NemoClawChange the active inference model while the sandbox is running. No restart is required.
PATH, which NemoClaw uses under the hood.Use nemoclaw inference set with the provider and model that match the upstream you want to use.
The command updates the OpenShell inference route and synchronizes the running agent config.
For OpenClaw, it updates agents.defaults.model.primary and the matching provider namespace.
Pass --sandbox <name> when you do not want to use the default registered sandbox.
If you onboarded a custom compatible endpoint, switch models with the provider created for that endpoint:
If onboarding selected /v1/responses but the agent fails at runtime (for
example, because the backend does not emit the streaming events OpenClaw
requires), re-run onboarding so the wizard re-probes the endpoint and bakes
the correct API path into the image:
Select the same provider and endpoint again.
The updated streaming probe will detect incomplete /v1/responses support
and select /v1/chat/completions automatically.
For the compatible-endpoint provider, NemoClaw uses /v1/chat/completions by
default, so no env var is required to keep the safe path.
To opt in to /v1/responses for a backend you have verified end to end, set
NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API before onboarding:
NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_API_OVERRIDE patches the config at container startup but
does not update the Dockerfile ARG baked into the image.
If you recreate the sandbox without the override env var, the image reverts to
the original API path.
A fresh nemoclaw onboard is the reliable fix because it updates both the
session and the baked image.
Switching to a different provider family (for example, from NVIDIA Endpoints to Anthropic) also uses nemoclaw inference set.
The command updates both the gateway route and the OpenClaw provider namespace in the running sandbox config.
Use --no-verify only when OpenShell cannot verify the provider at switch time but you have already confirmed the provider and credential.
The sandbox image bakes model metadata (context window, max output tokens, reasoning mode, and accepted input modalities) into openclaw.json at build time.
To change these values, set the corresponding environment variables before running nemoclaw onboard so they patch into the Dockerfile before the image builds.
Invalid values are ignored, and the default bakes into the image.
For Local Ollama, onboarding loads the selected model first and uses Ollama’s reported runtime context length when NEMOCLAW_CONTEXT_WINDOW is unset.
Use NEMOCLAW_INFERENCE_INPUTS=text,image only for a model that accepts image input through the selected provider.
NEMOCLAW_AGENT_TIMEOUT controls the per-request inference timeout baked into
agents.defaults.timeoutSeconds. Increase it for slow local inference (for
example, CPU-only Ollama or vLLM on modest hardware). NemoClaw writes this
value into openclaw.json during onboarding. The default sandbox may keep that
file writable for agent state, but direct in-sandbox edits are not the supported
or durable way to change NemoClaw-managed defaults. Rebuild the sandbox via
nemoclaw onboard to apply a new value.
NEMOCLAW_AGENT_HEARTBEAT_EVERY sets agents.defaults.heartbeat.every.
This controls OpenClaw’s periodic main-session agent turn.
Each interval, the agent wakes up to review follow-ups and read HEARTBEAT.md if present in the workspace.
The OpenClaw default is 30 minutes (1 hour for Anthropic OAuth / Claude CLI reuse).
Tune the cadence with a duration string like 5m or 2h, or set 0m to disable the periodic turns entirely.
Disabling also drops HEARTBEAT.md from normal-run bootstrap context per upstream behavior, so the model no longer sees heartbeat-only instructions.
NemoClaw writes this value into openclaw.json during onboarding.
The in-sandbox openclaw config set command is not the supported path for
NemoClaw-managed build-time defaults, and direct file edits are overwritten by a
rebuild. Rebuild the sandbox via nemoclaw onboard --resume to apply a new value.
These variables are build-time settings. If you change them on an existing sandbox, recreate the sandbox so the new values bake into the image:
Use nemoclaw inference get to print the provider and model the gateway is currently routing to.
Run it before nemoclaw inference set to confirm the starting state, or after a switch to verify the new route.
Pass --json for machine-readable output.
The command exits non-zero with OpenShell inference route is not configured. when the gateway has no registered inference route.
Run nemoclaw onboard to configure one.
Run the status command when you also need sandbox, service, and messaging health:
The status output includes the active provider, model, and endpoint with the rest of the sandbox state.
inference.local.nemoclaw inference set patches the selected running OpenClaw or Hermes sandbox config and recomputes its config hash.nemoclaw onboard --resume --recreate-sandbox for build-time settings such as context window, max tokens, reasoning mode, heartbeat cadence, or image contents.OPENAI_API_KEY. Rebuilds of older local-inference sandboxes clear the stale OpenAI credential requirement automatically.