OpenClaw

Run the OpenClaw personal AI assistant on cheapaimodel models through a custom model provider.

OpenClaw adds OpenAI-compatible services as custom providers under models.providers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Agents then refer to the models as cheapaimodel/<model-id>.

	OpenClaw setting	Value
Base URL	`models.providers.cheapaimodel.baseUrl`	`https://api.cheapaimodel.ai/v1`
API key	`models.providers.cheapaimodel.apiKey`	`${CHEAPAIMODEL_API_KEY}`, holding your key from the console's API Keys page
Model ID	`models.providers.cheapaimodel.models[].id`	`glm-5.3`, or any ID from the catalog

Set it up

Store the key

Put the key in OpenClaw's global env file, which the Gateway reads even when it runs as a background service:

~/.openclaw/.env

CHEAPAIMODEL_API_KEY=sk-...

If the Gateway is already running, restart it with openclaw gateway restart so it picks up the file.

Add the provider

Merge this into your config:

~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "cheapaimodel/glm-5.3" },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      cheapaimodel: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.cheapaimodel.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${CHEAPAIMODEL_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "glm-5.3",
            name: "GLM-5.3",
            compat: { supportsUsageInStreaming: true },
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

api: "openai-completions" sends requests to /v1/chat/completions.
Add one entry to models per model ID. id is the catalog ID; name is a label, and OpenClaw requires it.
Add contextWindow and maxTokens to each entry from the model's page, for example /models/glm-5.3. Without them, OpenClaw budgets context with its own fallback and leaves the output limit to the server.
compat.supportsUsageInStreaming makes OpenClaw ask for token usage in streams, which cheapaimodel returns (see Streaming). Without it, OpenClaw estimates context use and logs returned no token usage.

The Gateway watches the file and applies the change without a restart.

Check it

Terminal

openclaw models list

cheapaimodel/glm-5.3 should be listed. To change the default model later, run openclaw models set cheapaimodel/<model-id>.

OpenClaw's agents rely on the model's tool calling. If a model handles tools poorly, try another model from the catalog.

Common mistakes

OpenClaw warns that CHEAPAIMODEL_API_KEY is missing. The Gateway process doesn't have the variable, so ${CHEAPAIMODEL_API_KEY} stays unresolved. Put it in ~/.openclaw/.env and restart the Gateway.
401. The key is wrong, expired or out of budget. Check it in the console.
The config is rejected with custom model providers must declare models. A custom provider needs a models array, and each entry needs both id and name.
404. With the body fault filter abort, baseUrl is missing /v1; with Invalid URL (POST /v1/chat/completions/chat/completions), it includes the endpoint path. Set https://api.cheapaimodel.ai/v1.
503 with model_not_found. id must be a catalog ID, spelled exactly. The cheapaimodel/ prefix is only OpenClaw's model ref and is not sent.

Set it up

Store the key

Add the provider

Check it

Common mistakes

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