OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open-source, self-hosted personal AI assistant platform that connects messaging apps (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, iMessage, …) to AI agents on your own hardware. Add WRouter as a custom provider in openclaw.json and every wrouter-routed model becomes available to your agents.

• Website: https://openclaw.ai
• Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
• GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw

Prerequisites

Item	Requirement
Node.js	≥ 22
OpenClaw	latest
WRouter	A working sk- token

Install & bootstrap

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard sets up auth, the Gateway, and optional channels. Other install paths (Docker, manual) are in OpenClaw's Getting Started.

Configure WRouter via models.providers

OpenClaw discovers model providers from openclaw.json. You declare WRouter as a custom provider, list the models you want exposed, and then point your agent's default model at it.

Many built-in provider plugins ship a default catalog. Only declare an explicit models.providers.<id> entry when you want to override the base URL, headers, or model list — which is exactly what we're doing here.

1. Provide the API key

In your shell, service env, or an .env file readable by OpenClaw:

export WROUTER_API_KEY="sk-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

2. Edit openclaw.json

Add (or merge into) the following:

{
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      wrouter: {
        baseUrl: "https://wrouter.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${WROUTER_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          { id: "claude-sonnet-4-6", name: "Claude Sonnet 4.6" },
          { id: "gemini-2.5-flash", name: "Gemini 2.5 Flash" },
          // multimodal model — pass images as native input
          { id: "gpt-5.4", name: "GPT-4o", input: ["text", "image"] },
        ],
      },
    },
  },

  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary:   "wrouter/claude-sonnet-4-6",
        fallbacks: ["wrouter/gemini-2.5-flash"],
      },
      models: {
        "wrouter/claude-sonnet-4-6": { alias: "sonnet" },
        "wrouter/gemini-2.5-flash":  { alias: "flash" },
      },
    },
  },
}

Key fields

Field	Notes
models.mode	Use "merge" so WRouter is added alongside OpenClaw's built-in providers, not replacing them
models.providers.wrouter.baseUrl	WRouter base URL; must include /v1
models.providers.wrouter.apiKey	${WROUTER_API_KEY} reads from env — avoids hard-coding the secret
models.providers.wrouter.api	"openai-completions" for an OpenAI-compatible gateway like WRouter
models.providers.wrouter.models[]	Each entry's id must match WRouter's actual model ID exactly
models.providers.wrouter.models[].input	Set to ["text", "image"] on models that accept image input — lets WebChat and node attachments pass images as native input rather than text references
agents.defaults.model.primary	Primary model — format is provider/model-id (e.g. wrouter/claude-sonnet-4-6)
agents.defaults.model.fallbacks	Ordered fallback list when the primary fails
agents.defaults.models	Optional aliases / per-model metadata — visibility-only, does not register a runtime model. Custom-provider models must also appear in models.providers.<provider>.models[]

Verify

Send a message via any connected channel (Telegram, Discord, web UI). The agent should respond via WRouter using the primary model; failures auto-fall back per your config.

Recommended models

Model	Use
claude-sonnet-4-6	Daily driver across channels
gpt-5.4	Multimodal (image attachments) — set input: ["text", "image"]
gemini-2.5-flash	Long conversation history
tts-1 + whisper-1	Voice channels (TTS + STT)

Common pitfalls

Symptom	Likely cause
404 from upstream	baseUrl is missing /v1
Model "not registered" at runtime	Model only declared under agents.defaults.models — must also be in models.providers.<provider>.models[]
Image attachments arrive as text references	input: ["text", "image"] not set on that model entry
Fallback never triggers	fallbacks IDs don't match any models.providers.wrouter.models[].id

Known limitations

• Channel integrations (Telegram bot, Discord webhook, WhatsApp Business) require separate setup with each platform.
• OpenClaw runs on your hardware; uptime and security are your responsibility.
• Voice quality depends on the OS (macOS / iOS / Android have differing STT/TTS support).