stack/docs/providers/venice.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Use Venice AI privacy-focused models in OpenClaw	You want privacy-focused inference in OpenClaw You want Venice AI setup guidance	Venice AI

Venice AI provides privacy-focused inference: open models run with no logging, plus anonymized proxy access to Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok. All endpoints are OpenAI-compatible (/v1).

Privacy modes

Mode	Behavior	Models
Private	Prompts/responses are never stored or logged. Ephemeral.	GLM, Gemma, Grok, Qwen, DeepSeek, Kimi, Venice Uncensored, etc.
Anonymized	Proxied through Venice with metadata stripped before forwarding.	Claude, GPT, and selected Qwen models

Anonymized models are not fully private. Venice strips metadata before forwarding, but the underlying provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI) still processes the request. Use Private models when full privacy is required.

Getting started

```bash openclaw plugins install @openclaw/venice-provider ``` 1. Sign up at [venice.ai](https://venice.ai) 2. Go to **Settings > API Keys > Create new key** 3. Copy your API key (format: `vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx`) ```bash openclaw onboard --auth-choice venice-api-key ```

    Prompts for the API key (or reuses an existing `VENICE_API_KEY`), lists available Venice models, and sets your default model.
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Environment variable">
    ```bash
    export VENICE_API_KEY="vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Non-interactive">
    ```bash
    openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk --skip-health \
      --auth-choice venice-api-key \
      --venice-api-key "vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

```bash openclaw agent --model venice/zai-org-glm-4.7 --message "Hello, are you working?" ```

Model selection

• Default: venice/zai-org-glm-4.7 (private reasoning).
• Strongest anonymized option: venice/claude-opus-5.

openclaw models set venice/zai-org-glm-4.7
openclaw models list --all --provider venice

You can also run openclaw configure and pick Model/auth provider > Venice AI.

| Use case | Model | Why | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | General chat (default) | `zai-org-glm-4.7` | Venice live default trait | | Best overall quality | `claude-opus-5` | Current promoted anonymized Opus model | | Privacy + coding | `qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct-turbo` | Private coding model with large context | | Fast + cheap | `google-gemma-4-31b-it` | Low-cost promoted private vision model | | Complex private tasks | `deepseek-v3.2` | Promoted private reasoning model | | Uncensored | `venice-uncensored-1-2` | Current uncensored Venice model |

Built-in catalog (16 visible models)

| Model ID | Name | Context | Notes | | -------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------- | | `zai-org-glm-5-2` | GLM 5.2 | 1M | Recommended, coding | | `zai-org-glm-4.7` | GLM 4.7 | 198k | Private reasoning | | `venice-uncensored-1-2` | Venice Uncensored 1.2 | 128k | Most uncensored, vision | | `google-gemma-4-31b-it` | Google Gemma 4 31B Instruct | 256k | Recommended, vision | | `kimi-k2-6` | Kimi K2.6 | 256k | Recommended, coding, vision | | `deepseek-v3.2` | DeepSeek V3.2 | 160k | Recommended, reasoning | | `qwen3-235b-a22b-thinking-2507` | Qwen3 235B Thinking | 128k | Default reasoning | | `qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct-turbo` | Qwen3 Coder 480B Turbo | 256k | Default coding | | `qwen3-vl-235b-a22b` | Qwen3 VL 235B | 128k | Default vision | | `grok-4-5` | Grok 4.5 | 500k | Recommended, coding, vision | | Model ID | Name | Context | Notes | | ------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------- | | `qwen-3-7-max` | Qwen 3.7 Max (via Venice) | 1M | Recommended, coding, vision | | `qwen-3-7-plus` | Qwen 3.7 Plus (via Venice) | 1M | Recommended, coding, vision | | `claude-fable-5` | Claude Fable 5 (via Venice) | 1M | Recommended, coding, vision | | `claude-opus-5` | Claude Opus 5 (via Venice) | 1M | Recommended, coding, vision | | `claude-sonnet-4-6` | Claude Sonnet 4.6 (via Venice) | 1M | Recommended, coding, vision | | `openai-gpt-56-sol` | GPT-5.6 Sol (via Venice) | 1M | Recommended, vision | | Model ID | Replacement | | ----------------------- | --------------------------- | | `zai-org-glm-4.6` | `zai-org-glm-4.7` | | `google-gemma-3-27b-it` | `google-gemma-4-31b-it` | | `kimi-k2-5` | `kimi-k2-6` |

Grok-backed Venice models (grok-4-3 and similar) get the same tool-schema compat patch as the native xAI provider, since they share the same upstream tool-call format.

Model discovery

The bundled catalog above is a manifest-backed seed list. At runtime OpenClaw refreshes it from the Venice /models API and falls back to the seed list if the API is unreachable. The /models endpoint is public (no auth needed for listing), but inference requires a valid API key.

Venice may continue accepting retired model IDs as provider-owned aliases. The OpenClaw catalog advertises only the canonical model IDs returned by /models.

DeepSeek V4 replay behavior

If Venice exposes DeepSeek V4 models such as deepseek-v4-pro or deepseek-v4-flash, OpenClaw fills the required reasoning_content replay field on assistant messages when Venice omits it, and strips thinking/ reasoning/reasoning_effort from the request payload (Venice rejects DeepSeek's native thinking control on these models). This replay fix is separate from the native DeepSeek provider's own thinking controls.

Streaming and tool support

Feature	Support
Streaming	All models
Function calling	All visible seed models; live rows follow API metadata
Vision/Images	Models marked "Vision" above
JSON mode	Via response_format

Pricing

Venice uses a credit-based system. Anonymized models cost roughly the same as direct API pricing plus a small Venice fee. See venice.ai/pricing for current rates.

OpenClaw reads live prices from Venice's public GET /api/v1/models response during model discovery. The same plugin parser supplies the hosted catalog publisher. Known and newly discovered models use the API's complete schedule in USD per million tokens; the manifest prices are an offline seed. Missing or invalid live prices retain the complete seed schedule for known models. Unknown models without valid pricing keep zero estimates; that does not mean the model is free. Explicit API zero rates are valid.

When the API supplies extended pricing, its rates apply to the entire request only when total prompt input exceeds context_token_threshold. Prompt input includes uncached input, cache reads, and cache writes; output tokens do not select the tier. A request exactly at the threshold still uses base rates. Base and extended rates always come from one schedule. An invalid extended schedule is not combined with seed or other-source prices.

Explicit models.providers.venice.models[].cost entries override catalog estimates, including zero. Omitted cost or {} inherits the catalog schedule. Partial flat overrides inherit missing base rates and remove inherited tiers; explicit tieredPricing wins, and tieredPricing: [] selects flat pricing. Agent-local root models.json prices retain highest priority.

New onboarding in models.mode: "merge" leaves generated catalog rows out of the configuration so they cannot become price pins. Re-onboarding preserves existing model entries, aliases, and model selection. In models.mode: "replace", onboarding retains explicit seed rows because that mode disables discovery. Existing serialized costs are never automatically removed or migrated, even if they match an old seed. With merge mode enabled, back up your configuration and remove only unwanted cost fields to resume catalog pricing; keep intentional overrides.

Discovery reuses its existing fetched rows and cache. Usage display makes no price requests, and a running Gateway does not immediately adopt every upstream price change. Hosted catalog updates activate at the existing restart boundary; see Hosted model catalog. Make sizing-only edits in your source configuration without copying generated model rows back into it: replacing an entire model array from a runtime snapshot can persist inherited costs as explicit overrides. Historical recorded costs are preserved; current pricing fills only missing costs or unknown-price zero placeholders. See Token use and costs.

Usage examples

# Default private model
openclaw agent --model venice/zai-org-glm-4.7 --message "Quick health check"

# Claude Opus via Venice (anonymized)
openclaw agent --model venice/claude-opus-5 --message "Summarize this task"

# Uncensored model
openclaw agent --model venice/venice-uncensored-1-2 --message "Draft options"

# Vision model with image
openclaw agent --model venice/qwen3-vl-235b-a22b --message "Review attached image"

# Coding model
openclaw agent --model venice/qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct-turbo --message "Refactor this function"

Troubleshooting

```bash openclaw models list --provider venice ```

Confirm the API key is configured and starts with `vapi_`; do not print or
share its value.

Run `openclaw models list --all --provider venice` to see currently available models; the catalog changes as Venice adds or retires models. Venice API is at `https://api.venice.ai/api/v1`. Confirm your network allows HTTPS to that host. More help: [Troubleshooting](/help/troubleshooting) and [FAQ](/help/faq).

Advanced configuration

```json5 { env: { vars: { VENICE_API_KEY: "vapi_..." } }, agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "venice/zai-org-glm-4.7" } } }, models: { mode: "merge", providers: { venice: { baseUrl: "https://api.venice.ai/api/v1", apiKey: "${VENICE_API_KEY}", api: "openai-completions", models: [ { id: "zai-org-glm-4.7", name: "GLM 4.7", reasoning: true, input: ["text"], contextWindow: 198000, maxTokens: 16384, }, ], }, }, }, } ```

Related

Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior. Venice AI homepage and account signup. Venice API reference and developer docs. Current Venice credit rates and plans.