"I’m trying to use xai/grok-4-1-fast-reasoning in OpenClaw (version 2026.2.13). It’s listed in my config under agents.defaults.models, and direct API calls to xAI confirm my key has access, but OpenClaw returns 'model not allowed'. I’ve applied the config and restarted. Any known fixes or allowlist tweaks for newer xAI models?"
#grok-4-1-fast-reasoning
1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)
That exact "Model … is not allowed" message is almost always OpenClaw’s allowlist, not xAI rejecting your key.
1) First: confirm which “model not allowed” you’re seeing
If the error is:
Model "xai/grok-4-1-fast-reasoning" is not allowed. Use /model to list available models.
…then it’s 100% agents.defaults.models (or the per-agent models) not matching what the gateway is actually using.
If it’s a different/error JSON coming from xAI, paste it verbatim—different fix.
2) Common cause: the Gateway service is running a different config than the one you edited
Run this on the gateway host and paste the Config (cli) / Config (service) lines:
openclaw gateway status
If they differ, fix is:
openclaw gateway install --force
openclaw gateway restart
(FAQ section: https://docs.openclaw.ai/help/faq#why-does-openclaw-gateway-status-show-config-cli-and-config-service-different)
3) Make sure the allowlist entry is the exact key (not nested)
The allowlist needs to look like this (keys are full provider/model strings):
{
env: { XAI_API_KEY: "…" },
agents: {
defaults: {
model: { primary: "xai/grok-4-1-fast-reasoning" },
models: {
"xai/grok-4-1-fast-reasoning": { alias: "grok-fast" },
},
},
},
}
Easy sanity check: in chat run:
/model list