> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs2.openclaw.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Kilo Gateway

Kilo Gateway routes requests to many models behind a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint and API key.

| Property | Value                              |
| -------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Provider | `kilocode`                         |
| Auth     | `KILOCODE_API_KEY`                 |
| API      | OpenAI-compatible                  |
| Base URL | `https://api.kilo.ai/api/gateway/` |

## Install plugin

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
openclaw plugins install @openclaw/kilocode-provider
openclaw gateway restart
```

## Setup

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create an account">
    Go to [app.kilo.ai](https://app.kilo.ai), sign in or create an account, then generate an API key.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run onboarding">
    ```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
    openclaw onboard --auth-choice kilocode-api-key
    ```

    Or set the environment variable directly:

    ```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
    export KILOCODE_API_KEY="<your-kilocode-api-key>" # pragma: allowlist secret
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify the model is available">
    ```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
    openclaw models list --provider kilocode
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Default model and catalog

The default model is `kilocode/kilo/auto`, a provider-owned smart-routing model. OpenClaw does not
publish a task-to-upstream-model mapping for it; routing behind `kilo/auto` is owned by Kilo Gateway.

At startup OpenClaw queries `GET https://api.kilo.ai/api/gateway/models` and merges discovered models
ahead of a static fallback catalog. The static fallback contains only `kilocode/kilo/auto` (`Kilo Auto`,
`input: ["text", "image"]`, `reasoning: true`, `contextWindow: 1000000`, `maxTokens: 128000`).

Any model on the gateway is addressable as `kilocode/<upstream-id>` (for example
`kilocode/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4`, `kilocode/openai/gpt-5.5`). Run `/models kilocode` or
`openclaw models list --provider kilocode` to see the full discovered list.

## Config example

```json5 theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
{
  env: { KILOCODE_API_KEY: "<your-kilocode-api-key>" }, // pragma: allowlist secret
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "kilocode/kilo/auto" },
    },
  },
}
```

## Behavior notes

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Transport and compatibility">
    Kilo Gateway is OpenRouter-compatible, so it uses the proxy-style OpenAI-compatible request
    path rather than native OpenAI request shaping (no `store`, no OpenAI reasoning-effort payload).

    * Gemini-backed Kilo refs stay on the proxy-Gemini path: OpenClaw sanitizes Gemini thought
      signatures there but does not enable native Gemini replay validation or bootstrap rewrites.
    * Requests use a Bearer token built from your API key.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Stream wrapper and reasoning">
    The Kilo stream wrapper adds an `X-KILOCODE-FEATURE` request header (default `openclaw`,
    override with the `KILOCODE_FEATURE` env var) and normalizes reasoning-effort payloads for
    models that support it.

    <Warning>
      `kilocode/kilo/auto` and `x-ai/*` refs skip reasoning-effort injection. Use a concrete model
      ref such as `kilocode/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4` if you need reasoning support.
    </Warning>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Troubleshooting">
    * If model discovery fails at startup, OpenClaw falls back to the static catalog containing `kilocode/kilo/auto`.
    * Confirm your API key is valid and that your Kilo account has the desired models enabled.
    * When Gateway runs as a daemon, ensure `KILOCODE_API_KEY` is available to that process (for example in `~/.openclaw/.env` or via `env.shellEnv`).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Model selection" href="/concepts/model-providers" icon="layers">
    Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configuration reference" href="/gateway/configuration-reference" icon="gear">
    Full OpenClaw configuration reference.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Kilo Gateway" href="https://app.kilo.ai" icon="arrow-up-right-from-square">
    Kilo Gateway dashboard, API keys, and account management.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>