Free API Providers and Models to Test OpenClaw

This post translates the free-provider video into a written CLI checklist. The goal is to shortlist candidates quickly, not to guess at providers from memory after a failed install.

Quick answer

Start with openclaw models list --all and openclaw models scan --no-probe. Pick from the live catalog first, then set your default model second.

Command line steps

1. List what the CLI already knows about

This gives you the broad catalog view before you narrow it to one provider or one model family.

openclaw models list --all
openclaw models list --all --provider openrouter

2. Run a free-catalog scan

The scan command is the cleanest way to surface OpenRouter free candidates without manually editing config.

openclaw models scan --no-probe --provider openrouter --max-candidates 12

3. Set the primary only after the shortlist looks sane

If you set a model first and inspect later, you end up debugging catalog problems as if they were gateway problems.

openclaw models set <provider/model>
openclaw models status

What to check if it still fails

• If you want image or tool capability checks, rerun the scan with live probing after credentials are configured.
• If you want to keep a short picker in /model, review the allowlist with openclaw configure --section model.
• If you hit ‘model is not allowed’, clear or expand agents.defaults.models rather than repeatedly changing the primary model.