swarm-zap/memory/incidents/2026-03-03-litellm-connection-error.md

Session: 2026-03-03 21:18:33 UTC

• Session Key: agent:main:main
• Session ID: 4e89d280-a179-4c69-ae5f-9d285ffb0f2c
• Source: gateway:sessions.reset

Conversation Summary

user: [Tue 2026-03-03 21:09 UTC] hey user: [Tue 2026-03-03 21:09 UTC] same assistant: reply_to_current Thanks — I found a likely mismatch and patched it:

• Changed LiteLLM provider base URL to include /v1:
  • http://192.168.153.113:18804/v1

This often fixes OpenAI-compatible clients that were otherwise hitting wrong paths and surfacing generic Connection error.

Please do:

openclaw gateway restart

Then retest:

1. model set litellm/claude-haiku-4-5
2. hey

If still failing, I’ll do one more hard fix: force model list down to only known-good IDs + strip any dynamic reload leftovers. user: [Tue 2026-03-03 21:10 UTC] model set to litellm/claude-haiku-4-5 hey run error: Connection error. user: [Tue 2026-03-03 21:11 UTC] hey user: [Tue 2026-03-03 21:11 UTC] model set to litellm/claude-haiku-4-5 hey run error: Connection error. model set to litellm/claude-haiku-4-5 hey assistant: reply_to_current You’re not crazy — this is now looking like an OpenClaw-side LiteLLM integration bug on your current build, not your LiteLLM server.

What we know:

• Direct LiteLLM API call to claude-haiku-4-5 works (OK).
• OpenClaw run with provider=litellm model=claude-haiku-4-5 repeatedly fails with generic Connection error.
• No auth/quota error is surfaced for that model path (unlike Gemini 429s).

Best next fix (likely)

You’re on OpenClaw 2026.3.1, and status keeps showing update available 2026.3.2.
Please run:

openclaw update
openclaw gateway restart

Then retest:

model set litellm/claude-haiku-4-5
hey

If it still fails after update, I’ll do a hard workaround: rewire these models through a custom non-litellm provider block (same endpoint/key) so model selection works without the buggy path. user: Sender (untrusted metadata):

{
  "label": "openclaw-tui (gateway-client)",
  "id": "gateway-client",
  "name": "openclaw-tui",
  "username": "openclaw-tui"
}

[Tue 2026-03-03 21:14 UTC] hey user: Sender (untrusted metadata):

{
  "label": "openclaw-tui (gateway-client)",
  "id": "gateway-client",
  "name": "openclaw-tui",
  "username": "openclaw-tui"
}

[Tue 2026-03-03 21:14 UTC] same issue assistant: reply_to_current Got it. Since it still fails, let’s bypass the litellm provider path entirely.

Use a custom provider name (same LiteLLM endpoint/key), then select models from that provider.

Add this in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json under models.providers:

"liteproxy": {
  "baseUrl": "http://192.168.153.113:18804/v1",
  "apiKey": "sk-3oxoovwm69RyWRREGPJfDQ",
  "api": "openai-completions",
  "models": [
    { "id": "claude-haiku-4-5", "name": "Claude Haiku 4.5" },
    { "id": "gemini-2.5-flash", "name": "Gemini 2.5 Flash" },
    { "id": "gemini-2.5-flash-lite", "name": "Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite" },
    { "id": "zai-glm-4.7", "name": "GLM 4.7" }
  ]
}

And in agents.defaults.models add:

"liteproxy/claude-haiku-4-5": {},
"liteproxy/gemini-2.5-flash": {},
"liteproxy/gemini-2.5-flash-lite": {},
"liteproxy/zai-glm-4.7": {}

Then restart:

openclaw gateway restart

Test:

model set liteproxy/claude-haiku-4-5
hey

If you want, I can give you one exact jq patch command to apply this automatically. user: Sender (untrusted metadata):

{
  "label": "openclaw-tui (gateway-client)",
  "id": "gateway-client",
  "name": "openclaw-tui",
  "username": "openclaw-tui"
}

[Tue 2026-03-03 21:15 UTC] di it please assistant: reply_to_current Done ✅ I added liteproxy as a separate provider and added its models to /models.

I also made a backup:

• ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.backup-before-liteproxy-20260303T211619Z

Now run:

openclaw gateway restart

Then test:

model set liteproxy/claude-haiku-4-5
hey

If that still fails, paste the exact output and I’ll keep debugging live. user: Sender (untrusted metadata):

{
  "label": "openclaw-tui (gateway-client)",
  "id": "gateway-client",
  "name": "openclaw-tui",
  "username": "openclaw-tui"
}

[Tue 2026-03-03 21:15 UTC] hey user: Sender (untrusted metadata):

{
  "label": "openclaw-tui (gateway-client)",
  "id": "gateway-client",
  "name": "openclaw-tui",
  "username": "openclaw-tui"
}

[Tue 2026-03-03 21:16 UTC] ? user: Sender (untrusted metadata):

{
  "label": "openclaw-tui (gateway-client)",
  "id": "gateway-client",
  "name": "openclaw-tui",
  "username": "openclaw-tui"
}

[Tue 2026-03-03 21:16 UTC] same