🔌 Providers & Model Configuration

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Providers

[!NOTE] Voice transcription can use a configured multimodal model via voice.model_name. Groq Whisper remains available as a fallback when no voice model is configured.

Provider	Purpose	Get API Key
`gemini`	LLM (Gemini direct)	aistudio.google.com
`zhipu`	LLM (Zhipu direct)	bigmodel.cn
`zai-coding`	LLM (Z.AI Coding Plan)	z.ai
`volcengine`	LLM(Volcengine direct)	volcengine.com
`openrouter`	LLM (recommended, access to all models)	openrouter.ai
`anthropic`	LLM (Claude direct)	console.anthropic.com
`openai`	LLM (GPT direct)	platform.openai.com
`venice`	LLM (Venice AI direct)	venice.ai
`deepseek`	LLM (DeepSeek direct)	platform.deepseek.com
`qwen`	LLM (Qwen direct)	dashscope.console.aliyun.com
`groq`	LLM + Voice transcription (Whisper)	console.groq.com
`cerebras`	LLM (Cerebras direct)	cerebras.ai
`vivgrid`	LLM (Vivgrid direct)	vivgrid.com
`nvidia`	LLM (NVIDIA NIM)	build.nvidia.com
`moonshot`	LLM (Kimi/Moonshot direct)	platform.moonshot.cn
`minimax`	LLM (Minimax direct)	platform.minimaxi.com
`avian`	LLM (Avian direct)	avian.io
`mistral`	LLM (Mistral direct)	console.mistral.ai
`longcat`	LLM (Longcat direct)	longcat.ai
`modelscope`	LLM (ModelScope direct)	modelscope.cn
`mimo`	LLM (Xiaomi MiMo direct)	platform.xiaomimimo.com

Model Configuration (model_list)

What's New? PicoClaw now prefers explicit provider + native model configuration (for example "provider": "zhipu", "model": "glm-4.7"). The legacy single-field provider/model form remains supported for compatibility when provider is omitted.

For agent dispatch and light-model routing examples, see the Routing Guide.

This design also enables multi-agent support with flexible provider selection:

Different agents, different providers: Each agent can use its own LLM provider
Model fallbacks: Configure primary and fallback models for resilience
Load balancing: Distribute requests across multiple endpoints
Centralized configuration: Manage all providers in one place

📋 All Supported Vendors

Vendor	`provider` Value	Default API Base	Protocol	API Key
OpenAI	`openai`	`https://api.openai.com/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
Venice AI	`venice`	`https://api.venice.ai/api/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
Anthropic	`anthropic`	`https://api.anthropic.com/v1`	Anthropic	Get Key
智谱 AI (GLM)	`zhipu`	`https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4`	OpenAI	Get Key
Z.AI Coding Plan	`openai`	`https://api.z.ai/api/coding/paas/v4`	OpenAI	Get Key
DeepSeek	`deepseek`	`https://api.deepseek.com/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
Google Gemini	`gemini`	`https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta`	Gemini	Get Key
Groq	`groq`	`https://api.groq.com/openai/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
Moonshot	`moonshot`	`https://api.moonshot.cn/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
通义千问 (Qwen)	`qwen`	`https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
NVIDIA	`nvidia`	`https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
Ollama	`ollama`	`http://localhost:11434/v1`	OpenAI	Local (no key needed)
LM Studio	`lmstudio`	`http://localhost:1234/v1`	OpenAI	Optional (local default: no key)
OpenRouter	`openrouter`	`https://openrouter.ai/api/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
LiteLLM Proxy	`litellm`	`http://localhost:4000/v1`	OpenAI	Your LiteLLM proxy key
VLLM	`vllm`	`http://localhost:8000/v1`	OpenAI	Local
Cerebras	`cerebras`	`https://api.cerebras.ai/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
VolcEngine (Doubao)	`volcengine`	`https://ark.cn-beijing.volces.com/api/v3`	OpenAI	Get Key
神算云	`shengsuanyun`	`https://router.shengsuanyun.com/api/v1`	OpenAI	-
BytePlus	`byteplus`	`https://ark.ap-southeast.bytepluses.com/api/v3`	OpenAI	Get Key
Vivgrid	`vivgrid`	`https://api.vivgrid.com/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
LongCat	`longcat`	`https://api.longcat.chat/openai`	OpenAI	Get Key
ModelScope (魔搭)	`modelscope`	`https://api-inference.modelscope.cn/v1`	OpenAI	Get Token
Xiaomi MiMo	`mimo`	`https://api.xiaomimimo.com/v1`	OpenAI	Get Key
Azure OpenAI	`azure`	`https://{resource}.openai.azure.com`	Azure	Get Key
Antigravity	`antigravity`	Google Cloud	Custom	OAuth only
GitHub Copilot	`github-copilot`	`localhost:4321`	gRPC	-

Basic Configuration

json

{
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "ark-code-latest",
      "provider": "volcengine",
      "model": "ark-code-latest",
      "api_keys": ["sk-your-api-key"]
    },
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-5.4",
      "provider": "openai",
      "model": "gpt-5.4",
      "api_keys": ["sk-your-openai-key"]
    },
    {
      "model_name": "claude-sonnet-4.6",
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4.6",
      "api_keys": ["sk-ant-your-key"]
    },
    {
      "model_name": "glm-4.7",
      "provider": "zhipu",
      "model": "glm-4.7",
      "api_keys": ["your-zhipu-key"]
    }
  ],
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model_name": "gpt-5.4"
    }
  }
}

`model_list` Entry Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`model_name`	string	Yes	Unique name used to reference this model in agent config
`provider`	string	No	Preferred provider identifier. When present, PicoClaw sends `model` unchanged to that provider
`model`	string	Yes	Native model ID when `provider` is set. If `provider` is omitted, the legacy `provider/model` form is still supported
`api_keys`	string[]	Yes*	API key(s) for authentication. Multiple keys enable per-request rotation. Not required for local providers (Ollama, LM Studio, VLLM)
`api_base`	string	No	Override the default API endpoint URL
`proxy`	string	No	HTTP proxy URL for this model entry
`user_agent`	string	No	Custom `User-Agent` header sent with API requests (supported by OpenAI-compatible, Gemini, Anthropic, and Azure providers)
`request_timeout`	int	No	Request timeout in seconds (default varies by provider)
`max_tokens_field`	string	No	Override the max tokens field name in request body (e.g., `max_completion_tokens` for o1 models)
`thinking_level`	string	No	Extended thinking level: `off`, `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`, or `adaptive`
`extra_body`	object	No	Additional fields to inject into every request body
`custom_headers`	object	No	Additional HTTP headers to inject into every request (e.g., `{"X-Source":"coding-plan"}`). If a key matches a built-in header, the custom value overrides the built-in one (e.g., `Authorization`, `User-Agent`, `Content-Type`, `Accept`).
`rpm`	int	No	Per-minute request rate limit
`fallbacks`	string[]	No	Fallback model names for automatic failover
`enabled`	bool	No	Whether this model entry is active (default: `true`)

Provider / Model Resolution

PicoClaw resolves provider and the runtime model ID using these rules:

If provider is set, model is used as-is.
If provider is omitted, PicoClaw treats the first / segment in model as the provider and everything after that first / as the runtime model ID.

Examples:

Config	Resolved Provider	Model Sent Upstream
`"provider": "openai", "model": "gpt-5.4"`	`openai`	`gpt-5.4`
`"model": "openai/gpt-5.4"`	`openai`	`gpt-5.4`
`"provider": "openrouter", "model": "openai/gpt-5.4"`	`openrouter`	`openai/gpt-5.4`
`"model": "openrouter/openai/gpt-5.4"`	`openrouter`	`openai/gpt-5.4`

Voice Transcription

You can configure a dedicated model for audio transcription with voice.model_name. This lets you reuse existing multimodal providers that support audio input instead of relying only on Groq.

If voice.model_name is not configured, PicoClaw will continue to fall back to Groq transcription when a Groq API key is available.

json

{
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "voice-gemini",
      "provider": "gemini",
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
      "api_keys": ["your-gemini-key"]
    }
  ],
  "voice": {
    "model_name": "voice-gemini",
    "echo_transcription": false
  },
  "providers": {
    "groq": {
      "api_key": "gsk_xxx"
    }
  }
}

Vendor-Specific Examples

OpenAI

json

{
  "model_name": "gpt-5.4",
  "provider": "openai",
  "model": "gpt-5.4",
  "api_keys": ["sk-..."]
}

VolcEngine (Doubao)

json

{
  "model_name": "ark-code-latest",
  "provider": "volcengine",
  "model": "ark-code-latest",
  "api_keys": ["sk-..."]
}

智谱 AI (GLM)

json

{
  "model_name": "glm-4.7",
  "provider": "zhipu",
  "model": "glm-4.7",
  "api_keys": ["your-key"]
}

Z.AI Coding Plan (GLM)

Z.AI and 智谱 AI are two brands of the same provider. For the Z.AI Coding Plan use the openai model key and the api base as follows, rather than the zhipu config

json

{
  "model_name": "glm-4.7",
  "provider": "openai",
  "model": "glm-4.7",
  "api_keys": ["your-z.ai-key"],
  "api_base": "https://api.z.ai/api/coding/paas/v4"
}

DeepSeek

json

{
  "model_name": "deepseek-chat",
  "provider": "deepseek",
  "model": "deepseek-chat",
  "api_keys": ["sk-..."]
}

Anthropic (with API key)

json

{
  "model_name": "claude-sonnet-4.6",
  "provider": "anthropic",
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4.6",
  "api_keys": ["sk-ant-your-key"]
}

Run picoclaw auth login --provider anthropic to paste your API token.

Anthropic Messages API (native format)

For direct Anthropic API access or custom endpoints that only support Anthropic's native message format:

json

{
  "model_name": "claude-opus-4-6",
  "provider": "anthropic-messages",
  "model": "claude-opus-4-6",
  "api_keys": ["sk-ant-your-key"],
  "api_base": "https://api.anthropic.com"
}

Use anthropic-messages protocol when:

Using third-party proxies that only support Anthropic's native /v1/messages endpoint (not OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions)

Connecting to services like MiniMax, Synthetic that require Anthropic's native message format

The existing anthropic protocol returns 404 errors (indicating the endpoint doesn't support OpenAI-compatible format)

Note: The anthropic protocol uses OpenAI-compatible format (/v1/chat/completions), while anthropic-messages uses Anthropic's native format (/v1/messages). Choose based on your endpoint's supported format.

Ollama (local)

json

{
  "model_name": "llama3",
  "provider": "ollama",
  "model": "llama3"
}

LM Studio (local)

json

{
  "model_name": "lmstudio-local",
  "provider": "lmstudio",
  "model": "openai/gpt-oss-20b"
}

api_base defaults to http://localhost:1234/v1. API key is optional unless your LM Studio server enables authentication.

With explicit provider, PicoClaw sends openai/gpt-oss-20b unchanged to the LM Studio server. The legacy compatibility form "model": "lmstudio/openai/gpt-oss-20b" still resolves to the same upstream model ID when provider is omitted.

Custom Proxy/API

json

{
  "model_name": "my-custom-model",
  "provider": "openai",
  "model": "custom-model",
  "api_base": "https://my-proxy.com/v1",
  "api_keys": ["sk-..."],
  "user_agent": "MyApp/1.0",
  "request_timeout": 300
}

LiteLLM Proxy

json

{
  "model_name": "lite-gpt4",
  "provider": "litellm",
  "model": "lite-gpt4",
  "api_base": "http://localhost:4000/v1",
  "api_keys": ["sk-..."]
}

With explicit provider, PicoClaw sends model unchanged. That means "provider": "litellm", "model": "lite-gpt4" sends lite-gpt4, while "provider": "litellm", "model": "openai/gpt-4o" sends openai/gpt-4o. The legacy compatibility forms litellm/lite-gpt4 and litellm/openai/gpt-4o still resolve the same way when provider is omitted.

Z.AI Coding Plan

If the standard Zhipu endpoint (https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4) returns 429 (code 1113: insufficient balance), try using the Z.AI Coding Plan endpoint instead:

json

{
  "model_name": "glm-4.7",
  "provider": "openai",
  "model": "glm-4.7",
  "api_keys": ["your-zhipu-api-key"],
  "api_base": "https://api.z.ai/api/coding/paas/v4"
}

Note: The Z.AI Coding Plan endpoint and standard Zhipu endpoint use the same API key format but have separate billing. If you encounter 429 errors with the standard Zhipu endpoint, the Z.AI Coding Plan endpoint may have available balance.

Load Balancing

Configure multiple endpoints for the same model name—PicoClaw will automatically round-robin between them:

json

{
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-5.4",
      "provider": "openai",
      "model": "gpt-5.4",
      "api_base": "https://api1.example.com/v1",
      "api_keys": ["sk-key1"]
    },
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-5.4",
      "provider": "openai",
      "model": "gpt-5.4",
      "api_base": "https://api2.example.com/v1",
      "api_keys": ["sk-key2"]
    }
  ]
}

Automatic Model Failover (Cascade)

PicoClaw already supports automatic failover when you configure primary + fallbacks in the agent model settings. The runtime fallback chain retries the next candidate for retriable failures such as HTTP 429, quota/rate-limit errors, and timeout errors. It also applies cooldown tracking per candidate to avoid immediately retrying a recently failed target.

json

{
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "qwen-main",
      "provider": "openai",
      "model": "qwen3.5:cloud",
      "api_base": "https://api.example.com/v1",
      "api_keys": ["sk-main"]
    },
    {
      "model_name": "deepseek-backup",
      "provider": "deepseek",
      "model": "deepseek-chat",
      "api_keys": ["sk-backup-1"]
    },
    {
      "model_name": "gemini-backup",
      "provider": "gemini",
      "model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
      "api_keys": ["sk-backup-2"]
    }
  ],
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "qwen-main",
        "fallbacks": ["deepseek-backup", "gemini-backup"]
      }
    }
  }
}

If you use key-level failover for the same model, PicoClaw can chain through additional key-backed candidates before moving to cross-model backups.

Migration from Legacy `providers` Config

The old providers configuration is deprecated and has been removed in V2. Existing V0/V1 configs are auto-migrated.

Old Config (deprecated):

json

{
  "providers": {
    "zhipu": {
      "api_key": "your-key",
      "api_base": "https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4"
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "provider": "zhipu",
      "model": "glm-4.7"
    }
  }
}

New Config (recommended):

json

{
  "version": 3,
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "glm-4.7",
      "provider": "zhipu",
      "model": "glm-4.7",
      "api_keys": ["your-key"]
    }
  ],
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model_name": "glm-4.7"
    }
  }
}

For detailed migration guide, see migration/model-list-migration.md.

Provider Architecture

PicoClaw routes providers by protocol family:

OpenAI-compatible protocol: OpenRouter, OpenAI-compatible gateways, Groq, Zhipu, and vLLM-style endpoints.
Gemini native protocol: Google Gemini via the native models/*:generateContent and models/*:streamGenerateContent endpoints.
Anthropic protocol: Claude-native API behavior.
Codex/OAuth path: OpenAI OAuth/token authentication route.

This keeps the runtime lightweight while making new OpenAI-compatible backends mostly a config operation (api_base + api_keys).

<details> <summary><b>Zhipu</b></summary>

1. Get API key and base URL

Get API key

2. Configure

json

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "workspace": "~/.picoclaw/workspace",
      "model_name": "glm-4.7",
      "max_tokens": 8192,
      "temperature": 0.7,
      "max_tool_iterations": 20
    }
  },
  "providers": {
    "zhipu": {
      "api_key": "Your API Key",
      "api_base": "https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4"
    }
  }
}

3. Run

bash

picoclaw agent -m "Hello"

</details> <details> <summary><b>Full config example</b></summary>

json

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model_name": "claude-opus-4-5"
    }
  },
  "session": {
    "dm_scope": "per-channel-peer"
  },
  "providers": {
    "openrouter": {
      "api_key": "sk-or-v1-xxx"
    },
    "groq": {
      "api_key": "gsk_xxx"
    }
  },
  "voice": {
    "model_name": "voice-gemini",
    "echo_transcription": false
  },
  "channel_list": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "type": "telegram",
      "token": "123456:ABC...",
      "allow_from": ["123456789"]
    },
    "discord": {
      "enabled": true,
      "type": "discord",
      "token": "",
      "allow_from": [""]
    },
    "whatsapp": {
      "enabled": false,
      "type": "whatsapp",
      "bridge_url": "ws://localhost:3001",
      "use_native": false,
      "session_store_path": "",
      "allow_from": []
    },
    "feishu": {
      "enabled": false,
      "type": "feishu",
      "app_id": "cli_xxx",
      "app_secret": "xxx",
      "encrypt_key": "",
      "verification_token": "",
      "allow_from": []
    },
    "qq": {
      "enabled": false,
      "type": "qq",
      "app_id": "",
      "app_secret": "",
      "allow_from": []
    }
  },
  "tools": {
    "web": {
      "brave": {
        "enabled": false,
        "api_key": "BSA...",
        "max_results": 5
      },
      "duckduckgo": {
        "enabled": true,
        "max_results": 5
      },
      "perplexity": {
        "enabled": false,
        "api_key": "",
        "max_results": 5
      },
      "searxng": {
        "enabled": false,
        "base_url": "http://localhost:8888",
        "max_results": 5
      }
    },
    "cron": {
      "exec_timeout_minutes": 5
    }
  },
  "heartbeat": {
    "enabled": true,
    "interval": 30
  }
}

</details>

📝 API Key Comparison

Service	Pricing	Use Case
OpenRouter	Free: 200K tokens/month	Multiple models (Claude, GPT-4, etc.)
Volcengine CodingPlan	¥9.9/first month	Best for Chinese users, multiple SOTA models (Doubao, DeepSeek, etc.)
Zhipu	Free: 200K tokens/month	Suitable for Chinese users
Brave Search	$5/1000 queries	Web search functionality
SearXNG	Free (self-hosted)	Privacy-focused metasearch (70+ engines)
Groq	Free tier available	Fast inference (Llama, Mixtral)
Cerebras	Free tier available	Fast inference (Llama, Qwen, etc.)
LongCat	Free: up to 5M tokens/day	Fast inference
ModelScope	Free: 2000 requests/day	Inference (Qwen, GLM, DeepSeek, etc.)

🔌 Providers & Model Configuration

🔌 Providers & Model Configuration

Providers

Model Configuration (model_list)

📋 All Supported Vendors

Basic Configuration

model_list Entry Fields

Provider / Model Resolution

Voice Transcription

Vendor-Specific Examples

Load Balancing

Automatic Model Failover (Cascade)

Migration from Legacy providers Config

Provider Architecture

📝 API Key Comparison

`model_list` Entry Fields

Migration from Legacy `providers` Config