Anthropic

WednesdayAI uses Anthropic’s Claude models for its default AI. There are three ways to authenticate, and several Claude-specific options: thinking, prompt caching, and the 1M context window.

Authentication

Option A — API key (recommended)

Create a key in the Anthropic Console, then onboard:

openclaw onboard
# choose: Anthropic API key

# or non-interactive:
openclaw onboard --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"

Or set the key on the gateway host so the daemon can read it:

echo 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...' >> ~/.openclaw/.env

Option B — OAuth token env var

For scripted or containerised setups where you already hold an Anthropic OAuth token (sk-ant-oat-...):

export ANTHROPIC_OAUTH_TOKEN="sk-ant-oat-..."

ANTHROPIC_OAUTH_TOKEN is checked before ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — if both are set, the OAuth token wins. It bypasses the auth-profile store; openclaw models status shows it as OAuth (env).

Option C — Claude setup-token (subscription)

Setup-tokens are created by the Claude Code CLI on any machine:

claude setup-token

Paste it on the gateway host:

openclaw models auth paste-token --provider anthropic

Anthropic has restricted subscription credential use outside Claude Code in the past. Setup-token support is technical compatibility only — verify Anthropic’s current terms before relying on it. API key auth is the safer, recommended path.

Selecting a model

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" },
    },
  },
}

Common Claude model references:

Model	Reference
Claude Sonnet 4.6	`anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6`
Claude Opus 4.6	`anthropic/claude-opus-4-6`
Claude Opus 4.8	`anthropic/claude-opus-4-8`
Claude Haiku 4.5	`anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`

Thinking

Claude 4.6 models default to adaptive thinking when no explicit level is set. Override per message with /think:<level>, or pin it in model params:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
          params: { thinking: "high" },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Prompt caching

Prompt caching reuses the cache for repeated system-prompt prefixes, cutting cost and latency. It is API-only — subscription/OAuth auth does not honour cache settings. With an API key, WednesdayAI applies cacheRetention: "short" automatically; override it via model params:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
          params: { cacheRetention: "long" },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Value	Cache TTL	Notes
`none`	No caching
`short`	5 minutes	Default for API-key auth
`long`	1 hour	Extended cache

You can set a model-level baseline and override per agent via agents.list[].params — for example one agent on long and a bursty alerts agent on none to avoid cache-write costs.

1M context window (beta)

Anthropic’s 1M context window is beta-gated. Enable it per model with params.context1m: true for supported Opus/Sonnet models:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": {
          params: { context1m: true },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

The 1M context requires Anthropic to allow long-context usage on that credential (typically API-key billing). Anthropic rejects the context-1m beta on OAuth/subscription tokens, so WednesdayAI skips the beta header for OAuth auth automatically.

Environment variables

Variable	Description
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Primary API key
`OPENCLAW_LIVE_ANTHROPIC_KEYS`	Comma-separated list of keys for rotation
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_1`, `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_2`, …	Individual numbered rotation keys
`OPENCLAW_LIVE_ANTHROPIC_KEY`	Pin a specific key for the current session
`ANTHROPIC_OAUTH_TOKEN`	OAuth token (takes priority over API key)

Troubleshooting

401 / token suddenly invalid

Subscription auth can expire or be revoked. Re-run claude setup-token and paste it on the gateway host with openclaw models auth paste-token --provider anthropic. For long-lived deployments, switch to an API key.

"This credential is only authorized for use with Claude Code"

Anthropic blocked the subscription credential for non-Claude-Code use. Use an API key instead.

"No API key found for provider anthropic"

Auth is per agent — new agents do not inherit the main agent’s keys. Re-run onboarding for that agent, or paste a token/key on the gateway host, then verify with openclaw models status.

No available auth profile (all in cooldown)

Check openclaw models status --json for auth.unusableProfiles. Add another Anthropic profile or wait for the cooldown to clear.

Getting started

Gateway configuration

Channels

AI providers

Security

Maintenance

Anthropic

Anthropic

Authentication

Option A — API key (recommended)

Option B — OAuth token env var

Option C — Claude setup-token (subscription)

Selecting a model

Thinking

Prompt caching

1M context window (beta)

Environment variables

Troubleshooting

​Anthropic

​Authentication

​Option A — API key (recommended)

​Option B — OAuth token env var

​Option C — Claude setup-token (subscription)

​Selecting a model

​Thinking

​Prompt caching

​1M context window (beta)

​Environment variables

​Troubleshooting

Anthropic

Authentication

Option A — API key (recommended)

Option B — OAuth token env var

Option C — Claude setup-token (subscription)

Selecting a model

Thinking

Prompt caching

1M context window (beta)

Environment variables

Troubleshooting