openclaw/docs/providers/inferrs.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Run OpenClaw through inferrs (OpenAI-compatible local server)	You want to run OpenClaw against a local inferrs server You are serving Gemma or another model through inferrs You need the exact OpenClaw compat flags for inferrs	Inferrs

inferrs serves local models behind an OpenAI-compatible /v1 API. OpenClaw talks to it through the generic openai-completions adapter.

Property	Value
Provider id	inferrs (custom; configure under models.providers.inferrs)
Plugin	none — not a bundled OpenClaw provider plugin
Auth env var	none required; any value works if your inferrs server has no auth
API	OpenAI-compatible (openai-completions)
Suggested base URL	http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1 (or wherever your inferrs server listens)

`inferrs` is a custom self-hosted OpenAI-compatible backend, not a dedicated OpenClaw provider plugin: you configure it under `models.providers.inferrs` instead of picking an onboarding auth choice. For a bundled plugin with auto-discovery, see [SGLang](/providers/sglang) or [vLLM](/providers/vllm).

Getting started

```bash inferrs serve google/gemma-4-E2B-it \ --host 127.0.0.1 \ --port 8080 \ --device metal ``` ```bash curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/health curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/models ``` Add an explicit provider entry and point your default model at it. See the config example below.

Full config example

Gemma 4 on a local inferrs server:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "inferrs/google/gemma-4-E2B-it" },
      models: {
        "inferrs/google/gemma-4-E2B-it": {
          alias: "Gemma 4 (inferrs)",
        },
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      inferrs: {
        baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1",
        apiKey: "inferrs-local",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "google/gemma-4-E2B-it",
            name: "Gemma 4 E2B (inferrs)",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 131072,
            maxTokens: 4096,
            compat: {
              requiresStringContent: true,
            },
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

On-demand startup

OpenClaw can start inferrs itself only when an inferrs/... model is selected. Add localService to the same provider entry:

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      inferrs: {
        baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1",
        apiKey: "inferrs-local",
        api: "openai-completions",
        timeoutSeconds: 300,
        localService: {
          command: "/opt/homebrew/bin/inferrs",
          args: [
            "serve",
            "google/gemma-4-E2B-it",
            "--host",
            "127.0.0.1",
            "--port",
            "8080",
            "--device",
            "metal",
          ],
          healthUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/models",
          readyTimeoutMs: 180000,
          idleStopMs: 0,
        },
        models: [
          {
            id: "google/gemma-4-E2B-it",
            name: "Gemma 4 E2B (inferrs)",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 131072,
            maxTokens: 4096,
            compat: {
              requiresStringContent: true,
            },
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

command must be an absolute path. Run which inferrs on the Gateway host and use that path. Full field reference: Local model services.

Advanced configuration

Some `inferrs` Chat Completions routes accept only string `messages[].content`, not structured content-part arrays.

<Warning>
If OpenClaw runs fail with:

```text
messages[1].content: invalid type: sequence, expected a string
```

set `compat.requiresStringContent: true` in the model entry. OpenClaw then flattens pure text content parts into plain strings before sending the request.
</Warning>

Some `inferrs` + Gemma combinations accept small direct `/v1/chat/completions` requests but fail on full OpenClaw agent-runtime turns. Try disabling the tool schema surface first:

```json5
compat: {
  requiresStringContent: true,
  supportsTools: false
}
```

That reduces prompt pressure on stricter local backends. If tiny direct requests still work but normal OpenClaw agent turns keep crashing inside `inferrs`, treat it as an upstream model/server limitation rather than an OpenClaw transport issue.

Test both layers once configured:

```bash
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"model":"google/gemma-4-E2B-it","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"What is 2 + 2?"}],"stream":false}'
```

```bash
openclaw infer model run \
  --model inferrs/google/gemma-4-E2B-it \
  --prompt "What is 2 + 2? Reply with one short sentence." \
  --json
```

If the first command works but the second fails, see Troubleshooting below.

Because `inferrs` uses the generic `openai-completions` adapter (not `openai-responses`), native-OpenAI-only request shaping never applies: no `service_tier`, no Responses `store`, no prompt-cache hints, and no OpenAI reasoning-compat payload shaping get sent.

Troubleshooting

`inferrs` is not running, not reachable, or not bound to the host/port you configured. Confirm the server is started and listening on that address. Set `compat.requiresStringContent: true` in the model entry (see above). Set `compat.supportsTools: false` to disable the tool schema surface (see the Gemma caveat above). If schema errors are gone but `inferrs` still crashes on larger agent turns, treat it as an upstream `inferrs` or model limitation. Reduce prompt pressure or switch backend/model. For general help, see [Troubleshooting](/help/troubleshooting) and [FAQ](/help/faq).

Related

Running OpenClaw against local model servers. Starting local model servers on demand for configured providers. Debugging local OpenAI-compatible backends that pass probes but fail agent runs. Overview of all providers, model refs, and failover behavior.