Use OpenClaw with RunBridge AI

OpenClaw supports custom OpenAI-compatible providers. This guide registers a RunBridge AI model and selects it for the agent using Chat Completions.

Prerequisites

A current OpenClaw installation. Its installation guide currently requires Node.js 24.16+ or 26.1+ for the CLI.
An active API key from the RunBridge AI console.
A text model that supports Chat Completions, streaming, and tool calling. Replace every your-model-id below with the same exact model ID.

Install OpenClaw

Use the official installer, which can provision a compatible Node.js version. If installing before configuring the provider, use its skip onboarding option. Confirm installation:

openclaw --version

Configure the provider and model

Add the key to the user-level ~/.openclaw/.env file, or $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/.env if you use a custom state directory:

RUNBRIDGE_API_KEY=your-runbridge-api-key

Use the global OpenClaw file or the Gateway’s process environment, not a project .env. Keep the key outside your project repository. Locate the active configuration:

openclaw config file

Merge this JSON into that file (normally ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json). Preserve existing providers, agents, and model entries:

{
  "models": {
    "mode": "merge",
    "providers": {
      "runbridge": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.runbridge.ai/v1",
        "apiKey": "${RUNBRIDGE_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "your-model-id",
            "name": "RunBridge AI text model"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "runbridge/your-model-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

runbridge is your custom provider ID. The models entry registers the API model, while agents.defaults.model.primary selects it. Merely setting the default does not register a provider. Despite the adapter name openai-completions, this configuration sends Chat Completions requests to /v1/chat/completions with Bearer authentication.

Only declare model capabilities that the selected model supports. For image input, add "input": ["text", "image"] to its model entry after confirming vision support. Set context and output limits from the model’s documented limits.

Verify the connection

openclaw config validate
openclaw models list

Confirm the registered model appears as runbridge/your-model-id. For an existing Gateway service, reload the configuration:

openclaw gateway restart

For a first installation, complete the official onboarding flow while retaining your existing custom model configuration. Open a new chat and ask: Reply with CONNECTED only. This makes a real API request and may incur usage. Check a small coding task separately to verify tool calling.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check
`RUNBRIDGE_API_KEY` is unresolved or HTTP 401	Put the key in the global OpenClaw `.env` or Gateway process environment, then restart the Gateway. A terminal export may not reach an already running service.
Unknown model/provider	Register `models.providers.runbridge.models` and use exactly the same ID in `agents.defaults.model.primary`.
HTTP 404	Keep `/v1` in `baseUrl` and use `api: openai-completions`. Do not append the request path manually.
Model ignores images or tool calls fail	Confirm the endpoint and model support those capabilities, then set the matching model metadata.
Config validation fails	Preserve the surrounding JSON/JSON5 structure and merge existing objects and arrays rather than replacing the entire file.

See OpenClaw’s custom provider reference and environment variable reference for further details.

Get started

Coding agents

Agent platforms

Editor extensions

Use OpenClaw with RunBridge AI

Prerequisites

Install OpenClaw

Configure the provider and model

Verify the connection

Troubleshooting

​Prerequisites

​Install OpenClaw

​Configure the provider and model

​Verify the connection

​Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Install OpenClaw

Configure the provider and model

Verify the connection

Troubleshooting