Venice AI (Venice highlight)

Venice is our highlight Venice setup for privacy-first inference with optional anonymized access to proprietary models.

Venice AI provides privacy-focused AI inference with support for uncensored models and access to major proprietary models through their anonymized proxy. All inference is private by default—no training on your data, no logging.

Why Venice in OpenClaw

• Private inference for open-source models (no logging).
• Uncensored models when you need them.
• Anonymized access to proprietary models (Opus/GPT/Gemini) when quality matters.
• OpenAI-compatible /v1 endpoints.

Privacy Modes

Venice offers two privacy levels — understanding this is key to choosing your model:

Features

• Privacy-focused: Choose between “private” (fully private) and “anonymized” (proxied) modes
• Uncensored models: Access to models without content restrictions
• Major model access: Use Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok via Venice’s anonymized proxy
• OpenAI-compatible API: Standard /v1 endpoints for easy integration
• Streaming: ✅ Supported on all models
• Function calling: ✅ Supported on select models (check model capabilities)
• Vision: ✅ Supported on models with vision capability
• No hard rate limits: Fair-use throttling may apply for extreme usage

Setup

1. Get API Key

1. Sign up at venice.ai
2. Go to Settings → API Keys → Create new key
3. Copy your API key (format: vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx)

2. Configure OpenClaw

Option A: Environment Variable

export VENICE_API_KEY="vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Option B: Interactive Setup (Recommended)

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

This will:

1. Prompt for your API key (or use existing VENICE_API_KEY)
2. Show all available Venice models
3. Let you pick your default model
4. Configure the provider automatically

Option C: Non-interactive

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

3. Verify Setup

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

Model Selection

After setup, OpenClaw shows all available Venice models. Pick based on your needs:

• Default model: venice/kimi-k2-5 for strong private reasoning plus vision.
• High-capability option: venice/claude-opus-4-6 for the strongest anonymized Venice path.
• Privacy: Choose “private” models for fully private inference.
• Capability: Choose “anonymized” models to access Claude, GPT, Gemini via Venice’s proxy.

Change your default model anytime:

openclaw models set venice/kimi-k2-5
openclaw models set venice/claude-opus-4-6

List all available models:

openclaw models list | grep venice

Configure via openclaw configure

1. Run openclaw configure
2. Select Model/auth
3. Choose Venice AI

Which Model Should I Use?

Available Models (41 Total)

Private Models (26) — Fully Private, No Logging

Anonymized Models (15) — Via Venice Proxy

Model Discovery

OpenClaw automatically discovers models from the Venice API when VENICE_API_KEY is set. If the API is unreachable, it falls back to a static catalog.

The /models endpoint is public (no auth needed for listing), but inference requires a valid API key.

Streaming & Tool Support

Pricing

Venice uses a credit-based system. Check venice.ai/pricing for current rates:

• Private models: Generally lower cost
• Anonymized models: Similar to direct API pricing + small Venice fee

Comparison: Venice vs Direct API

Usage Examples

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

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

# Use uncensored model
openclaw agent --model venice/venice-uncensored --message "Draft options"

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

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

Troubleshooting

API key not recognized

echo $VENICE_API_KEY
openclaw models list | grep venice

Ensure the key starts with vapi_.

Model not available

The Venice model catalog updates dynamically. Run openclaw models list to see currently available models. Some models may be temporarily offline.

Connection issues

Venice API is at https://api.venice.ai/api/v1. Ensure your network allows HTTPS connections.

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,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

Links

• Venice AI
• API Documentation
• Pricing
• Status