Using Venice AI Privacy-First Models in OpenClaw

Venice AI is a privacy-first inference service that runs open models without any logging and offers anonymized proxy access to Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok. All endpoints follow the OpenAI API format (/v1).

Privacy modes

Warning

Anonymized models do not guarantee full privacy. Venice strips metadata before forwarding, but the downstream provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI) still handles the request. Choose Private models whenever absolute privacy matters.

Getting started

Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/venice-provider

Get your API key

1. Create an account at venice.ai
2. Navigate to Settings > API Keys > Create new key
3. Copy the generated API key (it looks like vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx)

Configure OpenClaw

Interactive (recommended)

openclaw onboard --auth-choice venice-api-key

This command asks for your API key (or reuses an existing VENICE_API_KEY), displays the available Venice models, and selects a default model for you.

Environment variable

export VENICE_API_KEY="vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Non-interactive

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --auth-choice venice-api-key \
  --venice-api-key "vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Verify setup

openclaw agent --model venice/kimi-k2-5 --message "Hello, are you working?"

Model selection

• Default: venice/kimi-k2-5 (private, supports reasoning and vision).
• Best anonymized option: venice/claude-opus-4-6.

openclaw models set venice/kimi-k2-5
openclaw models list --all --provider venice

You can also launch openclaw configure and choose Model/auth provider > Venice AI.

Tip

Use case	Model	Why
General chat (default)	kimi-k2-5	Strong private reasoning plus vision
Best overall quality	claude-opus-4-6	Strongest anonymized Venice option
Privacy + coding	qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct-turbo	Private coding model with large context
Fast + cheap	llama-3.2-3b	Compact private model
Complex private tasks	deepseek-v3.2	Strong reasoning; tool calling disabled
Uncensored	venice-uncensored-1-2	Current uncensored Venice model

Built-in catalog (30 models)

Private models (20) — fully private, no logging

Anonymized models (10) — via Venice proxy

Venice models powered by Grok (grok-4-3 and equivalents) receive the same tool schema compatibility fix applied to the native xAI provider, because both rely on the identical upstream tool call format.

Model discovery

The bundled catalog shown above is a seed list backed by a manifest. During runtime, OpenClaw fetches an updated list from the Venice /models API and falls back to the seed list if that API is unavailable. The /models endpoint is publicly accessible (no authentication required for listing), but running inference demands a valid API key.

Venice might keep accepting deprecated model IDs as provider owned aliases. The OpenClaw catalog only exposes the canonical model IDs that /models returns.

DeepSeek V4 replay behavior

When Venice exposes DeepSeek V4 models like deepseek-v4-pro or deepseek-v4-flash, OpenClaw injects the mandatory reasoning_content replay field into assistant messages if Venice leaves it out, and removes thinking/reasoning/reasoning_effort from the request body (Venice rejects DeepSeek's native thinking control on these models). This replay correction is distinct from the native DeepSeek provider's own thinking controls.

Streaming and tool support

Pricing

Venice operates on a credit based model. Anonymized models are priced roughly the same as direct API rates plus a small Venice surcharge. Check venice.ai/pricing for the latest rates.

Usage examples

# Default private model
openclaw agent --model venice/kimi-k2-5 --message "Quick health check"

# Claude Opus via Venice (anonymized)
openclaw agent --model venice/claude-opus-4-6 --message "Summarize this task"

# Uncensored model
openclaw agent --model venice/venice-uncensored-1-2 --message "Draft options"

# Vision model with image
openclaw agent --model venice/qwen3-vl-235b-a22b --message "Review attached image"

# Coding model
openclaw agent --model venice/qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct-turbo --message "Refactor this function"

Troubleshooting

API key not recognized

echo $VENICE_API_KEY
openclaw models list | grep venice

Verify that the key begins with vapi_.

Model not available

Execute openclaw models list --all --provider venice to list the models currently accessible; the catalog changes as Venice adds or removes models.

Connection issues

The Venice API is located at https://api.venice.ai/api/v1. Ensure your network permits HTTPS traffic to that host.

Note

More help: Troubleshooting and FAQ.

Advanced configuration

Config file example

{
  env: { VENICE_API_KEY: "vapi_..." },
  agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "venice/kimi-k2-5" } } },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      venice: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.venice.ai/api/v1",
        apiKey: "${VENICE_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "kimi-k2-5",
            name: "Kimi K2.5",
            reasoning: true,
            input: ["text", "image"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 256000,
            maxTokens: 65536,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

Related

• Model selection, Choosing providers, model references, and failover behavior.

• Venice AI, Venice AI homepage and account signup.

• API documentation, Venice API reference and developer docs.

• Pricing, Current Venice credit rates and plans.