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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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Anthropic 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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1M context window (Anthropic beta)

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

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Claude CLI backend

• Anthropic staff told us this usage is allowed again.
• OpenClaw therefore treats Claude CLI reuse and claude -p usage as sanctioned for this integration unless Anthropic publishes a new policy.
• Anthropic API keys remain the clearest production path for always-on gateway hosts and explicit server-side billing control.
• Setup and runtime details are in /gateway/cli-backends.

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Notes

• Anthropic’s public Claude Code docs still document direct CLI usage such as claude -p, and Anthropic staff told us OpenClaw-style Claude CLI usage is allowed again. We are treating that guidance as settled unless Anthropic publishes a new policy change.
• Anthropic setup-token remains available in OpenClaw as a supported token-auth path, but OpenClaw now prefers Claude CLI reuse and claude -p when available.
• Auth details + reuse rules are in /concepts/oauth.

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Troubleshooting

• Anthropic token auth can expire or be revoked.
• For new setup, migrate to an Anthropic API key.

• Auth is per agent. New agents don’t inherit the main agent’s keys.
• Re-run onboarding for that agent, or configure an 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 configure an API key for that profile path.

• Check openclaw models status --json for auth.unusableProfiles.
• Anthropic rate-limit cooldowns can be model-scoped, so a sibling Anthropic model may still be usable even when the current one is cooling down.
• Add another Anthropic profile or wait for cooldown.