OpenClaw Switch Models

1. Course Content

This course will systematically introduce OpenClaw's model selection working mechanism and three model switching operation methods.

2. Temporarily Switch Session Model

2.1 Open TUI Session

• Enter in terminal

openclaw tui

2.2 Use /model to Switch Session Model

• Enter /model in the conversation box, for example, select and switch to bailian/qwen3.5-plus, use the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to select a model, then press Enter

3. Switch Default Model

3.1 Switch via CLI

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

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

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openclaw models set bailian/qwen3.6-plus

3.2 Switch via 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 favorite editor, such as vim, code, etc.
  

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

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

• Verify if the configuration takes effect:

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openclaw models status

4. Add Model Options List

• agents.defaults.models is the allowlist/directory that controls the usable model range in OpenClaw. When this configuration item is set, users can only use models included in the list. This list serves as the basis for model range control for both the /model command and session overrides.

4.1 Add Models via Configuration File

Configure agents.defaults.models in openclaw.json and add models that need to be used 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 Models via CLI Command

Using the openclaw config set command can safely edit the allowlist without manually modifying the JSON file:

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openclaw config set agents.defaults.models '{"openai/gpt-5.4":{}}' --strict-json --merge

Parameter Description:

• --strict-json: Strict JSON mode, ensuring correct input format

• --merge: Merge mode, merging new configuration with existing configuration instead of completely overwriting

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 complete reference in the format openrouter/moonshotai/kimi-k2.

5. Appendix: CLI Command Quick Reference