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 Code 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 keyOr pass the key directly:
openclaw onboard --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"Verify the model is available
openclaw models list --provider anthropicConfig example
{ env: { ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "example-anthropic-key-not-real" }, agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-8" } } },}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 --versionRun onboarding
openclaw onboard# choose: Claude CLIOpenClaw detects and reuses the existing Claude CLI credentials.
Verify the model is available
openclaw models list --provider anthropicConfig example
Prefer the canonical Anthropic model ref plus a CLI runtime override:
{ agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-8" }, models: { "anthropic/claude-opus-4-8": { 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 provider/model runtime policy.
Billing and claude -p
OpenClaw uses Claude Code's non-interactive claude -p path for Claude CLI
runs. Anthropic currently treats that path as Agent SDK/programmatic usage:
- Until June 15, 2026, subscription-plan handling follows Anthropic's active Claude Code rules for the signed-in account.
- Starting June 15, 2026, subscription-plan
claude -pusage draws from the user's monthly Agent SDK credit first, then from usage credits at standard API rates if usage credits are enabled. - Console/API-key logins use pay-as-you-go API billing and do not receive the subscription Agent SDK credit.
Anthropic can change Claude Code billing and rate-limit behavior without an
OpenClaw release. Check claude auth status, /status, and
Anthropic's linked docs when billing predictability matters.
Thinking defaults (Claude Fable 5, 4.8, and 4.6)
anthropic/claude-fable-5 always uses adaptive thinking and defaults to high
effort. Because Anthropic does not allow thinking to be disabled for this model,
/think off and /think minimal use low effort. OpenClaw also omits custom
temperature values for Fable 5 requests.
Claude Opus 4.8 keeps thinking off by default in OpenClaw. When you explicitly enable adaptive thinking with /think high|xhigh|max, OpenClaw sends Anthropic's Opus 4.8 effort values; Claude 4.6 models default to adaptive.
Override per-message with /think:<level> or in model params:
{ agents: { defaults: { models: { "anthropic/claude-opus-4-8": { params: { thinking: "high" }, }, }, }, },}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-4-8 |
| 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
Anthropic's 1M context window is available on GA-capable Claude 4.x models such as Opus 4.8, Opus 4.7, Opus 4.6, and Sonnet 4.6. OpenClaw sizes those models at 1M automatically:
{ agents: { defaults: { models: { "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {}, }, }, },}Older configs can keep params.context1m: true, but OpenClaw no longer sends
the retired context-1m-2025-08-07 beta header. Older anthropicBeta config
entries with that value are ignored during request header resolution and
unsupported older Claude models stay on their normal context window.
params.context1m: true also applies to the Claude CLI backend
(claude-cli/*) for eligible GA-capable Opus and Sonnet models, preserving
the runtime context window for those CLI sessions to match the direct-API
behavior.
Claude Opus 4.8 1M context
anthropic/claude-opus-4-8 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.
