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openclaw/docs/auth-credential-semantics.md
Peter Steinberger f7d7148cf0 docs: rewrite published docs grounded in current source (#100142)
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Closes #100141
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---
summary: "Canonical credential eligibility and resolution semantics for auth profiles"
title: "Auth credential semantics"
read_when:
- Working on auth profile resolution or credential routing
- Debugging model auth failures or profile order
---
These semantics keep selection-time and runtime auth behavior aligned. They are shared by:
- `resolveAuthProfileOrder` (profile ordering)
- `resolveApiKeyForProfile` (runtime credential resolution)
- `openclaw models status --probe`
- `openclaw doctor` auth checks (`doctor-auth`)
## Stable probe reason codes
Probe results carry a `status` bucket (`ok`, `auth`, `rate_limit`, `billing`, `timeout`, `format`, `unknown`, `no_model`) plus a stable `reasonCode` when the probe never reached a model call:
| `reasonCode` | Meaning |
| ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `excluded_by_auth_order` | Profile omitted from the explicit auth order for its provider. |
| `missing_credential` | No inline credential or SecretRef is configured. |
| `expired` | Token `expires` is in the past. |
| `invalid_expires` | `expires` is not a valid positive Unix ms timestamp. |
| `unresolved_ref` | Configured SecretRef could not be resolved. |
| `ineligible_profile` | Profile is incompatible with provider config (includes malformed key input). |
| `no_model` | Credentials exist but no probeable model candidate resolved. |
Eligibility checks report `ok` as the reason code for usable credentials.
## Token credentials
Token credentials (`type: "token"`) support inline `token` and/or `tokenRef`.
### Eligibility rules
1. A token profile is ineligible when both `token` and `tokenRef` are absent (`missing_credential`).
2. `expires` is optional. When present it must be a finite number of Unix epoch milliseconds greater than `0` and no larger than the maximum JavaScript `Date` timestamp (8640000000000000).
3. If `expires` is invalid (wrong type, `NaN`, `0`, negative, non-finite, or beyond that maximum), the profile is ineligible with `invalid_expires`.
4. If `expires` is in the past, the profile is ineligible with `expired`.
5. `tokenRef` does not bypass `expires` validation.
### Resolution rules
1. Resolver semantics match eligibility semantics for `expires`.
2. For eligible profiles, token material may be resolved from the inline value or `tokenRef`.
3. Unresolvable refs produce `unresolved_ref` in `models status --probe` output.
## Agent copy portability
Agent auth inheritance is read-through. When an agent has no local profile, it resolves profiles from the default/main agent store at runtime without copying secret material into its own credential store (`agents/<agentId>/agent/openclaw-agent.sqlite`).
Explicit copy flows, such as `openclaw agents add`, use this portability policy:
- `api_key` and `token` profiles are portable unless `copyToAgents: false`.
- `oauth` profiles are not portable by default because refresh tokens can be single-use or rotation-sensitive.
- Provider-owned OAuth flows may opt in with `copyToAgents: true` only when copying refresh material across agents is known safe; the opt-in only applies when the profile carries inline access/refresh material.
Non-portable profiles remain available through read-through inheritance unless the target agent signs in separately and creates its own local profile.
## Config-only auth routes
`auth.profiles` entries with `mode: "aws-sdk"` are routing metadata, not stored credentials. They are valid when the target provider uses `models.providers.<id>.auth: "aws-sdk"`, the route the plugin-owned Amazon Bedrock setup writes. These profile ids may appear in `auth.order` and session overrides even when no matching entry exists in the credential store.
Do not write `type: "aws-sdk"` into the credential store; stored credentials are only `api_key`, `token`, or `oauth`. If a legacy `auth-profiles.json` has such a marker, `openclaw doctor --fix` moves it to `auth.profiles` and removes the marker from the store.
## Explicit auth order filtering
- When `auth.order.<provider>` or the auth-store order override is set for a provider, `models status --probe` only probes profile ids that remain in the resolved auth order for that provider. The stored override wins over `auth.order` config.
- A stored profile for that provider that is omitted from the explicit order is not silently tried later. Probe output reports it with `reasonCode: excluded_by_auth_order` and the detail `Excluded by auth.order for this provider.`
## Probe target resolution
- Probe targets can come from auth profiles, environment credentials, or `models.json` (result `source`: `profile`, `env`, `models.json`).
- If a provider has credentials but OpenClaw cannot resolve a probeable model candidate for it, `models status --probe` reports `status: no_model` with `reasonCode: no_model`.
## External CLI credential discovery
- Runtime-only credentials owned by external CLIs (Claude CLI for `claude-cli`, Codex CLI for `openai`, MiniMax CLI for `minimax-portal`) are discovered only when the provider, runtime, or auth profile is in scope for the current operation, or when a stored local profile for that external source already exists.
- Auth-store callers choose an explicit external-CLI discovery mode: `none` for persisted/plugin auth only, `existing` for refreshing already stored external CLI profiles, or `scoped` for a concrete provider/profile set.
- Read-only/status paths pass `allowKeychainPrompt: false`; they use file-backed external CLI credentials only and do not read or reuse macOS Keychain results.
## OAuth SecretRef Policy Guard
SecretRef input is for static credentials only. OAuth credentials are runtime-mutable (refresh flows persist rotated tokens), so SecretRef-backed OAuth material would split mutable state across stores.
- If a profile credential is `type: "oauth"`, SecretRef objects are rejected for any credential material field on that profile.
- If `auth.profiles.<id>.mode` is `"oauth"`, SecretRef-backed `keyRef`/`tokenRef` input for that profile is rejected.
- Violations are hard failures (thrown errors) in startup/reload secret preparation and profile resolution paths.
## Legacy-Compatible Messaging
For script compatibility, probe errors keep this first line unchanged:
`Auth profile credentials are missing or expired.`
Human-friendly detail and the stable reason code follow on subsequent lines in the form `↳ Auth reason [code]: ...`.
## Related
- [Secrets management](/gateway/secrets)
- [Auth storage](/concepts/oauth)