Using GLM (Zhipu AI) with OpenClaw

Prerequisites

• ✓A Z.AI account with access to GLM models and an API key that starts with `sk-...`.
• ✓OpenClaw installed with access to the `openclaw` CLI in your shell.
• ✓Network access from your environment to the Z.AI endpoints that match your region and plan (global or China).

Steps

1. 1

   Choose your Z.AI auth route and run onboarding

   AI so it can reach GLM models. AI plan and region; this is where many people accidentally mix up Coding vs general API or global vs China.

   Run the onboarding command so OpenClaw stores the provider config and, for `zai-api-key`, auto-detects the correct endpoint from your key.

   bashCopy

   # Example: generic auto-detect
   openclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-api-key
   
   # Example: Coding Plan global
   openclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-coding-global

2. 2

   Understand the available Z.AI auth choices

   AI subscription to the right `--auth-choice`. Using the wrong one can point OpenClaw at the wrong regional endpoint or API surface, which leads to confusing auth or model-availability errors later.

   Use this table as your quick reference when deciding which onboarding flag to use.

   textCopy

   Auth choice        | Best for
   -------------------|-------------------------------
   `zai-api-key`      | Generic API-key setup with endpoint auto-detection
   `zai-coding-global`| Coding Plan users (global)
   `zai-coding-cn`    | Coding Plan users (China region)
   `zai-global`       | General API (global)
   `zai-cn`           | General API (China region)

3. 3

   Set a GLM model as the default for your agents

   Once onboarding succeeds, point your agents at a specific GLM model so you do not have to specify it on every call. 1`, which is a bundled GLM ref wired through the `zai` provider.

   Run this config command so new agents automatically use GLM unless you override the model per-agent.

   bashCopy

   openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.primary "zai/glm-5.1"

4. 4

   Verify GLM models are available from the zai provider

   Before wiring this into a larger system, confirm that OpenClaw can list GLM models via the `zai` provider. This catches issues like bad auth, wrong region, or missing plan access early.

   1` and `glm-5`, your provider wiring is good.

   bashCopy

   openclaw models list --provider zai

5. 5

   Configure GLM in your OpenClaw environment

   If you manage OpenClaw config as code, mirror the CLI changes in your config object. 1`.

   This keeps your GLM setup reproducible across environments and CI.

   jsonCopy

   {
     env: { ZAI_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
     agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "zai/glm-5.1" } } },
   }

6. 6

   Pick the right bundled GLM model reference

   OpenClaw seeds the `zai` provider with several GLM model refs so you can swap behavior without changing providers. primary` accordingly.

   Use this table to see what GLM variants are already wired in.

   textCopy

   Model           | Model
   ----------------|-----------------
   `glm-5.1`       | `glm-4.7`
   `glm-5`         | `glm-4.7-flash`
   `glm-5-turbo`   | `glm-4.7-flashx`
   `glm-5v-turbo`  | `glm-4.6`
   `glm-4.5`       | `glm-4.6v`
   `glm-4.5-air`   | 
   `glm-4.5-flash` | 
   `glm-4.5v`      | 

Configuration

Troubleshooting

openclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-api-key

openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.primary "zai/glm-5.1"

Frequently asked questions