Groq

Groq provides ultra-fast inference on open-weight models (Llama, Gemma, Kimi, Qwen, GPT OSS, and more) using custom LPU hardware. OpenClaw includes a bundled Groq plugin that registers both an OpenAI-compatible chat provider and an audio media-understanding provider.

Getting started

openclaw onboard --auth-choice groq-api-key

export GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_...

{  agents: {    defaults: {      model: { primary: "groq/llama-3.3-70b-versatile" },    },  },}

openclaw models list --provider groq

Config file example

{  env: { GROQ_API_KEY: "gsk_..." },  agents: {    defaults: {      model: { primary: "groq/llama-3.3-70b-versatile" },    },  },}

Built-in catalog

OpenClaw ships a manifest-backed Groq catalog with both reasoning and non-reasoning entries. Run openclaw models list --provider groq to see the bundled rows for your installed version, or check console.groq.com/docs/models for Groq's authoritative list.

Reasoning models

OpenClaw maps its shared /think levels to Groq's model-specific reasoning_effort values:

• For qwen/qwen3-32b, disabled thinking sends none and enabled thinking sends default.
• For Groq GPT OSS reasoning models (openai/gpt-oss-*), OpenClaw sends low, medium, or high based on /think level. Disabled thinking omits reasoning_effort because those models do not support a disabled value.
• DeepSeek R1 Distill, Qwen QwQ, and Compound use Groq's native reasoning surface; /think controls visibility but the model always reasons.

See Thinking modes for the shared /think levels and how OpenClaw translates them per provider.

Audio transcription

Groq's bundled plugin also registers an audio media-understanding provider so voice messages can be transcribed through the shared tools.media.audio surface.

To make Groq the default audio backend:

{  tools: {    media: {      audio: {        models: [{ provider: "groq" }],      },    },  },}

{  agents: {    defaults: {      model: { primary: "groq/<your-model-id>" },    },  },}

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