openclaw/docs/providers/cerebras.md

summary, title, read_when

summary	title	read_when
Cerebras setup (auth + model selection)	Cerebras	You want to use Cerebras with OpenClaw You need the Cerebras API key env var or CLI auth choice

Cerebras provides high-speed OpenAI-compatible inference on custom inference hardware. The plugin ships a static three-model catalog (no live discovery).

Property	Value
Provider id	cerebras
Plugin	official external package (@openclaw/cerebras-provider)
Auth env var	CEREBRAS_API_KEY
Onboarding flag	--auth-choice cerebras-api-key
Direct CLI flag	--cerebras-api-key <key>
API	OpenAI-compatible (openai-completions)
Base URL	https://api.cerebras.ai/v1
Default model	cerebras/gemma-4-31b

Install plugin

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/cerebras-provider
openclaw gateway restart

Getting started

Create an API key in the [Cerebras Cloud Console](https://cloud.cerebras.ai).

openclaw onboard --auth-choice cerebras-api-key

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --auth-choice cerebras-api-key \
  --cerebras-api-key "$CEREBRAS_API_KEY"

export CEREBRAS_API_KEY=csk-...

</CodeGroup>

```bash openclaw models list --provider cerebras ```

Lists all three static models. If `CEREBRAS_API_KEY` is unresolved, `openclaw models status --json` reports the missing credential under `auth.unusableProfiles`.

Non-interactive setup

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice cerebras-api-key \
  --cerebras-api-key "$CEREBRAS_API_KEY"

Built-in catalog

All three models have a 131,072-token context window and a 40,960-token max output.

Model ref	Name	Reasoning	Notes
cerebras/zai-glm-4.7	Z.ai GLM 4.7	yes	Scheduled for deprecation August 17, 2026
cerebras/gpt-oss-120b	GPT OSS 120B	yes	Production reasoning model
cerebras/gemma-4-31b	Gemma 4 31B	yes	Default; preview; text-and-image input

Fresh onboarding follows Cerebras's current Gemma 4 recommendation. Cerebras describes Gemma 4 31B as its reference medium-size model for equal-or-higher intelligence than GPT OSS, with multimodal agentic support. It is a public-preview model and may change or be discontinued on shorter notice than the production GPT OSS endpoint; existing OpenClaw configurations keep their selected model.

Manual config

Most setups only need the API key. Use explicit models.providers.cerebras config to override model metadata or run in mode: "merge" against the static catalog:

{
  env: { CEREBRAS_API_KEY: "csk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "cerebras/gemma-4-31b" },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      cerebras: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.cerebras.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${CEREBRAS_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          { id: "zai-glm-4.7", name: "Z.ai GLM 4.7" },
          { id: "gpt-oss-120b", name: "GPT OSS 120B" },
          { id: "gemma-4-31b", name: "Gemma 4 31B" },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

If the Gateway runs as a daemon (launchd, systemd, Docker), make sure `CEREBRAS_API_KEY` is available to that process — for example in `~/.openclaw/.env` or through `env.shellEnv`. A key exported only in an interactive shell will not help a managed service unless the env is imported separately.

Related

Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior. Reasoning effort levels for the Cerebras models. Agent defaults and model configuration. Auth profiles, switching models, and resolving "no profile" errors.