OpenRouter Setup for AgentBox

This skill guides users through configuring OpenRouter as their LLM provider on this AgentBox instance. OpenRouter gives access to models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others through a single API key.

When to use this skill

Invoke this when the user:

Wants to use a model through OpenRouter (e.g., "I want to use Claude Sonnet 4.5")
Asks about configuring a different LLM provider
Mentions OpenRouter
Wants access to models not available through the default blockrun provider

Setup flow

Step 1: Check for OpenRouter account

Ask the user if they have an OpenRouter account. If not, guide them:

To use OpenRouter, you'll need an account and API key:

Go to https://openrouter.ai and sign up (Google/GitHub login works)

Go to https://openrouter.ai/keys

Click "Create Key"

Copy the key (starts with sk-or-)

Let me know when you have your API key.

Step 2: Get the API key

Ask the user to provide their API key. It should start with sk-or-.

Step 3: Ask which model they want

If the user already specified a model, use that. Otherwise, recommend:

Recommended: Claude Sonnet 4.5 (openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5) - best balance of capability and cost for most tasks.

Other popular options:

openrouter/anthropic/claude-opus-4-6 - most capable, higher cost

openrouter/openai/gpt-4o - OpenAI's flagship

openrouter/google/gemini-2.5-pro - Google's best

Which model would you like as your default?

Step 4: Configure OpenClaw

Read the current config, modify it, and write it back:

# Read current config
cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Use jq to update the config. The two fields to set:

env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY - the API key
agents.defaults.model.primary - the default model

jq --arg key "sk-or-USER_KEY_HERE" \
   --arg model "openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5" \
   '.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = $key | .agents.defaults.model.primary = $model' \
   ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json > /tmp/openclaw-update.json \
   && mv /tmp/openclaw-update.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

IMPORTANT: Always read the full config first, then modify. Never write a partial config file.

Step 5: Restart the gateway

openclaw gateway restart

Wait a few seconds, then verify:

openclaw status

Step 6: Confirm

Tell the user the setup is complete and their default model is now set to the chosen OpenRouter model. Suggest they send a test message to verify everything works.

Model reference format

OpenRouter models use the format openrouter/<provider>/<model>:

openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5
openrouter/anthropic/claude-opus-4-6
openrouter/anthropic/claude-haiku-3-5
openrouter/openai/gpt-4o
openrouter/openai/o1
openrouter/google/gemini-2.5-pro
openrouter/meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct

Full model list at https://openrouter.ai/models

Switching models later

To change the default model without re-entering the API key:

jq --arg model "openrouter/anthropic/claude-opus-4-6" \
   '.agents.defaults.model.primary = $model' \
   ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json > /tmp/openclaw-update.json \
   && mv /tmp/openclaw-update.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
openclaw gateway restart

Troubleshooting

"Invalid API key": Verify the key starts with sk-or- and has credit on https://openrouter.ai/credits
Model not responding: Check if the model is available on https://openrouter.ai/models - some models have downtime
Config broken after edit: The issue is usually malformed JSON. Read the file with cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json | jq . to check syntax
Changes not taking effect: Must run openclaw gateway restart after any config change

agentbox-openrouter