Venice AI provides privacy-focused inference: open models run with no logging, plus anonymized proxy access to Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok. All endpoints are OpenAI-compatible (/v1).

Privacy modes

Getting started

```bash
apus plugins install @openclaw/venice-provider
```

1. Sign up at [venice.ai](https://venice.ai)
2. Go to **Settings > API Keys > Create new key**
3. Copy your API key (format: `vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx`)

    ```bash
    apus onboard --auth-choice venice-api-key
    ```

    Prompts for the API key (or reuses an existing `VENICE_API_KEY`), lists available Venice models, and sets your default model.

    ```bash
    export VENICE_API_KEY="vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
    ```

    ```bash
    apus onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk --skip-health \
      --auth-choice venice-api-key \
      --venice-api-key "vapi_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
    ```

```bash
apus agent --model venice/zai-org-glm-4.7 --message "Hello, are you working?"
```

Model selection

• Default: venice/zai-org-glm-4.7 (private reasoning).
• Strongest anonymized option: venice/claude-opus-5.

apus models set venice/zai-org-glm-4.7
apus models list --all --provider venice

You can also run apus configure and pick Model/auth provider > Venice AI.

Built-in catalog (16 visible models)

| Model ID                               | Name                        | Context | Notes                       |
| -------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------- |
| `zai-org-glm-5-2`                      | GLM 5.2                     | 1M      | Recommended, coding         |
| `zai-org-glm-4.7`                      | GLM 4.7                     | 198k    | Private reasoning           |
| `venice-uncensored-1-2`                | Venice Uncensored 1.2       | 128k    | Most uncensored, vision     |
| `google-gemma-4-31b-it`                | Google Gemma 4 31B Instruct | 256k    | Recommended, vision         |
| `kimi-k2-6`                            | Kimi K2.6                   | 256k    | Recommended, coding, vision |
| `deepseek-v3.2`                        | DeepSeek V3.2               | 160k    | Recommended, reasoning      |
| `qwen3-235b-a22b-thinking-2507`        | Qwen3 235B Thinking         | 128k    | Default reasoning           |
| `qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct-turbo` | Qwen3 Coder 480B Turbo      | 256k    | Default coding              |
| `qwen3-vl-235b-a22b`                   | Qwen3 VL 235B               | 128k    | Default vision              |
| `grok-4-5`                             | Grok 4.5                    | 500k    | Recommended, coding, vision |

| Model ID            | Name                             | Context | Notes                       |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------- |
| `qwen-3-7-max`      | Qwen 3.7 Max (via Venice)        | 1M      | Recommended, coding, vision |
| `qwen-3-7-plus`     | Qwen 3.7 Plus (via Venice)       | 1M      | Recommended, coding, vision |
| `claude-fable-5`    | Claude Fable 5 (via Venice)      | 1M      | Recommended, coding, vision |
| `claude-opus-5`     | Claude Opus 5 (via Venice)       | 1M      | Recommended, coding, vision |
| `claude-sonnet-4-6` | Claude Sonnet 4.6 (via Venice)   | 1M      | Recommended, coding, vision |
| `openai-gpt-56-sol` | GPT-5.6 Sol (via Venice)         | 1M      | Recommended, vision         |

| Model ID                | Replacement                 |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------- |
| `zai-org-glm-4.6`       | `zai-org-glm-4.7`           |
| `google-gemma-3-27b-it` | `google-gemma-4-31b-it`     |
| `kimi-k2-5`             | `kimi-k2-6`                 |

Grok-backed Venice models (grok-4-5 and similar) get the same tool-schema compat patch as the native xAI provider, since they share the same upstream tool-call format.

Model discovery

The built-in catalog above is the manifest-backed seed catalog. At runtime Apus refreshes it from the Venice /models API and falls back to the seed catalog if the API is unreachable. The /models endpoint is public (no auth needed for listing), but inference requires a valid API key.

Venice may continue accepting retired model IDs as provider-owned aliases. The Apus catalog advertises only the canonical model IDs returned by /models.

DeepSeek V4 replay behavior

If Venice exposes DeepSeek V4 models such as deepseek-v4-pro or deepseek-v4-flash, Apus fills the required reasoning_content replay field on assistant messages when Venice omits it, and strips thinking/ reasoning/reasoning_effort from the request payload (Venice rejects DeepSeek's native thinking control on these models). This replay fix is separate from the native DeepSeek provider's own thinking controls.

Streaming and tool support

Pricing

Venice uses a credit-based system. Anonymized models cost roughly the same as direct API pricing plus a small Venice fee. See venice.ai/pricing for current rates.

Apus reads live prices from Venice's public GET /api/v1/models response during model discovery. The same plugin parser supplies the hosted catalog publisher. Known and newly discovered models use the API's complete schedule in USD per million tokens; the seed catalog prices are the offline fallback. Missing or invalid live prices retain the complete seed catalog schedule for known models. Unknown models without valid pricing keep zero estimates; that does not mean the model is free. Explicit API zero rates are valid.

When the API supplies extended pricing, its rates apply to the entire request only when total prompt input exceeds context_token_threshold. Prompt input includes uncached input, cache reads, and cache writes; output tokens do not select the tier. A request exactly at the threshold still uses base rates. Base and extended rates always come from one schedule. An invalid extended schedule is not combined with seed catalog or other-source prices.

Explicit models.providers.venice.models[].cost entries override catalog estimates, including zero. Omitted cost or {} inherits the catalog schedule. Partial flat overrides inherit missing base rates and remove inherited tiers; explicit tieredPricing wins, and tieredPricing: [] selects flat pricing. Agent-local root models.json prices retain highest priority.

New onboarding in models.mode: "merge" leaves generated catalog rows out of the configuration so they cannot become price pins. Re-onboarding preserves existing model entries, aliases, and model selection. In models.mode: "replace", onboarding retains explicit seed catalog rows because that mode disables discovery. Existing serialized costs are never automatically removed or migrated, even if they match an old seed catalog entry. With merge mode enabled, back up your configuration and remove only unwanted cost fields to resume catalog pricing; keep intentional overrides.

Discovery reuses its existing fetched rows and cache. Usage display makes no price requests, and a running Gateway does not immediately adopt every upstream price change. Hosted catalog rows and prices activate together after the Gateway prepares a replacement generation, without restarting; see Hosted model catalog. Make sizing-only edits in your source configuration without copying generated model rows back into it: replacing an entire model array from a runtime snapshot can persist inherited costs as explicit overrides. Historical recorded costs are preserved; current pricing fills only missing costs or unknown-price zero placeholders. See Token use and costs.

Usage examples

# Default private model
apus agent --model venice/zai-org-glm-4.7 --message "Quick health check"

# Claude Opus via Venice (anonymized)
apus agent --model venice/claude-opus-5 --message "Summarize this task"

# Uncensored model
apus agent --model venice/venice-uncensored-1-2 --message "Draft options"

# Vision model with image
apus agent --model venice/qwen3-vl-235b-a22b --message "Review attached image"

# Coding model
apus agent --model venice/qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct-turbo --message "Refactor this function"

Troubleshooting

```bash
apus models list --provider venice
```

Confirm the API key is configured and starts with `vapi_`; do not print or
share its value.

Run `apus models list --all --provider venice` to see currently
available models; the catalog changes as Venice adds or retires models.

Venice API is at `https://api.venice.ai/api/v1`. Confirm your network allows HTTPS to that host.

Advanced configuration

```json5
{
  env: { vars: { VENICE_API_KEY: "vapi_..." } },
  agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "venice/zai-org-glm-4.7" } } },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      venice: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.venice.ai/api/v1",
        apiKey: "${VENICE_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "zai-org-glm-4.7",
            name: "GLM 4.7",
            reasoning: true,
            input: ["text"],
            contextWindow: 198000,
            maxTokens: 16384,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}
```

Related

Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior.

Venice AI homepage and account signup.

Venice API reference and developer docs.

Current Venice credit rates and plans.