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Prompt caching

This page covers all cache-related knobs that affect prompt reuse and token cost. For Anthropic pricing details, see: https://docs.anthropic.com/docs/build-with-claude/prompt-caching

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Primary knobs

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cacheRetention (model and per-agent)

Set cache retention on model params: 
agents:
  defaults:
    models:
      "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6":
        params:
          cacheRetention: "short" # none | short | long
Per-agent override: 
agents:
  list:
    - id: "alerts"
      params:
        cacheRetention: "none"
Config merge order:
  1. agents.defaults.models["provider/model"].params
  2. agents.list[].params (matching agent id; overrides by key)

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Legacy cacheControlTtl

Legacy values are still accepted and mapped:
  • 5m -> short
  • 1h -> long
Prefer cacheRetention for new config.

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contextPruning.mode: "cache-ttl"

Prunes old tool-result context after cache TTL windows so post-idle requests do not re-cache oversized history. 
agents:
  defaults:
    contextPruning:
      mode: "cache-ttl"
      ttl: "1h"
See Session Pruning for full behavior.

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Heartbeat keep-warm

Heartbeat can keep cache windows warm and reduce repeated cache writes after idle gaps. 
agents:
  defaults:
    heartbeat:
      every: "55m"
Per-agent heartbeat is supported at agents.list[].heartbeat.

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Provider behavior

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Anthropic (direct API)

  • cacheRetention is supported.
  • With Anthropic API-key auth profiles, OpenClaw seeds cacheRetention: "short" for Anthropic model refs when unset.

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Amazon Bedrock

  • Anthropic Claude model refs (amazon-bedrock/*anthropic.claude*) support explicit cacheRetention pass-through.
  • Non-Anthropic Bedrock models are forced to cacheRetention: "none" at runtime.

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OpenRouter Anthropic models

For openrouter/anthropic/* model refs, OpenClaw injects Anthropic cache_control on system/developer prompt blocks to improve prompt-cache reuse.

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Other providers

If the provider does not support this cache mode, cacheRetention has no effect.

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Tuning patterns

Keep a long-lived baseline on your main agent, disable caching on bursty notifier agents: 
agents:
  defaults:
    model:
      primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"
    models:
      "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6":
        params:
          cacheRetention: "long"
  list:
    - id: "research"
      default: true
      heartbeat:
        every: "55m"
    - id: "alerts"
      params:
        cacheRetention: "none"

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Cost-first baseline

  • Set baseline cacheRetention: "short".
  • Enable contextPruning.mode: "cache-ttl".
  • Keep heartbeat below your TTL only for agents that benefit from warm caches.

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Cache diagnostics

OpenClaw exposes dedicated cache-trace diagnostics for embedded agent runs.

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diagnostics.cacheTrace config

diagnostics:
  cacheTrace:
    enabled: true
    filePath: "~/.openclaw/logs/cache-trace.jsonl" # optional
    includeMessages: false # default true
    includePrompt: false # default true
    includeSystem: false # default true
Defaults:
  • filePath: $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/logs/cache-trace.jsonl
  • includeMessages: true
  • includePrompt: true
  • includeSystem: true

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Env toggles (one-off debugging)

  • OPENCLAW_CACHE_TRACE=1 enables cache tracing.
  • OPENCLAW_CACHE_TRACE_FILE=/path/to/cache-trace.jsonl overrides output path.
  • OPENCLAW_CACHE_TRACE_MESSAGES=0|1 toggles full message payload capture.
  • OPENCLAW_CACHE_TRACE_PROMPT=0|1 toggles prompt text capture.
  • OPENCLAW_CACHE_TRACE_SYSTEM=0|1 toggles system prompt capture.

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What to inspect

  • Cache trace events are JSONL and include staged snapshots like session:loaded, prompt:before, stream:context, and session:after.
  • Per-turn cache token impact is visible in normal usage surfaces via cacheRead and cacheWrite (for example /usage full and session usage summaries).

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Quick troubleshooting

  • High cacheWrite on most turns: check for volatile system-prompt inputs and verify model/provider supports your cache settings.
  • No effect from cacheRetention: confirm model key matches agents.defaults.models["provider/model"].
  • Bedrock Nova/Mistral requests with cache settings: expected runtime force to none.
Related docs: