Inferrs

inferrs can serve local models behind an OpenAI-compatible /v1 API. OpenClaw works with inferrs through the generic openai-completions path.

Property	Value
Provider id	`inferrs` (custom; configure under `models.providers.inferrs`)
Plugin	none — `inferrs` is not a bundled OpenClaw provider plugin
Auth env var	Optional. Any value works if your inferrs server has no auth
API	OpenAI-compatible (`openai-completions`)
Suggested base URL	`http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1` (or wherever your inferrs server lives)

Getting started

Start inferrs with a model

inferrs serve google/gemma-4-E2B-it \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --port 8080 \
  --device metal

Verify the server is reachable

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/health
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/models

Add an OpenClaw provider entry
Add an explicit provider entry and point your default model at it. See the full config example below.

Full config example

This example uses Gemma 4 on a local inferrs server.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "inferrs/google/gemma-4-E2B-it" },
      models: {
        "inferrs/google/gemma-4-E2B-it": {
          alias: "Gemma 4 (inferrs)",
        },
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      inferrs: {
        baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1",
        apiKey: "inferrs-local",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "google/gemma-4-E2B-it",
            name: "Gemma 4 E2B (inferrs)",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 131072,
            maxTokens: 4096,
            compat: {
              requiresStringContent: true,
            },
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

On-demand startup

Inferrs can also be started by OpenClaw only when an inferrs/... model is selected. Add localService to the same provider entry:

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      inferrs: {
        baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1",
        apiKey: "inferrs-local",
        api: "openai-completions",
        timeoutSeconds: 300,
        localService: {
          command: "/opt/homebrew/bin/inferrs",
          args: [
            "serve",
            "google/gemma-4-E2B-it",
            "--host",
            "127.0.0.1",
            "--port",
            "8080",
            "--device",
            "metal",
          ],
          healthUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/models",
          readyTimeoutMs: 180000,
          idleStopMs: 0,
        },
        models: [
          {
            id: "google/gemma-4-E2B-it",
            name: "Gemma 4 E2B (inferrs)",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 131072,
            maxTokens: 4096,
            compat: {
              requiresStringContent: true,
            },
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

command must be absolute. Use which inferrs on the Gateway host and put that path in config. For the full field reference, see Local model services.

Advanced configuration

Why requiresStringContent matters

Some inferrs Chat Completions routes accept only string messages[].content, not structured content-part arrays.

compat: {
  requiresStringContent: true
}

OpenClaw will flatten pure text content parts into plain strings before sending the request.

Gemma and tool-schema caveat

Some current inferrs + Gemma combinations accept small direct /v1/chat/completions requests but still fail on full OpenClaw agent-runtime turns.

If that happens, try this first:

compat: {
  requiresStringContent: true,
  supportsTools: false
}

That disables OpenClaw’s tool schema surface for the model and can reduce prompt pressure on stricter local backends.

If tiny direct requests still work but normal OpenClaw agent turns continue to crash inside inferrs, the remaining issue is usually upstream model/server behavior rather than OpenClaw’s transport layer.

Manual smoke test

Once configured, test both layers:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"model":"google/gemma-4-E2B-it","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"What is 2 + 2?"}],"stream":false}'

openclaw infer model run \
  --model inferrs/google/gemma-4-E2B-it \
  --prompt "What is 2 + 2? Reply with one short sentence." \
  --json

If the first command works but the second fails, check the troubleshooting section below.

Proxy-style behavior

inferrs is treated as a proxy-style OpenAI-compatible /v1 backend, not a native OpenAI endpoint.

Native OpenAI-only request shaping does not apply here
No service_tier, no Responses store, no prompt-cache hints, and no OpenAI reasoning-compat payload shaping
Hidden OpenClaw attribution headers (originator, version, User-Agent) are not injected on custom inferrs base URLs

Troubleshooting

curl /v1/models fails

inferrs is not running, not reachable, or not bound to the expected host/port. Make sure the server is started and listening on the address you configured.

messages[].content expected a string

Set compat.requiresStringContent: true in the model entry. See the requiresStringContent section above for details.

Direct /v1/chat/completions calls pass but openclaw infer model run fails

Try setting compat.supportsTools: false to disable the tool schema surface. See the Gemma tool-schema caveat above.

inferrs still crashes on larger agent turns

If OpenClaw no longer gets schema errors but inferrs still crashes on larger agent turns, treat it as an upstream inferrs or model limitation. Reduce prompt pressure or switch to a different local backend or model.

Local models

Running OpenClaw against local model servers.

Local model services

Starting local model servers on demand for configured providers.

Gateway troubleshooting

Debugging local OpenAI-compatible backends that pass probes but fail agent runs.

Model selection

Overview of all providers, model refs, and failover behavior.