openclaw/docs/cli/models.md

summary, read_when, title

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CLI reference for `openclaw models` (status/list/set/scan, aliases, fallbacks, auth)	You want to change default models or view provider auth status You want to scan available models/providers and debug auth profiles	Models

openclaw models

Model discovery, scanning, and configuration (default model, fallbacks, auth profiles).

Related:

• Providers + models: Models
• Model selection concepts + /models slash command: Models concept
• Provider auth setup: Getting started

Common commands

openclaw models status
openclaw models list
openclaw models set <model-or-alias>
openclaw models scan

openclaw models status shows the resolved default/fallbacks plus an auth overview. When provider usage snapshots are available, the OAuth/API-key status section includes provider usage windows and quota snapshots. Current usage-window providers: Anthropic, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenAI Codex, MiniMax, Xiaomi, and z.ai. Usage auth comes from provider-specific hooks when available; otherwise OpenClaw falls back to matching OAuth/API-key credentials from auth profiles, env, or config. In --json output, auth.providers is the env/config/store-aware provider overview, while auth.oauth is auth-store profile health only. Add --probe to run live auth probes against each configured provider profile. Probes are real requests (may consume tokens and trigger rate limits). Use --agent <id> to inspect a configured agent's model/auth state. When omitted, the command uses OPENCLAW_AGENT_DIR if set, otherwise the configured default agent. Probe rows can come from auth profiles, env credentials, or models.json. For Codex OAuth troubleshooting, openclaw models status, openclaw models auth list --provider openai-codex, and openclaw config get agents.defaults.model --json are the quickest way to confirm whether an agent has a usable openai-codex auth profile for openai/* through the native Codex runtime. See OpenAI provider setup.

Notes:

• models set <model-or-alias> accepts provider/model or an alias.
• models list is read-only: it reads config, auth profiles, existing catalog state, and provider-owned catalog rows, but it does not rewrite models.json.
• The Auth column is provider-level and read-only. It is computed from local auth profile metadata, env markers, configured provider keys, local-provider markers, AWS Bedrock env/profile markers, and plugin synthetic-auth metadata; it does not load provider runtime, read keychain secrets, call provider APIs, or prove exact per-model execution readiness.
• models list --all --provider <id> can include provider-owned static catalog rows from plugin manifests or bundled provider catalog metadata even when you have not authenticated with that provider yet. Those rows still show as unavailable until matching auth is configured.
• models list keeps the control plane responsive while provider catalog discovery is slow. The default and configured views fall back to configured or synthetic model rows after a short wait and let discovery finish in the background. Use --all when you need the exact full discovered catalog and are willing to wait for provider discovery.
• Broad models list --all merges manifest catalog rows over registry rows without loading provider runtime supplement hooks. Provider-filtered manifest fast paths use only providers marked static; providers marked refreshable stay registry/cache-backed and append manifest rows as supplements, while providers marked runtime stay on registry/runtime discovery.
• models list keeps native model metadata and runtime caps distinct. In table output, Ctx shows contextTokens/contextWindow when an effective runtime cap differs from the native context window; JSON rows include contextTokens when a provider exposes that cap.
• models list --provider <id> filters by provider id, such as moonshot or openai-codex. It does not accept display labels from interactive provider pickers, such as Moonshot AI.
• Model refs are parsed by splitting on the first /. If the model ID includes / (OpenRouter-style), include the provider prefix (example: openrouter/moonshotai/kimi-k2).
• If you omit the provider, OpenClaw resolves the input as an alias first, then as a unique configured-provider match for that exact model id, and only then falls back to the configured default provider with a deprecation warning. If that provider no longer exposes the configured default model, OpenClaw falls back to the first configured provider/model instead of surfacing a stale removed-provider default.
• models status may show marker(<value>) in auth output for non-secret placeholders (for example OPENAI_API_KEY, secretref-managed, minimax-oauth, oauth:chutes, ollama-local) instead of masking them as secrets.

Models scan

models scan reads OpenRouter's public :free catalog and ranks candidates for fallback use. The catalog itself is public, so metadata-only scans do not need an OpenRouter key.

By default OpenClaw tries to probe tool and image support with live model calls. If no OpenRouter key is configured, the command falls back to metadata-only output and explains that :free models still require OPENROUTER_API_KEY for probes and inference.

Options:

• --no-probe (metadata only; no config/secrets lookup)
• --min-params <b>
• --max-age-days <days>
• --provider <name>
• --max-candidates <n>
• --timeout <ms> (catalog request and per-probe timeout)
• --concurrency <n>
• --yes
• --no-input
• --set-default
• --set-image
• --json

--set-default and --set-image require live probes; metadata-only scan results are informational and are not applied to config.

Models status

Options:

• --json
• --plain
• --check (exit 1=expired/missing, 2=expiring)
• --probe (live probe of configured auth profiles)
• --probe-provider <name> (probe one provider)
• --probe-profile <id> (repeat or comma-separated profile ids)
• --probe-timeout <ms>
• --probe-concurrency <n>
• --probe-max-tokens <n>
• --agent <id> (configured agent id; overrides OPENCLAW_AGENT_DIR)

--json keeps stdout reserved for the JSON payload. Auth-profile, provider, and startup diagnostics are routed to stderr so scripts can pipe stdout directly into tools such as jq.

Probe status buckets:

• ok
• auth
• rate_limit
• billing
• timeout
• format
• unknown
• no_model

Probe detail/reason-code cases to expect:

• excluded_by_auth_order: a stored profile exists, but explicit auth.order.<provider> omitted it, so probe reports the exclusion instead of trying it.
• missing_credential, invalid_expires, expired, unresolved_ref: profile is present but not eligible/resolvable.
• no_model: provider auth exists, but OpenClaw could not resolve a probeable model candidate for that provider.

Aliases + fallbacks

openclaw models aliases list
openclaw models fallbacks list

Auth profiles

openclaw models auth add
openclaw models auth list [--provider <id>] [--json]
openclaw models auth login --provider <id>
openclaw models auth login --provider openai --profile-id openai:work
openclaw models auth paste-api-key --provider <id>
openclaw models auth setup-token --provider <id>
openclaw models auth paste-token

models auth add is the interactive auth helper. It can launch a provider auth flow (OAuth/API key) or guide you into manual token paste, depending on the provider you choose.

models auth list lists saved auth profiles for the selected agent without printing token, API-key, or OAuth secret material. Use --provider <id> to filter to one provider, such as openai-codex, and --json for scripting.

models auth login runs a provider plugin's auth flow (OAuth/API key). Use openclaw plugins list to see which providers are installed. Use openclaw models auth --agent <id> <subcommand> to write auth results to a specific configured agent store. The parent --agent flag is honored by add, list, login, paste-api-key, setup-token, paste-token, and login-github-copilot.

For OpenAI models, --provider openai defaults to ChatGPT/Codex account login. Use --method api-key only when you want to add an OpenAI API-key profile, usually as a backup for Codex subscription limits. The legacy --provider openai-codex spelling still works for existing scripts.

Examples:

openclaw models auth login --provider openai --set-default
openclaw models auth login --provider openai --method api-key
openclaw models auth paste-api-key --provider openai-codex
openclaw models auth list --provider openai

Notes:

• login accepts --profile-id <id> for providers that support named profiles during login. Use this to keep multiple logins for the same provider separate.
• paste-api-key accepts API keys generated elsewhere, prompts for the key value, and writes it to the default profile id <provider>:manual unless you pass --profile-id. In automation, pipe the key on stdin, for example printf "%s\n" "$OPENAI_API_KEY" | openclaw models auth paste-api-key --provider openai-codex.
• setup-token and paste-token remain generic token commands for providers that expose token auth methods.
• setup-token requires an interactive TTY and runs the provider's token-auth method (defaulting to that provider's setup-token method when it exposes one).
• paste-token accepts a token string generated elsewhere or from automation.
• paste-token requires --provider, prompts for the token value by default, and writes it to the default profile id <provider>:manual unless you pass --profile-id.
• In automation, pipe the token on stdin instead of passing it as an argument so provider credentials do not appear in shell history or process lists.
• paste-token --expires-in <duration> stores an absolute token expiry from a relative duration such as 365d or 12h.
• For openai-codex, OpenAI API keys and ChatGPT/OAuth token material are different auth shapes. Use paste-api-key for sk-... OpenAI API keys and paste-token only for token auth material.
• Anthropic note: Anthropic staff told us OpenClaw-style Claude CLI usage is allowed again, so OpenClaw treats Claude CLI reuse and claude -p usage as sanctioned for this integration unless Anthropic publishes a new policy.
• Anthropic setup-token / paste-token remain available as a supported OpenClaw token path, but OpenClaw now prefers Claude CLI reuse and claude -p when available.

Related

• CLI reference
• Model selection
• Model failover