Model Router - ClawHQ Docs

The Model Router automatically selects the right model for each task — routing cheap tasks to cheaper models and complex tasks to more capable ones. It learns from outcomes over time.

How it works

Five-tier priority system, evaluated in order:

Task-type override — if you’ve pinned a specific model to a task type, that wins
Self-learning — if a model has a strong success record for this task type (min 20 samples), use it
Budget fallback — if monthly spend exceeds your threshold, downgrade non-critical tasks to Haiku
Ollama — if Ollama is running locally and the task is eligible (summary, chat), route there
Task-type defaults — built-in sensible defaults per task type

Default routing

Task type	Default model
`code`	Claude Sonnet 4.6
`research`	Claude Sonnet 4.6
`creative`	Claude Opus 4.6
`summary`	Claude Haiku 4.5
`chat`	Claude Haiku 4.5

Configuration

Configure in Settings → Model Router in the dashboard, or directly in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "modelRouter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "primaryModel": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "fallbackModel": "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5",
    "budgetThreshold": 80,
    "selfLearning": true,
    "selfLearningSampleThreshold": 20,
    "ollamaEnabled": false,
    "ollamaBaseUrl": "http://localhost:11434",
    "ollamaModel": "llama3.2",
    "taskTypeOverrides": {
      "code": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"
    },
    "lockedTaskTypes": ["code"]
  }
}

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`enabled`	boolean	`true`	Enable or disable the router
`primaryModel`	string	`anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6`	Default model for most tasks
`fallbackModel`	string	`anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5`	Used when over budget
`budgetThreshold`	number	`80`	% of monthly budget that triggers fallback
`selfLearning`	boolean	`true`	Learn from task outcomes
`selfLearningSampleThreshold`	number	`20`	Minimum samples before self-learning overrides defaults
`taskTypeOverrides`	object	`{}`	Pin specific models to task types
`lockedTaskTypes`	array	`[]`	Prevent self-learning from changing these task types
`ollamaEnabled`	boolean	`false`	Route eligible tasks to local Ollama

​How it works

​Default routing

​Configuration

​Options

How it works

Default routing

Configuration

Options