---
summary: "Use NVIDIA's OpenAI-compatible API in OpenClaw"
read_when:
- You want to use open models in OpenClaw for free
- You need NVIDIA_API_KEY setup
- You want to use Nemotron 3 Ultra through NVIDIA
title: "NVIDIA"
---
NVIDIA provides an OpenAI-compatible API at `https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1` for
open models for free. Authenticate with an API key from
[build.nvidia.com](https://build.nvidia.com/settings/api-keys). OpenClaw
defaults the NVIDIA provider to Nemotron 3 Ultra, NVIDIA's 550B total / 55B
active reasoning model for long-context agentic work.
## Getting started
Create an API key at [build.nvidia.com](https://build.nvidia.com/settings/api-keys).
```bash
export NVIDIA_API_KEY="nvapi-..."
openclaw onboard --auth-choice nvidia-api-key
```
```bash
openclaw models set nvidia/nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
```
If you pass `--nvidia-api-key` instead of the env var, the value lands in shell
history and `ps` output. Prefer the `NVIDIA_API_KEY` environment variable when
possible.
For non-interactive setup, you can also pass the key directly:
```bash
openclaw onboard --auth-choice nvidia-api-key --nvidia-api-key "nvapi-..."
```
## Config example
```json5
{
env: { NVIDIA_API_KEY: "nvapi-..." },
models: {
providers: {
nvidia: {
baseUrl: "https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1",
api: "openai-completions",
},
},
},
agents: {
defaults: {
model: { primary: "nvidia/nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b" },
},
},
}
```
## Featured catalog
When an NVIDIA API key is configured, OpenClaw setup and model-selection paths
try NVIDIA's public featured-model catalog from
`https://assets.ngc.nvidia.com/products/api-catalog/featured-models.json` and
caches the ranked result for 24 hours. New featured models from build.nvidia.com
therefore appear in setup and model-selection surfaces without waiting for an
OpenClaw release. When the live feed is available, the first returned model is
the default option shown during NVIDIA setup.
The fetch uses a fixed HTTPS host policy for `assets.ngc.nvidia.com`. If no
NVIDIA API key is configured, or if that public catalog is unavailable or
malformed, OpenClaw falls back to the bundled catalog and bundled default below.
## Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra is the default NVIDIA model in OpenClaw. NVIDIA's build page for
[`nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b`](https://build.nvidia.com/nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b)
lists it as an available free endpoint with a 1M-token context specification.
The bundled catalog records a 16,384-token max output to match NVIDIA's current
OpenAI-compatible sample request for the hosted endpoint.
Use Ultra for the highest-capability NVIDIA default. Keep Super selected when
you want the smaller Nemotron 3 option, or choose one of the third-party models
hosted in NVIDIA's catalog when their context, latency, or behavior fits better.
The bundled Ultra row sends `chat_template_kwargs.enable_thinking: false` and
`force_nonempty_content: true` by default so normal chat output stays in the
visible answer instead of exposing reasoning text.
## Bundled fallback catalog
| Model ref | Name | Context | Max output | Notes |
| ------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------- | --------- | ---------- | --------------------------------- |
| `nvidia/nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b` | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B | 1,000,000 | 16,384 | Default |
| `nvidia/nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b` | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super 120B | 262,144 | 8,192 | Featured fallback |
| `nvidia/moonshotai/kimi-k2.5` | Kimi K2.5 | 262,144 | 8,192 | Featured fallback |
| `nvidia/minimaxai/minimax-m2.7` | Minimax M2.7 | 196,608 | 8,192 | Featured fallback |
| `nvidia/z-ai/glm-5.1` | GLM 5.1 | 202,752 | 8,192 | Featured fallback |
| `nvidia/minimaxai/minimax-m2.5` | MiniMax M2.5 | 196,608 | 8,192 | Deprecated, upgrade compatibility |
| `nvidia/z-ai/glm5` | GLM-5 | 202,752 | 8,192 | Deprecated, upgrade compatibility |
## Advanced configuration
The provider auto-enables when the `NVIDIA_API_KEY` environment variable is set.
No explicit provider config is required beyond the key.
OpenClaw prefers NVIDIA's public featured-model catalog when NVIDIA auth is
configured and caches it for 24 hours. The bundled fallback catalog is static
and keeps deprecated shipped refs for upgrade compatibility. Costs default
to `0` in source since NVIDIA currently offers free API access for the
listed models.
NVIDIA uses the standard `/v1` completions endpoint. Any OpenAI-compatible
tooling should work out of the box with the NVIDIA base URL.
NVIDIA's Ultra sample request uses `chat_template_kwargs.enable_thinking`
and `reasoning_budget` for reasoning output. OpenClaw's bundled Ultra row
disables template thinking by default for normal chat use. If you need to
opt into NVIDIA reasoning output or force other NVIDIA-specific request
fields, set per-model params and keep provider-specific overrides scoped to
the NVIDIA model:
```json5
{
agents: {
defaults: {
models: {
"nvidia/nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b": {
params: {
chat_template_kwargs: { enable_thinking: true },
extra_body: { reasoning_budget: 16384 },
},
},
},
},
},
}
```
`params.extra_body` is the final OpenAI-compatible request-body override, so
use it only for fields NVIDIA documents for the selected endpoint.
Some NVIDIA-hosted custom models can take longer than the default model idle
watchdog before they emit a first response chunk. For custom NVIDIA provider
entries, raise the provider timeout instead of raising the whole agent
runtime timeout:
```json5
{
models: {
providers: {
"custom-integrate-api-nvidia-com": {
baseUrl: "https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1",
api: "openai-completions",
apiKey: "NVIDIA_API_KEY",
timeoutSeconds: 300,
},
},
},
agents: {
defaults: {
models: {
"custom-integrate-api-nvidia-com/meta/llama-3.1-70b-instruct": {
params: { thinking: "off" },
},
},
},
},
}
```
NVIDIA models are currently free to use. Check
[build.nvidia.com](https://build.nvidia.com/) for the latest availability and
rate-limit details.
## Related
Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior.
Full config reference for agents, models, and providers.