If you set up OpenClaw recently and started seeing errors with Claude Sonnet 4.6, you're not alone and you're not banned. Anthropic didn't flag you. Here's exactly what happened and how to fix it in under two minutes.
What Happened
OpenClaw had the 1M context window beta enabled by default. That feature is gated behind Anthropic's API key access — it doesn't work with a Claude subscription (setup token), which is how most people get started with OpenClaw.
When you're on a setup token and that beta flag is active, you hit rate limit errors that look alarming. They're not. It's just a mismatch between the feature and your auth method.
The Fix
Run these commands on the machine where OpenClaw is installed:
# Check your current model state openclaw models status # Set Sonnet 4.6 as your primary model openclaw models set anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6 # Clear old fallbacks and set Opus 4.6 openclaw models fallbacks clear openclaw models fallbacks add anthropic/claude-opus-4-6 # Verify everything looks right openclaw models status
That's it. You're done.
Why This Setup
Sonnet 4.6 is the primary workhorse — near-Opus quality at roughly 1/5 the cost. It handles the vast majority of tasks without breaking a sweat.
Opus 4.6 sits in the fallback slot. OpenClaw calls it automatically when the task is complex enough to need it. You get the best of both without thinking about it.
This is the exact config I'm running. It's stable, cost-efficient, and works cleanly with setup-token auth.
A Note on the 1M Context Window
The 1M context window isn't gone — it's just not the right tool for setup-token users. If you ever move to a direct Anthropic API key, you can enable it with
params.context1m: true in your config. But for most people, the config above is the right play.Want to Go Deeper?
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