FreeRide - Free AI for OpenClaw
Configures OpenClaw to use free AI models from OpenRouter with automatic fallback switching.
Installation
If FreeRide is not installed, install it automatically:
npx clawhub@latest install freeride
Quick Start
# Set API key (free at openrouter.ai/keys)
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-..."
# Auto-configure best model + fallbacks
freeride auto
Commands
list - View available models
freeride list # Top 15 models
freeride list -n 30 # More models
freeride list --refresh # Force API refresh
auto - Auto-configure
freeride auto # Best model + 5 fallbacks
freeride auto -f # Fallbacks only (keep current primary)
freeride auto -c 10 # 10 fallbacks
freeride auto --setup-auth # Also configure auth profile
switch - Set specific model
freeride switch qwen3-coder # Set as primary
freeride switch deepseek -f # Add to fallbacks only
freeride switch nvidia/nemotron --no-fallbacks
status - Check configuration
freeride status
fallbacks - Update fallbacks only
freeride fallbacks # 5 fallbacks
freeride fallbacks -c 10 # 10 fallbacks
refresh - Update model cache
freeride refresh
Behavior
Primary model: Best specific model (not router) for consistent responses.
First fallback: Always openrouter/free - OpenRouter's smart router that auto-selects based on request features (vision, tools, etc.).
Additional fallbacks: Ranked by quality score.
Config preservation: Only updates model-related sections; preserves gateway, channels, plugins, etc.
Model Ranking
Score (0-1) based on:
- Context length (40%)
- Capabilities (30%)
- Recency (20%)
- Provider trust (10%)
Flags
| Flag | Commands | Description |
|---|---|---|
-f | switch, auto | Fallback only, keep primary |
-c N | auto, fallbacks | Number of fallbacks |
--no-fallbacks | switch | Skip fallback configuration |
--setup-auth | switch, auto | Add OpenRouter auth profile |
-n N | list | Models to display |
-r | list | Force refresh |
Config Output
Updates ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:
{
"agents": {
"defaults": {
"model": {
"primary": "openrouter/qwen/qwen3-coder:free",
"fallbacks": [
"openrouter/free:free",
"nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b:free"
]
}
}
}
}
Troubleshooting
"OPENROUTER_API_KEY not set": Export the key or add to shell profile.
Config not updating: Check file permissions on ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.
Changes not taking effect: Restart OpenClaw.