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For routing rules, see Routing & Protocols. For available model IDs, see List Models. OpenClaw supports custom providers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. For PipeLLM, the simplest broad-coverage setup is an OpenAI-compatible custom provider that points at PipeLLM’s OpenAI converter route. 
https://api.pipellm.ai/openai/v1
If you specifically want Anthropic Messages semantics, OpenClaw can also target https://api.pipellm.ai/anthropic with api: "anthropic-messages".

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Fastest Setup

Use the onboarding wizard:
  1. Run openclaw onboard
  2. Choose Custom Provider
  3. Choose OpenAI-compatible
  4. Set base URL to https://api.pipellm.ai/openai/v1
  5. Paste your PipeLLM API key
  6. Enter a model ID such as claude-sonnet-4-6, gpt-4o, or gemini-2.5-pro

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Manual Config

OpenClaw uses JSON5, so comments and trailing commas are allowed. 
{
  env: {
    PIPELLM_API_KEY: "your-pipellm-api-key",
  },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary: "pipellm/claude-sonnet-4-6",
      },
      models: {
        "pipellm/claude-sonnet-4-6": {
          alias: "Claude Sonnet 4.6",
        },
        "pipellm/gpt-4o": {
          alias: "GPT-4o",
        },
        "pipellm/gemini-2.5-pro": {
          alias: "Gemini 2.5 Pro",
        },
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      pipellm: {
        api: "openai-completions",
        baseUrl: "https://api.pipellm.ai/openai/v1",
        apiKey: "${PIPELLM_API_KEY}",
        models: [
          { id: "claude-sonnet-4-6", name: "Claude Sonnet 4.6" },
          { id: "gpt-4o", name: "GPT-4o" },
          { id: "gemini-2.5-pro", name: "Gemini 2.5 Pro" },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

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Notes

  • model.primary uses the provider/model format in OpenClaw.
  • models.providers.<id>.api controls the protocol adapter. For PipeLLM’s recommended setup, use openai-completions.
  • If you later want Anthropic-compatible routing instead, switch the provider to api: "anthropic-messages" and set baseUrl to https://api.pipellm.ai/anthropic.

Developer Tools

Compare supported coding assistants

OpenAI Converter

Keep OpenAI-compatible format across providers

WebSearch npm Package

Add PipeLLM WebSearch tools to OpenClaw

OpenClaw Config Docs

Official OpenClaw configuration reference