Anthropic (Claude)

Anthropic builds the Claude model family and provides access via an API. In OpenClaw, new Anthropic setup should use an API key or the local Claude CLI backend. Existing legacy Anthropic token profiles are still honored at runtime if they are already configured.

Anthropic’s public Claude Code docs say direct Claude Code usage is included with Claude subscriptions. Separately, Anthropic notified OpenClaw users on April 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM BST that OpenClaw counts as a third-party harness. Their stated policy is that OpenClaw-driven Claude-login traffic no longer uses the included Claude subscription pool and instead requires Extra Usage (pay-as-you-go, billed separately from the subscription).That policy distinction is about OpenClaw-driven Claude CLI reuse, not about running claude directly in your own terminal.Anthropic’s current direct-Claude-Code plan docs:

If you want a clearer billing path, use an Anthropic API key instead. OpenClaw also supports other subscription-style options, including OpenAI Codex, Qwen Cloud Coding Plan, MiniMax Coding Plan, and Z.AI / GLM Coding Plan.

Option A: Anthropic API key

Best for: standard API access and usage-based billing. Create your API key in the Anthropic Console.

CLI setup

openclaw onboard
# choose: Anthropic API key

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

Claude CLI config snippet

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

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

Fast mode (Anthropic API)

OpenClaw’s shared /fast toggle also supports direct public Anthropic traffic, including API-key and OAuth-authenticated requests sent to api.anthropic.com.

/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 },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Important limits:

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.

Prompt caching (Anthropic API)

OpenClaw supports Anthropic’s prompt caching feature. This is API-only; legacy Anthropic token auth does not honor cache settings.

Configuration

Use the cacheRetention parameter in your model config:

Value	Cache Duration	Description
`none`	No caching	Disable prompt caching
`short`	5 minutes	Default for API Key auth
`long`	1 hour	Extended cache

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

Defaults

When using Anthropic API Key authentication, OpenClaw automatically applies cacheRetention: "short" (5-minute cache) for all Anthropic models. You can override this by explicitly setting cacheRetention in your config.

Per-agent cacheRetention overrides

Use model-level params as your baseline, then override specific agents via agents.list[].params.

{
  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
    ],
  },
}

Config merge order for cache-related params:

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

This lets one agent keep a long-lived cache while another agent on the same model disables caching to avoid write costs on bursty/low-reuse traffic.

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.

1M context window (Anthropic beta)

Anthropic’s 1M context window is beta-gated. In OpenClaw, enable it per model with params.context1m: true for supported Opus/Sonnet models.

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

OpenClaw maps this to anthropic-beta: context-1m-2025-08-07 on Anthropic requests. This only activates when params.context1m is explicitly set to true for that model. Requirement: Anthropic must allow long-context usage on that credential (typically API key billing, or OpenClaw’s Claude-login path / legacy token auth with Extra Usage enabled). Otherwise Anthropic returns: HTTP 429: rate_limit_error: Extra usage is required for long context requests. Note: Anthropic currently rejects context-1m-* beta requests when using legacy Anthropic token auth (sk-ant-oat-*). If you configure context1m: true with that legacy auth mode, OpenClaw logs a warning and falls back to the standard context window by skipping the context1m beta header while keeping the required OAuth betas.

Option B: Claude CLI as the message provider

Best for: a single-user gateway host that already has Claude CLI installed and signed in with a Claude subscription. Billing note: Anthropic’s public Claude Code docs cover direct Claude Code usage under Pro/Max or Team/Enterprise plans. Separately, Anthropic told OpenClaw users that OpenClaw-driven Claude CLI usage is treated as third-party harness traffic. As of April 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM BST, Anthropic says this OpenClaw path requires Extra Usage instead of the included Claude subscription limits. This path uses the local claude binary for model inference instead of calling the Anthropic API directly. OpenClaw treats it as a CLI backend provider with model refs like:

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

How it works:

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

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.

Config snippet

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

If the claude binary is not on the gateway host PATH:

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

What you get

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

Migrate from Anthropic auth to Claude CLI

If you currently use anthropic/... with a legacy token profile or API key and want to switch the same gateway host to Claude CLI, OpenClaw supports that as a normal provider-auth migration path. Prerequisites:

Claude CLI installed on the same gateway host that runs OpenClaw
Claude CLI already signed in there: claude auth login

Then run:

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

Or in onboarding:

openclaw onboard --auth-choice anthropic-cli

Interactive openclaw onboard and openclaw configure now prefer Anthropic Claude CLI first and Anthropic API key second. What this does:

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

Quick verification:

openclaw models status

You should see the resolved primary model under claude-cli/.... What it does not do:

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

That makes rollback simple: change the default model back to anthropic/... if you need to.

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.

More details: /gateway/cli-backends

Notes

Anthropic’s public Claude Code plan docs still cover direct Claude Code terminal use under Claude subscriptions. Anthropic’s separate notice to OpenClaw users says the OpenClaw Claude-login path is third-party harness usage and requires Extra Usage (pay-as-you-go billed separately from the subscription).
Anthropic setup-token is available again in OpenClaw as a legacy/manual path. Anthropic’s OpenClaw-specific billing notice still applies, so use it with the expectation that Anthropic requires Extra Usage for this path.
Auth details + reuse rules are in /concepts/oauth.

Troubleshooting

401 errors / token suddenly invalid

Legacy Anthropic token auth can expire or be revoked.
For new setup, migrate to an Anthropic API key or the local Claude CLI path on the gateway host.

No API key found for provider “anthropic”

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.

No credentials found for profile anthropic:default

Run openclaw models status to see which auth profile is active.
Re-run onboarding, or configure an API key or Claude CLI for that profile path.

No available auth profile (all in cooldown/unavailable)

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.

More: /gateway/troubleshooting and /help/faq.

Overview

Concepts and configuration

Providers

Anthropic

Anthropic (Claude)

Option A: Anthropic API key

CLI setup

Claude CLI config snippet

Thinking defaults (Claude 4.6)

Fast mode (Anthropic API)

Prompt caching (Anthropic API)

Configuration

Defaults

Per-agent cacheRetention overrides

Bedrock Claude notes

1M context window (Anthropic beta)

Option B: Claude CLI as the message provider

Requirements

Config snippet

What you get

Migrate from Anthropic auth to Claude CLI

Important limits

Notes

Troubleshooting

Overview

Concepts and configuration

Providers

​Anthropic (Claude)

​Option A: Anthropic API key

​CLI setup

​Claude CLI config snippet

​Thinking defaults (Claude 4.6)

​Fast mode (Anthropic API)

​Prompt caching (Anthropic API)

​Configuration

​Defaults

​Per-agent cacheRetention overrides

​Bedrock Claude notes

​1M context window (Anthropic beta)

​Option B: Claude CLI as the message provider

​Requirements

​Config snippet

​What you get

​Migrate from Anthropic auth to Claude CLI

​Important limits

​Notes

​Troubleshooting

Anthropic (Claude)

Option A: Anthropic API key

CLI setup

Claude CLI config snippet

Thinking defaults (Claude 4.6)

Fast mode (Anthropic API)

Prompt caching (Anthropic API)

Configuration

Defaults

Per-agent cacheRetention overrides

Bedrock Claude notes

1M context window (Anthropic beta)

Option B: Claude CLI as the message provider

Requirements

Config snippet

What you get

Migrate from Anthropic auth to Claude CLI

Important limits

Notes

Troubleshooting