OpenClaw Switching Models

1. Course Content

This course systematically introduces OpenClaw's model selection working mechanism and three ways to switch models.

2. Temporarily Switching the Session Model

2.1 Open a TUI Session

• Enter in the terminal

openclaw tui

2.2 Use /model to Switch the Session Model

• Enter /model in the session input box; for example, here we switch to bailian/qwen3.5-plus. Use the up/down arrow keys on the keyboard to select the model, then press Enter

3. Switching the Default Model

3.1 Switch via CLI

The simplest way is to directly set the default model with a CLI command:

• Here, switching to the bailian/qwen3.6-plus model is used as an example

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openclaw models set bailian/qwen3.6-plus

3.2 Switch via the Configuration File

• Edit the openclaw.json configuration file to modify the Agent's default model

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  nano $HOME/.openclaw/openclaw.json
  # Or use your preferred editor, such as vim, code, etc. It is recommended to edit with an IDE like VS Code for more convenience
  

In openclaw.json, specify the primary model to use by default through the agents.defaults.model.primary configuration item:

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{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "bailian/qwen3.5-plus"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Verify whether the configuration takes effect:

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openclaw models status

4. Adding to the Model Options List

• agents.defaults.models is the allowlist/catalog in OpenClaw that controls the range of models that can be used. Once this configuration item is set, users can only use the models contained in the list. This list also serves as the scope control basis for the /model command and session overrides.

4.1 Add Models via the Configuration File

Configure agents.defaults.models in openclaw.json to add the models you need to use to the allowlist:

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{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "bailian/qwen3.5-plus"
      },
      "models": {
        "bailian/qwen3.5-plus": {},
        "bailian/qwen3.6-plus": {},
        "bailian/qwen3-max-2026-01-23": {},
        "bailian/qwen3-coder-next": {},
        "bailian/qwen3-coder-plus": {},
        "bailian/MiniMax-M2.5": {},
        "bailian/glm-5": {},
        "bailian/glm-4.7": {},
        "bailian/kimi-k2.5": {}
      }
    }
  }
}

4.2 Add to the Agent Model List via CLI Commands

Use the openclaw config set command to safely edit the allowlist without manually modifying the JSON file:

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openclaw config set agents.defaults.models.bailian/qwen3-plus '{}'

4.3 Model Reference Format Specification

In OpenClaw, all model references use a unified format:

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provider/model-ID

Examples:

Note: If the model ID itself contains / (such as moonshotai/kimi-k2), you must provide the full reference in the openrouter/moonshotai/kimi-k2 format.