Runway Video Generation Provider Setup in OpenClaw

OpenClaw includes a bundled runway provider for hosted video generation. It is turned on by default and registered against the videoGenerationProviders contract.

Property	Value
Provider id	`runway`
Plugin	bundled, `enabledByDefault: true`
Auth env vars	`RUNWAYML_API_SECRET` (preferred) or `RUNWAY_API_KEY`
Onboarding flag	`--auth-choice runway-api-key`
Direct CLI flag	`--runway-api-key <key>`
API	Runway task-based video generation (`GET /v1/tasks/{id}` polling)
Default model	`runway/gen4.5`

Getting started

Set the API key

openclaw onboard --auth-choice runway-api-key

Set Runway as the default video provider

openclaw config set agents.defaults.mediaModels.video.primary "runway/gen4.5"

Generate a video

Ask the agent to generate a video. Runway will be used automatically.

Supported modes and models

Seven Runway models are exposed by the provider, spread over three modes. A single model id may cover several modes (gen4.5, for instance, handles both text-to-video and image-to-video).

Mode	Models	Reference input
Text-to-video	`gen4.5` (default), `veo3.1`, `veo3.1_fast`, `veo3`	None
Image-to-video	`gen4.5`, `gen4_turbo`, `gen3a_turbo`, `veo3.1`, `veo3.1_fast`, `veo3`	1 local or remote image
Video-to-video	`gen4_aleph`	1 local or remote video

Data URIs can be used to supply local image and video references.

Aspect ratios	Allowed values
Text-to-video	`16:9`, `9:16`
Image and video edits	`1:1`, `16:9`, `9:16`, `3:4`, `4:3`, `21:9`

Warning

Video-to-video currently requires runway/gen4_aleph. Other Runway model ids reject video reference inputs.

Note

If a Runway model id is chosen from the wrong column, an explicit error is raised before the API request ever leaves OpenClaw. The mode's allowlist (TEXT_ONLY_MODELS, IMAGE_MODELS, VIDEO_MODELS) is what the provider checks model against, in extensions/runway/index.ts.

Configuration

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      mediaModels: {
        video: {
          primary: "runway/gen4.5",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Advanced configuration

Task submission and polling honor models.providers.runway.request, including custom headers, proxy settings, and private-network policy. Polling enforces private-network restrictions even without a proxy override. Generated video downloads do not inherit task credentials or private-network trust. Their URLs and redirects are checked for private-network targets before connecting.

Environment variable aliases

Both RUNWAYML_API_SECRET (preferred) and RUNWAY_API_KEY are recognized by OpenClaw. Either variable authenticates the Runway provider.

Task polling

The Runway API is task-based. Once a generation request is submitted, OpenClaw polls GET /v1/tasks/{id} until the video is ready. Polling behavior needs no further configuration.

Video generation, Shared tool parameters, provider selection, and async behavior.
Configuration reference, Agent default settings including mediaModels.video.