Arcee AI Provider Setup: Auth and Model Selection
Configure the Arcee AI provider for OpenClaw, covering plugin installation, API key authentication, and Trinity model selection. Intended for users connecting to Arcee directly or through OpenRouter.
Read this when
- You want to use Arcee AI with OpenClaw
- You need the API key env var or CLI auth choice
Arcee AI offers the Trinity line of mixture-of-experts models via an API that is compatible with OpenAI. Every Trinity model carries an Apache 2.0 license. Since Arcee ships as an official OpenClaw plugin rather than being included in core, you must install it before onboarding.
You can reach Arcee models either straight through the Arcee platform or by way of OpenRouter.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Provider | arcee |
| Auth | ARCEEAI_API_KEY (direct) or OPENROUTER_API_KEY (via OpenRouter) |
| API | OpenAI-compatible |
| Base URL | https://api.arcee.ai/api/v1 (direct) or https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 (OpenRouter) |
Install plugin
openclaw plugins install @openclaw/arcee-provider
When a Gateway is already running, installation takes effect immediately; if not, it applies at the next startup. See Apply changes and inspect.
Getting started
Direct (Arcee platform)
Get an API key
Generate an API key on Arcee AI.
Run onboarding
openclaw onboard --auth-choice arceeai-api-key
Set a default model
{
agents: {
defaults: {
model: { primary: "arcee/trinity-large-thinking" },
},
},
}
Via OpenRouter
Get an API key
Generate an API key on OpenRouter.
Run onboarding
openclaw onboard --auth-choice arceeai-openrouter
Set a default model
{
agents: {
defaults: {
model: { primary: "arcee/trinity-large-thinking" },
},
},
}
Both the direct and OpenRouter configurations accept the same model refs.
Non-interactive setup
Direct (Arcee platform)
openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk --skip-health \
--mode local \
--auth-choice arceeai-api-key \
--arceeai-api-key "$ARCEEAI_API_KEY"
Via OpenRouter
openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk --skip-health \
--mode local \
--auth-choice arceeai-openrouter \
--openrouter-api-key "$OPENROUTER_API_KEY"
A normal onboarding run stores the connection but does not insert catalog rows into
models.providers.arcee.models. Any rows and model aliases already present are left untouched.
When models.mode: "replace" is used, onboarding also writes the route's catalog defaults,
since that mode turns off automatic discovery. Regardless of mode, the public
applyArceeConfig and applyArceeOpenRouterConfig helpers continue to add catalog defaults.
Direct Arcee catalog
| Model ref | Name | Input | Context | Max output | Cost (in/out per 1M) | Tools | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
arcee/trinity-large-thinking | Trinity Large Thinking | text | 256K | 80K | $0.25 / $0.90 | No | Default model; extended thinking |
arcee/trinity-large-preview | Trinity Large Preview | text | 128K | 16K | $0.25 / $1.00 | Yes | General-purpose; 400B params, 13B active |
arcee/trinity-mini | Trinity Mini 26B | text | 128K | 80K | $0.045 / $0.15 | Yes | Fast and cost-efficient; function calling |
Tip
The onboarding preset sets
arcee/trinity-large-thinkingas the default model.
OpenRouter catalog
OpenRouter onboarding surfaces arcee/trinity-large-preview and arcee/trinity-large-thinking. OpenClaw preserves those provider-qualified model refs in config and transmits OpenRouter's canonical arcee-ai/* runtime ids. OpenRouter no longer serves Trinity Mini, so reach for the direct Arcee API with that model.
Supported features
| Feature | Supported |
|---|---|
| Streaming | Yes |
| Tool use / function calling | Yes (Trinity Mini, Trinity Large Preview) |
| Structured output (JSON mode and JSON schema) | Yes |
| Extended thinking | Yes (Trinity Large Thinking; tools disabled) |
Environment note
When the Gateway runs as a daemon (launchd/systemd), confirm that ARCEEAI_API_KEY
(or OPENROUTER_API_KEY) is reachable by that process, for instance inside
~/.openclaw/.env or through env.shellEnv.
OpenRouter routing
OpenRouter relies on the same arcee/trinity-large-thinking OpenClaw model ref.
OpenClaw routes it using the canonical arcee-ai/trinity-large-thinking
OpenRouter runtime id. Consult the
OpenRouter provider docs for configuration details specific to OpenRouter.
Related
-
OpenRouter, Reach Arcee models and plenty of others with one API key.
-
Model selection, Picking providers, model refs, and failover behavior.