Z.AI is the API platform for GLM models. It provides REST APIs for GLM and uses API keys for authentication. Create your API key in the Z.AI console. OpenClaw uses the zai provider with a Z.AI API key.
  • Provider: zai
  • Auth: ZAI_API_KEY
  • API: Z.AI Chat Completions (Bearer auth)

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Getting started

Best for: most users. OpenClaw detects the matching Z.AI endpoint from the key and applies the correct base URL automatically.
1

Run onboarding

openclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-api-key
2

Set a default model

{
  env: { ZAI_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "zai/glm-5.1" } } },
}
3

Verify the model is listed

openclaw models list --all --provider zai

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Built-in catalog

OpenClaw ships the bundled zai provider catalog in the plugin manifest, so read-only listing can show known GLM rows without loading provider runtime: 
openclaw models list --all --provider zai
The manifest-backed catalog currently includes:
Model refNotes
zai/glm-5.1Default model
zai/glm-5
zai/glm-5-turbo
zai/glm-5v-turbo
zai/glm-4.7
zai/glm-4.7-flash
zai/glm-4.7-flashx
zai/glm-4.6
zai/glm-4.6v
zai/glm-4.5
zai/glm-4.5-air
zai/glm-4.5-flash
zai/glm-4.5v
GLM models are available as zai/<model> (example: zai/glm-5). The default bundled model ref is zai/glm-5.1.

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Advanced configuration

Unknown glm-5* ids still forward-resolve on the bundled provider path by synthesizing provider-owned metadata from the glm-4.7 template when the id matches the current GLM-5 family shape.
tool_stream is enabled by default for Z.AI tool-call streaming. To disable it:
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "zai/<model>": {
          params: { tool_stream: false },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
Z.AI thinking follows OpenClaw’s /think controls. With thinking off, OpenClaw sends thinking: { type: "disabled" } to avoid responses that spend the output budget on reasoning_content before visible text.Preserved thinking is opt-in because Z.AI requires the full historical reasoning_content to be replayed, which increases prompt tokens. Enable it per model:
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "zai/glm-5.1": {
          params: { preserveThinking: true },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
When enabled and thinking is on, OpenClaw sends thinking: { type: "enabled", clear_thinking: false } and replays prior reasoning_content for the same OpenAI-compatible transcript.Advanced users can still override the exact provider payload with params.extra_body.thinking.
The bundled Z.AI plugin registers image understanding.
PropertyValue
Modelglm-4.6v
Image understanding is auto-resolved from the configured Z.AI auth — no additional config is needed.
  • Z.AI uses Bearer auth with your API key.
  • The zai-api-key onboarding choice auto-detects the matching Z.AI endpoint from the key prefix.
  • Use the explicit regional choices (zai-coding-global, zai-coding-cn, zai-global, zai-cn) when you want to force a specific API surface.

GLM model family

Model family overview for GLM.

Model selection

Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior.