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4. OpenClaw uses the published Ollama URL

Point the OpenClaw Gateway at the published Ollama hostname with a bearer secret.

4.0 Why

OpenClaw and n8n each have their own VM on a different home computer from the Mac, and an agent that drives tools needs a model it can actually reach. The Gateway cannot be pointed at 192.168.64.1 or UTM $HOST. That virt LAN is only the Mac and its own guest, not this box. It cannot use an org hostname either, because there is no human to complete a browser login mid-turn, and with None anyone on the internet could run inference on your GPU. So the Gateway calls the published api-key origin with a Bearer secret, and the secret stays in this VM’s config, not behind a Control UI left on None.

OpenClaw chapter 9 9.5 is same-LAN only (Gateway next to the Mac). Skip it here. Cloud keys in that chapter can stay; this chapter only registers the published 20B.

OpenClaw VM (other PC)   Gateway ──► https://ollama.<org>.edgible.com   (+ Bearer, no /v1)
                                              │
Ubuntu guest             Edgible serving agent ──► 127.0.0.1:11434 (socat)
                                              │
macOS host               Ollama.app (Metal) — gpt-oss:20b loads here

Where you run this: every openclaw command runs on the OpenClaw VM (a different home computer); only ollama ls / ollama ps / ollama show run on the macOS host, and the hostname and secret are copied from the Ubuntu guest.

4.1 The job

On the OpenClaw VM, register the Edgible origin as the Ollama provider, list ollama/gpt-oss:20b, and get one hello.

Why this tag. qwen2.5:7b is fine for the curl and n8n workflow smoke tests, but OpenClaw drives tools: read a file, edit it, run a command. A 7B drops tool calls on multi-step work. gpt-oss:20b (~13 GB, thinking-capable) is the local tag that holds a code-change turn. Keep the 7B as a fallback, not the model you hand real work to.

Done when

  • baseUrl is the ollama. Edgible host, no /v1 for api ollama, secret not id.
  • openclaw models list --provider ollama prints ollama/gpt-oss:20b.
  • openclaw agent --agent main --thinking off --model ollama/gpt-oss:20b --message "Say hello in one sentence." replies, and Mac ollama ps shows that tag on GPU.
  • ollama app is still api-key. This VM is not the Mac guest.

Need first: Gateway up on this VM (OpenClaw on Edgible applied here, not on the Mac). Chapter 2, with cellular curl and Bearer already working. gpt-oss:20b pulled on the Mac, so ollama ls on the host shows it (chapter 3 pulls it for the Assistant). ~13 GB of Mac RAM free after the UTM guest.

Not this chapter: installing Ollama on the OpenClaw VM, n8n, or LAN http://$HOST:11434.

4.2 Provider (native Ollama API)

OpenClaw’s api ollama talks /api/tags and /api/chat. No /v1 (that suffix is n8n’s self-hosted / Chatbox path).

On the OpenClaw VM (not the Mac):

openclaw config set models.providers.ollama.baseUrl "https://ollama.YOUR-ORG.edgible.com"
openclaw config set models.providers.ollama.api ollama
openclaw config set models.providers.ollama.apiKey "<secret-from-chapter-2.5>"
openclaw config set models.providers.ollama.models \
  '[{"id":"gpt-oss:20b","name":"gpt-oss:20b"},{"id":"qwen2.5:7b","name":"qwen2.5:7b"}]' --strict-json
openclaw gateway restart
openclaw models list --provider ollama

Copy the host from edgible app list on the Mac guest. The secret is from api-keys create, not the key id. Prefer putting the secret in ~/.openclaw/.env if you already keep provider keys there, so it is not sitting in shell history.

list must print ollama/gpt-oss:20b (and the 7B). HTML / login: the ollama app is org. 401: wrong secret. Empty list / timeout: Mac Ollama quit, forwarder down, or the Mac VM slept.

Then either:

openclaw models set ollama/gpt-oss:20b

or keep Gemini/DeepSeek as primary and put ollama/gpt-oss:20b in fallbacks (9.7). /think off (or thinkingDefault off) still applies.

Thinking. Unlike the 7B, this tag can think: ollama show gpt-oss:20b lists thinking under capabilities. Use --thinking off for the hello below so a cold 20B does not look like a hang. Leave thinking on when you want it planning a code change.

Do not make the 20B a fallback. 13 GB on a cold load makes a cloud 429 feel like a hang (9.5.2). Fallback stays ollama/qwen2.5:7b; reach for the 20B as an explicit primary or /model.

Ollama may hide tags that /api/show does not mark as tool-capable with ≥16K context. Fallback can still use the config id. Pin in chat: /model ollama/gpt-oss:20b.

If list fails but n8n’s /v1 test works, OpenClaw may be hitting the OpenAI-compatible surface. Try api openai-completions and baseUrl https://ollama.YOUR-ORG.edgible.com/v1 with the same secret. Prefer native ollama when list already works.

4.3 Hello

openclaw agent --agent main --thinking off --model ollama/gpt-oss:20b --message "Say hello in one sentence."

Smoke test (OpenClaw VM). First run can take tens of seconds, because 13 GB has to load into Mac RAM. You want a short sentence and Mac ollama ps on GPU. Ask again straight after and it should be quick, since the model stays resident.

Once hello works, give it real work in chat (/model ollama/gpt-oss:20b, thinking on), e.g. rename a function across a file and read back the diff. A 7B drops tool calls on that kind of multi-step turn.

Verify

  • baseUrl is the ollama. Edgible host, no /v1 for api ollama, secret not id.
  • openclaw models list --provider ollama prints ollama/gpt-oss:20b.
  • openclaw agent --agent main --thinking off --model ollama/gpt-oss:20b --message "Say hello in one sentence." replies, and Mac ollama ps shows that tag on GPU.
  • ollama app is still api-key. This VM is not the Mac guest.

Next

That’s this series. Index.

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