Providers
Anthropic
Anthropic builds the Claude model family. OpenClaw supports two auth routes:
- API key — direct Anthropic API access with usage-based billing (
anthropic/*models) - Claude CLI — reuse an existing Claude CLI login on the same host
Getting started
API key
Best for: standard API access and usage-based billing.
Get your API key
Create an API key in the Anthropic Console.
Run onboarding
openclaw onboard
# choose: Anthropic API key
Or pass the key directly:
openclaw onboard --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
Verify the model is available
openclaw models list --provider anthropic
Config example
{
env: { ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "sk-ant-..." },
agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" } } },
}
Claude CLI
Best for: reusing an existing Claude CLI login without a separate API key.
Ensure Claude CLI is installed and logged in
Verify with:
claude --version
Run onboarding
openclaw onboard
# choose: Claude CLI
OpenClaw detects and reuses the existing Claude CLI credentials.
Verify the model is available
openclaw models list --provider anthropic
Config example
Prefer the canonical Anthropic model ref plus a CLI runtime override:
{
agents: {
defaults: {
model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-7" },
agentRuntime: { id: "claude-cli" },
},
},
}
Legacy claude-cli/claude-opus-4-7 model refs still work for
compatibility, but new config should keep provider/model selection as
anthropic/* and put the execution backend in agentRuntime.id.
Thinking defaults (Claude 4.6)
Claude 4.6 models default to adaptive thinking in OpenClaw when no explicit thinking level is set.
Override per-message with /think:<level> or in model params:
{
agents: {
defaults: {
models: {
"anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
params: { thinking: "adaptive" },
},
},
},
},
}
Prompt caching
OpenClaw supports Anthropic's prompt caching feature for API-key auth.
| Value | Cache duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
"short" (default) |
5 minutes | Applied automatically for API-key auth |
"long" |
1 hour | Extended cache |
"none" |
No caching | Disable prompt caching |
{
agents: {
defaults: {
models: {
"anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
params: { cacheRetention: "long" },
},
},
},
},
}
Per-agent cache overrides
Use model-level params as your baseline, then override specific agents via agents.list[].params:
{
agents: {
defaults: {
model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" },
models: {
"anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
params: { cacheRetention: "long" },
},
},
},
list: [
{ id: "research", default: true },
{ id: "alerts", params: { cacheRetention: "none" } },
],
},
}
Config merge order:
agents.defaults.models["provider/model"].paramsagents.list[].params(matchingid, overrides by key)
This lets one agent keep a long-lived cache while another agent on the same model disables caching for bursty/low-reuse traffic.
Bedrock Claude notes
- Anthropic Claude models on Bedrock (
amazon-bedrock/*anthropic.claude*) acceptcacheRetentionpass-through when configured. - Non-Anthropic Bedrock models are forced to
cacheRetention: "none"at runtime. - API-key smart defaults also seed
cacheRetention: "short"for Claude-on-Bedrock refs when no explicit value is set.
Advanced configuration
Fast mode
OpenClaw's shared /fast toggle supports direct Anthropic traffic (API-key and OAuth to api.anthropic.com).
| Command | Maps to |
|---|---|
/fast on |
service_tier: "auto" |
/fast off |
service_tier: "standard_only" |
{
agents: {
defaults: {
models: {
"anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6": {
params: { fastMode: true },
},
},
},
},
}
Media understanding (image and PDF)
The bundled Anthropic plugin registers image and PDF understanding. OpenClaw auto-resolves media capabilities from the configured Anthropic auth — no additional config is needed.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Default model | claude-opus-4-7 |
| Supported input | Images, PDF documents |
When an image or PDF is attached to a conversation, OpenClaw automatically routes it through the Anthropic media understanding provider.
1M context window (beta)
Anthropic's 1M context window is beta-gated. Enable it per model:
{
agents: {
defaults: {
models: {
"anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
params: { context1m: true },
},
},
},
},
}
OpenClaw maps this to anthropic-beta: context-1m-2025-08-07 on requests.
params.context1m: true also applies to the Claude CLI backend
(claude-cli/*) for eligible Opus and Sonnet models, expanding the runtime
context window for those CLI sessions to match the direct-API behavior.
Claude Opus 4.7 1M context
anthropic/claude-opus-4.7 and its claude-cli variant have a 1M context
window by default — no params.context1m: true needed.
Troubleshooting
401 errors / token suddenly invalid
Anthropic token auth expires and can be revoked. For new setups, use an Anthropic API key instead.
No API key found for provider "anthropic"
Anthropic auth is per agent — new agents do not inherit the main agent's keys. Re-run onboarding for that agent (or configure an API key on the gateway host), then verify with openclaw models status.
No credentials found for profile "anthropic:default"
Run openclaw models status to see which auth profile is active. Re-run onboarding, or configure an API key for that profile path.
No available auth profile (all in cooldown)
Check openclaw models status --json for auth.unusableProfiles. Anthropic rate-limit cooldowns can be model-scoped, so a sibling Anthropic model may still be usable. Add another Anthropic profile or wait for cooldown.