How to Switch Models - Overview - Z.AI DEVELOPER DOCUMENT

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Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.z.ai/llms.txt

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Switching Models in Claude Code

Step 0 Claude Code default configuration

By default, Claude Code maps its internal model environment variables to GLM models as follows:

• ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL：GLM-4.7
• ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL：GLM-4.7
• ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL：GLM-4.5-Air

Step 1 Update the default configuration

For Windows Users

Locate the configuration file at ~/.claude/settings.json, as shown below:

For macOS Users

Method 1: In the terminal, run vim ~/.claude/settings.json to open and edit the file. When you’re done, press Esc, type :wq, and save your changes. Method 2: In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder, then enter ~/.claude/settings.json to locate and edit the configuration file. You can also ask directly in Claude Code: To use GLM-5.1, add or replace the following environment variables in settings.json:

  {
    "env": {
      "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "glm-4.5-air",
      "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "glm-5.1",
      "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "glm-5.1"
    }
  }

Step 2 Confirm that the model has been switched

Open a new terminal window and run claude to launch Claude Code. Then type /status in Claude Code to verify the current model:

Switching Models in OpenClaw

For users who are already using OpenClaw and cannot switch to glm-5.1 by selecting a provider model directly you can update the configuration manually after completing the provider setup in the previous step.

Step 1 Update the default configuration

Locate the configuration file at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, as shown below: In ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, add the glm-5.1 model to the models.providers.zai.models array.Append the following object after the last model in the array. Be sure to include a comma if required by JSON syntax:

{
  "id": "glm-5.1",
  "name": "GLM-5.1",
  "reasoning": true,
  "input": [
    "text"
  ],
  "cost": {
    "input": 0,
    "output": 0,
    "cacheRead": 0,
    "cacheWrite": 0
  },
  "contextWindow": 204800,
  "maxTokens": 131072
}

Then update the default model under agents.defaults.model.primary:

Change it to:

"primary": "zai/glm-5.1",

Next, under agents.defaults.models, add:

Step 2 Updated configuration reference

Below are reference snippets showing what the updated configuration should look like:

1. models.providers.zai.models section：

"models": [
  {
    "id": "glm-5",
    "name": "GLM-5",
    "reasoning": true,
    "input": ["text"],
    "cost": {"input": 0, "output": 0, "cacheRead": 0, "cacheWrite": 0},
    "contextWindow": 204800,
    "maxTokens": 131072
  },
  {
    "id": "glm-4.7",
    "name": "GLM-4.7",
    "reasoning": true,
    "input": ["text"],
    "cost": {"input": 0, "output": 0, "cacheRead": 0, "cacheWrite": 0},
    "contextWindow": 204800,
    "maxTokens": 131072
  },
  {
    "id": "glm-5.1",
    "name": "GLM-5.1",
    "reasoning": true,
    "input": ["text"],
    "cost": {"input": 0, "output": 0, "cacheRead": 0, "cacheWrite": 0},
    "contextWindow": 204800,
    "maxTokens": 131072
  }
]

2. agents.defaults.model.primary section：

"model": {
  "primary": "zai/glm-5.1",
  "fallbacks": ["zai/glm-4.7"]
}

3. agents.defaults.models section：

"models": {
  "zai/glm-5": {"alias": "GLM"},
  "zai/glm-4.7": {},
  "zai/glm-5.1": {}
}

After making these changes, restart the gateway by running: openclaw gateway restart Once restarted, you should be able to use the glm-5.1 model directly. You can run openclaw tui in the terminal to enter the chat interface, where you should see that glm-5.1 is now in use.

Using Cline as an example:

Please use the following settings:

• API Provider：Select OpenAI Compatible
• Base URL：Enter https://api.z.ai/api/coding/paas/v4
• API Key：Enter your Z.AI API key
• Model：Choose Custom Model and enter the model name, such as glm-5.1 or glm-5
• Other settings:
  • Uncheck Support Images
  • Set Context Window Size to 200000
  • Adjust temperature and any other parameters based on your task requirements