---
summary: "Use Anthropic Claude via API keys or Claude CLI in OpenClaw"
read_when:
  - You want to use Anthropic models in OpenClaw
  - You want to reuse Claude CLI subscription auth on the gateway host
title: "Anthropic"
---

# 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.

<Warning>
Anthropic changed third-party harness billing on **April 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM
PT / 8:00 PM BST**. Anthropic says Claude subscription limits no longer cover
OpenClaw or other third-party harnesses. Existing legacy Anthropic token auth
can still run in OpenClaw, but Anthropic now requires **Extra Usage**
(pay-as-you-go, billed separately from the subscription) for that traffic.

If you want a clearer billing path, use an Anthropic API key instead. OpenClaw
also supports other subscription-style options, including [OpenAI
Codex](/providers/openai), [Alibaba Cloud Model Studio Coding
Plan](/providers/qwen_modelstudio), [MiniMax Coding Plan](/providers/minimax),
and [Z.AI / GLM Coding Plan](/providers/glm).
</Warning>

## Option A: Anthropic API key

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

### CLI setup

```bash
openclaw onboard
# choose: Anthropic API key

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

### Claude CLI config snippet

```json5
{
  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](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/adaptive-thinking)
  - [Extended thinking](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/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:

```json5
{
  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           |

```json5
{
  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`.

```json5
{
  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:

1. `agents.defaults.models["provider/model"].params`
2. `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.

```json5
{
  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 Claude CLI / 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: when Claude CLI is used through OpenClaw, Anthropic now treats
that traffic as third-party harness usage. As of **April 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM
PT / 8:00 PM BST**, Anthropic requires **Extra Usage** instead of included
Claude subscription limits for this path.

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:

1. OpenClaw launches `claude -p --output-format json ...` on the **gateway
   host**.
2. The first turn sends `--session-id <uuid>`.
3. Follow-up turns reuse the stored Claude session via `--resume <sessionId>`.
4. 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:

```bash
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

```json5
{
  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:

```json5
{
  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:

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

Or in onboarding:

```bash
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:

```bash
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](/gateway/cli-backends)

## Notes

- Anthropic says that starting **April 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM BST**,
  OpenClaw usage with Claude CLI or legacy Anthropic token auth requires **Extra Usage**
  (pay-as-you-go billed separately from the subscription).
- Existing legacy Anthropic token profiles are still honored at runtime, but OpenClaw no longer offers setup-token onboarding or auth commands for new setups.
- Auth details + reuse rules are in [/concepts/oauth](/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`.
- Add another Anthropic profile or wait for cooldown.

More: [/gateway/troubleshooting](/gateway/troubleshooting) and [/help/faq](/help/faq).