeholders to {{MediaPath}})
Common fields:
  • capabilities: optional list (image, audio, video). Defaults: openai/anthropic/minimax → image, google → image+audio+video, groq → audio.
  • prompt, maxChars, maxBytes, timeoutSeconds, language: per-entry overrides.
  • tools.media.image.timeoutSeconds and matching image model timeoutSeconds entries also apply when the agent calls the explicit image tool.
  • Failures fall back to the next entry.
Provider auth follows standard order: auth-profiles.json → env vars → models.providers.*.apiKey.Async completion fields:
  • asyncCompletion.directSend: deprecated compatibility flag. Completed async media tasks stay requester-session mediated so the agent receives the result, decides how to tell the user, and uses the message tool when source delivery requires it.

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tools.agentToAgent

{
  tools: {
    agentToAgent: {
      enabled: false,
      allow: ["home", "work"],
    },
  },
}

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tools.sessions

Controls which sessions can be targeted by the session tools (sessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send). Default: tree (current session + sessions spawned by it, such as subagents). 
{
  tools: {
    sessions: {
      // "self" | "tree" | "agent" | "all"
      visibility: "tree",
    },
  },
}
  • self: only the current session key.
  • tree: current session + sessions spawned by the current session (subagents).
  • agent: any session belonging to the current agent id (can include other users if you run per-sender sessions under the same agent id).
  • all: any session. Cross-agent targeting still requires tools.agentToAgent.
  • Sandbox clamp: when the current session is sandboxed and agents.defaults.sandbox.sessionToolsVisibility="spawned", visibility is forced to tree even if tools.sessions.visibility="all".

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tools.sessions_spawn

Controls inline attachment support for sessions_spawn. 
{
  tools: {
    sessions_spawn: {
      attachments: {
        enabled: false, // opt-in: set true to allow inline file attachments
        maxTotalBytes: 5242880, // 5 MB total across all files
        maxFiles: 50,
        maxFileBytes: 1048576, // 1 MB per file
        retainOnSessionKeep: false, // keep attachments when cleanup="keep"
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Attachments are only supported for runtime: "subagent". ACP runtime rejects them.
  • Files are materialized into the child workspace at .openclaw/attachments/<uuid>/ with a .manifest.json.
  • Attachment content is automatically redacted from transcript persistence.
  • Base64 inputs are validated with strict alphabet/padding checks and a pre-decode size guard.
  • File permissions are 0700 for directories and 0600 for files.
  • Cleanup follows the cleanup policy: delete always removes attachments; keep retains them only when retainOnSessionKeep: true.

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tools.experimental

Experimental built-in tool flags. Default off unless a strict-agentic GPT-5 auto-enable rule applies. 
{
  tools: {
    experimental: {
      planTool: true, // enable experimental update_plan
    },
  },
}
  • planTool: enables the structured update_plan tool for non-trivial multi-step work tracking.
  • Default: false unless agents.defaults.embeddedPi.executionContract (or a per-agent override) is set to "strict-agentic" for an OpenAI or OpenAI Codex GPT-5-family run. Set true to force the tool on outside that scope, or false to keep it off even for strict-agentic GPT-5 runs.
  • When enabled, the system prompt also adds usage guidance so the model only uses it for substantial work and keeps at most one step in_progress.

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agents.defaults.subagents

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      subagents: {
        allowAgents: ["research"],
        model: "minimax/MiniMax-M2.7",
        maxConcurrent: 8,
        runTimeoutSeconds: 900,
        announceTimeoutMs: 120000,
        archiveAfterMinutes: 60,
      },
    },
  },
}
  • model: default model for spawned sub-agents. If omitted, sub-agents inherit the caller’s model.
  • allowAgents: default allowlist of target agent ids for sessions_spawn when the requester agent does not set its own subagents.allowAgents (["*"] = any; default: same agent only).
  • runTimeoutSeconds: default timeout (seconds) for sessions_spawn when the tool call omits runTimeoutSeconds. 0 means no timeout.
  • announceTimeoutMs: per-call timeout (milliseconds) for gateway agent announce delivery attempts. Default: 120000. Transient retries can make the total announce wait longer than one configured timeout.
  • Per-subagent tool policy: tools.subagents.tools.allow / tools.subagents.tools.deny.

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Custom providers and base URLs

OpenClaw uses the built-in model catalog. Add custom providers via models.providers in config or ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/models.json. 
{
  models: {
    mode: "merge", // merge (default) | replace
    providers: {
      "custom-proxy": {
        baseUrl: "http://localhost:4000/v1",
        apiKey: "LITELLM_KEY",
        api: "openai-completions", // openai-completions | openai-responses | anthropic-messages | google-generative-ai
        models: [
          {
            id: "llama-3.1-8b",
            name: "Llama 3.1 8B",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 128000,
            contextTokens: 96000,
            maxTokens: 32000,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Use authHeader: true + headers for custom auth needs.
  • Override agent config root with OPENCLAW_AGENT_DIR (or PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR, a legacy environment variable alias).
  • Merge precedence for matching provider IDs:
    • Non-empty agent models.json baseUrl values win.
    • Non-empty agent apiKey values win only when that provider is not SecretRef-managed in current config/auth-profile context.
    • SecretRef-managed provider apiKey values are refreshed from source markers (ENV_VAR_NAME for env refs, secretref-managed for file/exec refs) instead of persisting resolved secrets.
    • SecretRef-managed provider header values are refreshed from source markers (secretref-env:ENV_VAR_NAME for env refs, secretref-managed for file/exec refs).
    • Empty or missing agent apiKey/baseUrl fall back to models.providers in config.
    • Matching model contextWindow/maxTokens use the higher value between explicit config and implicit catalog values.
    • Matching model contextTokens preserves an explicit runtime cap when present; use it to limit effective context without changing native model metadata.
    • Use models.mode: "replace" when you want config to fully rewrite models.json.
    • Marker persistence is source-authoritative: markers are written from the active source config snapshot (pre-resolution), not from resolved runtime secret values.

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Provider field details

  • models.mode: provider catalog behavior (merge or replace).
  • models.providers: custom provider map keyed by provider id.
    • Safe edits: use openclaw config set models.providers.<id> '<json>' --strict-json --merge or openclaw config set models.providers.<id>.models '<json-array>' --strict-json --merge for additive updates. config set refuses destructive replacements unless you pass --replace.
  • models.providers.*.api: request adapter (openai-completions, openai-responses, anthropic-messages, google-generative-ai, etc). For self-hosted /v1/chat/completions backends such as MLX, vLLM, SGLang, and most OpenAI-compatible local servers, use openai-completions. A custom provider with baseUrl but no api defaults to openai-completions; set openai-responses only when the backend supports /v1/responses.
  • models.providers.*.apiKey: provider credential (prefer SecretRef/env substitution).
  • models.providers.*.auth: auth strategy (api-key, token, oauth, aws-sdk).
  • models.providers.*.contextWindow: default native context window for models under this provider when the model entry does not set contextWindow.
  • models.providers.*.contextTokens: default effective runtime context cap for models under this provider when the model entry does not set contextTokens.
  • models.providers.*.maxTokens: default output-token cap for models under this provider when the model entry does not set maxTokens.
  • models.providers.*.timeoutSeconds: optional per-provider model HTTP request timeout in seconds, including connect, headers, body, and total request abort handling.
  • models.providers.*.injectNumCtxForOpenAICompat: for Ollama + openai-completions, inject options.num_ctx into requests (default: true).
  • models.providers.*.authHeader: force credential transport in the Authorization header when required.
  • models.providers.*.baseUrl: upstream API base URL.
  • models.providers.*.headers: extra static headers for proxy/tenant routing.
models.providers.*.request: transport overrides for model-provider HTTP requests.
  • request.headers: extra headers (merged with provider defaults). Values accept SecretRef.
  • request.auth: auth strategy override. Modes: "provider-default" (use provider’s built-in auth), "authorization-bearer" (with token), "header" (with headerName, value, optional prefix).
  • request.proxy: HTTP proxy override. Modes: "env-proxy" (use HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY env vars), "explicit-proxy" (with url). Both modes accept an optional tls sub-object.
  • request.tls: TLS override for direct connections. Fields: ca, cert, key, passphrase (all accept SecretRef), serverName, insecureSkipVerify.
  • request.allowPrivateNetwork: when true, allow HTTPS to baseUrl when DNS resolves to private, CGNAT, or similar ranges, via the provider HTTP fetch guard (operator opt-in for trusted self-hosted OpenAI-compatible endpoints). Loopback model-provider stream URLs such as localhost, 127.0.0.1, and [::1] are allowed automatically unless this is explicitly set to false; LAN, tailnet, and private DNS hosts still require opt-in. WebSocket uses the same request for headers/TLS but not that fetch SSRF gate. Default false.
  • models.providers.*.models: explicit provider model catalog entries.
  • models.providers.*.models.*.input: model input modalities. Use ["text"] for text-only models and ["text", "image"] for native image/vision models. Image attachments are only injected into agent turns when the selected model is marked image-capable.
  • models.providers.*.models.*.contextWindow: native model context window metadata. This overrides provider-level contextWindow for that model.
  • models.providers.*.models.*.contextTokens: optional runtime context cap. This overrides provider-level contextTokens; use it when you want a smaller effective context budget than the model’s native contextWindow; openclaw models list shows both values when they differ.
  • models.providers.*.models.*.compat.supportsDeveloperRole: optional compatibility hint. For api: "openai-completions" with a non-empty non-native baseUrl (host not api.openai.com), OpenClaw forces this to false at runtime. Empty/omitted baseUrl keeps default OpenAI behavior.
  • models.providers.*.models.*.compat.requiresStringContent: optional compatibility hint for string-only OpenAI-compatible chat endpoints. When true, OpenClaw flattens pure text messages[].content arrays into plain strings before sending the request.
  • models.providers.*.models.*.compat.strictMessageKeys: optional compatibility hint for strict OpenAI-compatible chat endpoints. When true, OpenClaw strips outgoing Chat Completions message objects to role and content before sending the request.
  • models.providers.*.models.*.compat.thinkingFormat: optional thinking payload hint. Use "qwen" for top-level enable_thinking, or "qwen-chat-template" for chat_template_kwargs.enable_thinking on Qwen-family OpenAI-compatible servers that support request-level chat-template kwargs, such as vLLM.
  • plugins.entries.amazon-bedrock.config.discovery: Bedrock auto-discovery settings root.
  • plugins.entries.amazon-bedrock.config.discovery.enabled: turn implicit discovery on/off.
  • plugins.entries.amazon-bedrock.config.discovery.region: AWS region for discovery.
  • plugins.entries.amazon-bedrock.config.discovery.providerFilter: optional provider-id filter for targeted discovery.
  • plugins.entries.amazon-bedrock.config.discovery.refreshInterval: polling interval for discovery refresh.
  • plugins.entries.amazon-bedrock.config.discovery.defaultContextWindow: fallback context window for discovered models.
  • plugins.entries.amazon-bedrock.config.discovery.defaultMaxTokens: fallback max output tokens for discovered models.
Interactive custom-provider onboarding infers image input for common vision model IDs such as GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, Qwen-VL, LLaVA, Pixtral, InternVL, Mllama, MiniCPM-V, and GLM-4V, and skips the extra question for known text-only families. Unknown model IDs still prompt for image support. Non-interactive onboarding uses the same inference; pass --custom-image-input to force image-capable metadata or --custom-text-input to force text-only metadata.

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Provider examples

The bundled cerebras provider plugin can configure this via openclaw onboard --auth-choice cerebras-api-key. Use explicit provider config only when overriding defaults.
{
  env: { CEREBRAS_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary: "cerebras/zai-glm-4.7",
        fallbacks: ["cerebras/gpt-oss-120b"],
      },
      models: {
        "cerebras/zai-glm-4.7": { alias: "GLM 4.7 (Cerebras)" },
        "cerebras/gpt-oss-120b": { alias: "GPT OSS 120B (Cerebras)" },
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      cerebras: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.cerebras.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${CEREBRAS_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          { id: "zai-glm-4.7", name: "GLM 4.7 (Cerebras)" },
          { id: "gpt-oss-120b", name: "GPT OSS 120B (Cerebras)" },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}
Use cerebras/zai-glm-4.7 for Cerebras; zai/glm-4.7 for Z.AI direct.
{
  env: { KIMI_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "kimi/kimi-for-coding" },
      models: { "kimi/kimi-for-coding": { alias: "Kimi Code" } },
    },
  },
}
Anthropic-compatible, built-in provider. Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice kimi-code-api-key.
See Local Models. TL;DR: run a large local model via LM Studio Responses API on serious hardware; keep hosted models merged for fallback.
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "minimax/MiniMax-M2.7" },
      models: {
        "minimax/MiniMax-M2.7": { alias: "Minimax" },
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      minimax: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.minimax.io/anthropic",
        apiKey: "${MINIMAX_API_KEY}",
        api: "anthropic-messages",
        models: [
          {
            id: "MiniMax-M2.7",
            name: "MiniMax M2.7",
            reasoning: true,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0.3, output: 1.2, cacheRead: 0.06, cacheWrite: 0.375 },
            contextWindow: 204800,
            maxTokens: 131072,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}
Set MINIMAX_API_KEY. Shortcuts: openclaw onboard --auth-choice minimax-global-api or openclaw onboard --auth-choice minimax-cn-api. The model catalog defaults to M2.7 only. On the Anthropic-compatible streaming path, OpenClaw disables MiniMax thinking by default unless you explicitly set thinking yourself. /fast on or params.fastMode: true rewrites MiniMax-M2.7 to MiniMax-M2.7-highspeed.
{
  env: { MOONSHOT_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "moonshot/kimi-k2.6" },
      models: { "moonshot/kimi-k2.6": { alias: "Kimi K2.6" } },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      moonshot: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.moonshot.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${MOONSHOT_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "kimi-k2.6",
            name: "Kimi K2.6",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text", "image"],
            cost: { input: 0.95, output: 4, cacheRead: 0.16, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 262144,
            maxTokens: 262144,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}
For the China endpoint: baseUrl: "https://api.moonshot.cn/v1" or openclaw onboard --auth-choice moonshot-api-key-cn.Native Moonshot endpoints advertise streaming usage compatibility on the shared openai-completions transport, and OpenClaw keys that off endpoint capabilities rather than the built-in provider id alone.
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "opencode/claude-opus-4-6" },
      models: { "opencode/claude-opus-4-6": { alias: "Opus" } },
    },
  },
}
Set OPENCODE_API_KEY (or OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY). Use opencode/... refs for the Zen catalog or opencode-go/... refs for the Go catalog. Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice opencode-zen or openclaw onboard --auth-choice opencode-go.
{
  env: { SYNTHETIC_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "synthetic/hf:MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.5" },
      models: { "synthetic/hf:MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.5": { alias: "MiniMax M2.5" } },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      synthetic: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.synthetic.new/anthropic",
        apiKey: "${SYNTHETIC_API_KEY}",
        api: "anthropic-messages",
        models: [
          {
            id: "hf:MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.5",
            name: "MiniMax M2.5",
            reasoning: true,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 192000,
            maxTokens: 65536,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}
Base URL should omit /v1 (Anthropic client appends it). Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice synthetic-api-key.
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "zai/glm-4.7" },
      models: { "zai/glm-4.7": {} },
    },
  },
}
Set ZAI_API_KEY. z.ai/* and z-ai/* are accepted aliases. Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-api-key.
  • General endpoint: https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4
  • Coding endpoint (default): https://api.z.ai/api/coding/paas/v4
  • For the general endpoint, define a custom provider with the base URL override.