How to Integrate Venice AI Models in Openclaw

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Quick Start

Venice AI provides private, uncensored AI models with OpenAI-compatible APIs. This guide shows you how to integrate Venice AI models into your Openclaw setup in under 5 minutes.

Get Your API Key

First, sign up at venice.ai and generate a new API key from Settings → API Keys. Your key will start with vapi_.

Configure Openclaw

Interactive Setup

Run the onboarding wizard and select Venice when prompted:

openclaw onboard --auth-choice venice-api-key

Non-Interactive Setup

For automated deployments or CI/CD pipelines:

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --auth-choice venice-api-key \
  --venice-api-key "vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Environment Variable

Alternatively, export the key directly in your shell:

export VENICE_API_KEY="vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Manual Configuration

If you prefer to define the provider manually in your ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, use this Anthropic/OpenAI-compatible configuration:

{
  "env": { "VENICE_API_KEY": "vapi_..." },
  "agents": { 
    "defaults": { 
      "model": { "primary": "venice/kimi-k2-5" } 
    } 
  },
  "models": {
    "mode": "merge",
    "providers": {
      "venice": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.venice.ai/api/v1",
        "apiKey": "${VENICE_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "kimi-k2-5",
            "name": "Kimi K2.5",
            "reasoning": true,
            "input": ["text", "image"],
            "contextWindow": 256000,
            "maxTokens": 65536
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

For more AI provider integrations, check out our guides on Anthropic Models Openclaw and OpenAI Models Openclaw.

Available Models

Venice AI supports several high-performance models:

kimi-k2-5 — Full reasoning with 256K context window
qwen-2.5-coder-32b — Optimized for code generation
llama-3.3-70b — General-purpose large model

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Authentication errors	Verify your key starts with vapi_ and is active in Venice dashboard
Model not found	Use the exact model ID from Venice's model list
Rate limiting	Venice has generous limits; check your plan if hitting caps

Best Practices

Store VENICE_API_KEY in ~/.openclaw/.env for daemon deployments
Use kimi-k2-5 for complex reasoning tasks
Enable reasoning for multi-step problem solving
Monitor token usage via Venice dashboard

Your Openclaw agent is now connected to Venice AI. Start chatting with private, uncensored models immediately.