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Anthropic (Claude)

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Option A: Anthropic API key

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CLI setup

openclaw onboard
# choose: Anthropic API key

# or non-interactive
openclaw onboard --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"

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Claude CLI config snippet

{
  env: { ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "sk-ant-..." },
  agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" } } },
}

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Thinking defaults (Claude 4.6)

• Anthropic Claude 4.6 models default to adaptive thinking in OpenClaw when no explicit thinking level is set.
• You can override per-message (/think:<level>) or in model params: agents.defaults.models["anthropic/<model>"].params.thinking.
• Related Anthropic docs:
  • Adaptive thinking
  • Extended thinking

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Fast mode (Anthropic API)

• /fast on maps to service_tier: "auto"
• /fast off maps to service_tier: "standard_only"
• Config default:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6": {
          params: { fastMode: true },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

• OpenClaw only injects Anthropic service tiers for direct api.anthropic.com requests. If you route anthropic/* through a proxy or gateway, /fast leaves service_tier untouched.
• Explicit Anthropic serviceTier or service_tier model params override the /fast default when both are set.
• Anthropic reports the effective tier on the response under usage.service_tier. On accounts without Priority Tier capacity, service_tier: "auto" may still resolve to standard.

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Prompt caching (Anthropic API)

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Configuration

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
          params: { cacheRetention: "long" },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

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Defaults

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Per-agent cacheRetention overrides

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" },
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
          params: { cacheRetention: "long" }, // baseline for most agents
        },
      },
    },
    list: [
      { id: "research", default: true },
      { id: "alerts", params: { cacheRetention: "none" } }, // override for this agent only
    ],
  },
}

1. agents.defaults.models["provider/model"].params
2. agents.list[].params (matching id, overrides by key)

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Bedrock Claude notes

• Anthropic Claude models on Bedrock (amazon-bedrock/*anthropic.claude*) accept cacheRetention pass-through when configured.
• Non-Anthropic Bedrock models are forced to cacheRetention: "none" at runtime.
• Anthropic API-key smart defaults also seed cacheRetention: "short" for Claude-on-Bedrock model refs when no explicit value is set.

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Legacy parameter

• "5m" maps to short
• "1h" maps to long

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1M context window (Anthropic beta)

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
          params: { context1m: true },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

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Option B: Claude CLI as the message provider

• claude-cli/claude-sonnet-4-6
• claude-cli/claude-opus-4-6

1. OpenClaw launches claude -p --output-format json ... on the gateway host.
2. The first turn sends --session-id <uuid>.
3. Follow-up turns reuse the stored Claude session via --resume <sessionId>.
4. Your chat messages still go through the normal OpenClaw message pipeline, but the actual model reply is produced by Claude CLI.

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Requirements

• Claude CLI installed on the gateway host and available on PATH, or configured with an absolute command path.
• Claude CLI already authenticated on that same host:

claude auth status

• OpenClaw auto-loads the bundled Anthropic plugin at gateway startup when your config explicitly references claude-cli/... or claude-cli backend config.

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Config snippet

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary: "claude-cli/claude-sonnet-4-6",
      },
      models: {
        "claude-cli/claude-sonnet-4-6": {},
      },
      sandbox: { mode: "off" },
    },
  },
}

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      cliBackends: {
        "claude-cli": {
          command: "/opt/homebrew/bin/claude",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

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What you get

• Claude subscription auth reused from the local CLI
• Normal OpenClaw message/session routing
• Claude CLI session continuity across turns

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Migrate from Anthropic auth to Claude CLI

openclaw models auth login --provider anthropic --method cli --set-default

openclaw onboard --auth-choice anthropic-cli

• verifies Claude CLI is already signed in on the gateway host
• switches the default model to claude-cli/...
• rewrites Anthropic default-model fallbacks like anthropic/claude-opus-4-6 to claude-cli/claude-opus-4-6
• adds matching claude-cli/... entries to agents.defaults.models

• delete your existing Anthropic auth profiles
• remove every old anthropic/... config reference outside the main default model/allowlist path

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Important limits

• This is not the Anthropic API provider. It is the local CLI runtime.
• Tools are disabled on the OpenClaw side for CLI backend runs.
• Text in, text out. No OpenClaw streaming handoff.
• Best fit for a personal gateway host, not shared multi-user billing setups.

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Option C: Claude setup-token

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Where to get a setup-token

claude setup-token

openclaw models auth setup-token --provider anthropic

openclaw models auth paste-token --provider anthropic

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CLI setup (setup-token)

# Paste a setup-token during setup
openclaw onboard --auth-choice setup-token

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Config snippet (setup-token)

{
  agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" } } },
}

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Notes

• Generate the setup-token with claude setup-token and paste it, or run openclaw models auth setup-token on the gateway host.
• If you see “OAuth token refresh failed …” on a Claude subscription, re-auth with a setup-token. See /gateway/troubleshooting.
• Auth details + reuse rules are in /concepts/oauth.

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Troubleshooting

• Claude subscription auth can expire or be revoked. Re-run claude setup-token and paste it into the gateway host.
• If the Claude CLI login lives on a different machine, use openclaw models auth paste-token --provider anthropic on the gateway host.

• Auth is per agent. New agents don’t inherit the main agent’s keys.
• Re-run onboarding for that agent, or paste a setup-token / API key on the gateway host, then verify with openclaw models status.

• Run openclaw models status to see which auth profile is active.
• Re-run onboarding, or paste a setup-token / API key for that profile.

• Check openclaw models status --json for auth.unusableProfiles.
• Add another Anthropic profile or wait for cooldown.