🤖 OpenClaw + Crazyrouter: Build Your AI Agent in Minutes

Use Crazyrouter as the LLM backend for OpenClaw — an open-source AI agent that lives in your Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, and more.

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent framework. It connects to messaging platforms (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Slack, Signal, iMessage...) and gives you a personal AI assistant that can:

💬 Chat naturally across all your messaging apps
🔧 Execute code, browse the web, manage files
⏰ Run scheduled tasks (cron jobs, reminders)
🧠 Maintain persistent memory across sessions
🔌 Extend with custom skills and plugins

Crazyrouter is the perfect backend — one API key gives OpenClaw access to 624+ models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, and more.

Quick Start

Step 1: Install OpenClaw

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Requires Node.js 22+.

Step 2: Get Your Crazyrouter API Key

Go to crazyrouter.com
Sign up and get your API key (sk-...)

Step 3: Run the Onboarding Wizard

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

When prompted for auth, choose API key and enter your Crazyrouter key.

Or set it up non-interactively:

openclaw onboard \
  --auth-choice apiKey \
  --token-provider crazyrouter \
  --token "sk-your-crazyrouter-key"

Step 4: Verify

openclaw gateway status
openclaw dashboard  # Opens the web UI

Configuration

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (JSON5 format):

Minimal Config (Crazyrouter Only)

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      crazyrouter: {
        baseUrl: "https://crazyrouter.com/v1",
        apiKey: "sk-your-crazyrouter-key",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "claude-opus-4-6",
            name: "Claude Opus 4.6",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text", "image"],
            contextWindow: 200000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "crazyrouter/claude-opus-4-6" },
      workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
    },
  },
}

Full Config with Multiple Models

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      crazyrouter: {
        baseUrl: "https://crazyrouter.com/v1",
        apiKey: "sk-your-crazyrouter-key",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          // Flagship - best for complex tasks
          {
            id: "claude-opus-4-6",
            name: "Claude Opus 4.6",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text", "image"],
            contextWindow: 200000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
          // Great all-rounder
          {
            id: "gpt-4o",
            name: "GPT-4o",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text", "image"],
            contextWindow: 128000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
          // Fast and cheap
          {
            id: "gpt-4o-mini",
            name: "GPT-4o Mini",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text", "image"],
            contextWindow: 128000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
          // Strong reasoning
          {
            id: "deepseek-reasoner",
            name: "DeepSeek R1",
            reasoning: true,
            input: ["text"],
            contextWindow: 64000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
          // Budget coding
          {
            id: "deepseek-chat",
            name: "DeepSeek V3",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            contextWindow: 64000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
          // Speed king
          {
            id: "gemini-2.0-flash",
            name: "Gemini 2.0 Flash",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text", "image"],
            contextWindow: 1000000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary: "crazyrouter/claude-opus-4-6",
        fallbacks: ["crazyrouter/gpt-4o"],
      },
      models: {
        "crazyrouter/gpt-4o-mini": { alias: "Mini" },
        "crazyrouter/deepseek-chat": { alias: "DeepSeek" },
      },
      workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
    },
  },
}

Add a Telegram Channel

{
  // ... models config above ...
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "123456:ABC-your-telegram-bot-token",
      dmPolicy: "allowlist",
      allowFrom: ["tg:YOUR_TELEGRAM_USER_ID"],
    },
  },
}

Add Discord

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "your-discord-bot-token",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
    },
  },
}

Switch Models On-the-fly

Once configured, you can switch models in chat:

/model crazyrouter/gpt-4o
/model crazyrouter/deepseek-chat
/model crazyrouter/gemini-2.0-flash

Or use aliases:

/model Mini
/model DeepSeek

Why Crazyrouter + OpenClaw?

Feature	Benefit
624+ models	Switch between any model without changing config
One API key	No need to manage separate keys for each provider
OpenAI-compatible	Native support in OpenClaw — zero custom code
Competitive pricing	Run your agent 24/7 without breaking the bank
Fallback support	If one model is down, auto-switch to another
All channels	Same backend powers Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Slack...

Cost Optimization Tips

Use cheap models for sub-agents — Set gpt-4o-mini or deepseek-chat for background tasks
Use powerful models for main chat — claude-opus-4-6 or gpt-4o for direct conversations
Enable compaction — Reduces token usage for long conversations:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      compaction: { mode: "safeguard" },
    },
  },
}

Set concurrent limits — Control parallel sub-agent runs:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      maxConcurrent: 4,
      subagents: { maxConcurrent: 8 },
    },
  },
}

Environment Variables (Alternative)

Instead of putting the API key in the config file:

export CRAZYROUTER_API_KEY="sk-your-crazyrouter-key"

Then reference it in config:

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      crazyrouter: {
        baseUrl: "https://crazyrouter.com/v1",
        apiKey: "${CRAZYROUTER_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        // ...
      },
    },
  },
}

Troubleshooting

Check Gateway Status

openclaw gateway status
openclaw doctor

View Logs

openclaw logs
openclaw logs --tail

Test the API Connection

curl https://crazyrouter.com/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-your-crazyrouter-key" \
  | head -20

Common Issues

Issue	Fix
"Model not found"	Check model ID matches exactly (e.g. `claude-opus-4-6`)
Auth error	Verify API key at crazyrouter.com
Slow responses	Try a faster model like `gemini-2.0-flash`
Gateway won't start	Run `openclaw doctor --fix`

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Crazyrouter-OpenClaw-Guide