adolf/docs/providers/cerebras.md

summary, title, read_when

summary	title	read_when
Cerebras setup (auth + model selection)	Cerebras	You want to use Cerebras with OpenClaw You need the Cerebras API key env var or CLI auth choice

Cerebras provides high-speed OpenAI-compatible inference on custom inference hardware. The plugin ships a static four-model catalog (no live discovery).

Property	Value
Provider id	cerebras
Plugin	official external package (@openclaw/cerebras-provider)
Auth env var	CEREBRAS_API_KEY
Onboarding flag	--auth-choice cerebras-api-key
Direct CLI flag	--cerebras-api-key <key>
API	OpenAI-compatible (openai-completions)
Base URL	https://api.cerebras.ai/v1
Default model	cerebras/zai-glm-4.7

Install plugin

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/cerebras-provider
openclaw gateway restart

Getting started

Create an API key in the [Cerebras Cloud Console](https://cloud.cerebras.ai).

openclaw onboard --auth-choice cerebras-api-key

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --auth-choice cerebras-api-key \
  --cerebras-api-key "$CEREBRAS_API_KEY"

export CEREBRAS_API_KEY=csk-...

</CodeGroup>

```bash openclaw models list --provider cerebras ```

Lists all four static models. If `CEREBRAS_API_KEY` is unresolved, `openclaw models status --json` reports the missing credential under `auth.unusableProfiles`.

Non-interactive setup

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice cerebras-api-key \
  --cerebras-api-key "$CEREBRAS_API_KEY"

Built-in catalog

All four models share a 128k context window and 8,192 max output tokens.

Model ref	Name	Reasoning	Notes
cerebras/zai-glm-4.7	Z.ai GLM 4.7	yes	Default model; preview reasoning model
cerebras/gpt-oss-120b	GPT OSS 120B	yes	Production reasoning model
cerebras/qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507	Qwen 3 235B Instruct	no	Preview non-reasoning model
cerebras/llama3.1-8b	Llama 3.1 8B	no	Production speed-focused model

Cerebras marks `zai-glm-4.7` and `qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507` as preview models, and `llama3.1-8b` plus `qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507` are documented for deprecation on May 27, 2026. Check Cerebras' [supported-models page](https://inference-docs.cerebras.ai/models/overview) before relying on them for production workloads.

Manual config

Most setups only need the API key. Use explicit models.providers.cerebras config to override model metadata or run in mode: "merge" against the static catalog:

{
  env: { CEREBRAS_API_KEY: "csk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "cerebras/zai-glm-4.7" },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      cerebras: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.cerebras.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${CEREBRAS_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          { id: "zai-glm-4.7", name: "Z.ai GLM 4.7" },
          { id: "gpt-oss-120b", name: "GPT OSS 120B" },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

If the Gateway runs as a daemon (launchd, systemd, Docker), make sure `CEREBRAS_API_KEY` is available to that process — for example in `~/.openclaw/.env` or through `env.shellEnv`. A key exported only in an interactive shell will not help a managed service unless the env is imported separately.

Related

Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior. Reasoning effort levels for the two reasoning-capable Cerebras models. Agent defaults and model configuration. Auth profiles, switching models, and resolving "no profile" errors.