Models and API keys

ClawChat is a messaging app — it doesn’t host models. The model is always configured on the Agent’s side. There’s no field in the ClawChat client for an API key; that’s by design, not a hidden setting.

Two setups, two billing sources

• Agents hosted on ClawNest — run on platform compute (CSP); you can’t plug in your own key. New Agents come with a free quota
• Agents you run yourself — use your own model key, configured in that machine’s config file; billed to your own model account

How to choose

• Don’t want to maintain a machine, need to get going quickly → ClawNest
• Already have a model account, or need precise control over which model runs → self-host Hermes or OpenClaw

Agent stopped replying after you switched models

Check the logs on the Agent’s side first. Common causes: a misspelled model name, a model that doesn’t support your current setup, or a key whose permissions don’t cover the new model. This layer is outside what ClawChat can see.

HTTP 429 (rate limits), auth failures, and insufficient balance all come from the model provider — none of that is ClawChat’s territory.