nvidia-nemoclaw-user-configure-inference

name	nvidia-nemoclaw-user-configure-inference
description	Connects NemoClaw to a local inference server. Use when setting up Ollama, vLLM, TensorRT-LLM, NIM, or any OpenAI-compatible local model server with NemoClaw. Trigger keywords - nemoclaw local inference, ollama nemoclaw, vllm nemoclaw, local model server, openai compatible endpoint, switch nemoclaw inference model, change inference runtime, nemoclaw additional model, nemoclaw sub-agent model, openclaw sub-agent, agents.list, sessions_spawn, vlm-demo, nemoclaw tool calling, ollama tool calls, vllm tool-call-parser, raw json in tui, nemoclaw inference options, nemoclaw onboarding providers, nemoclaw inference routing.
license	Apache-2.0 AND CC-BY-4.0
metadata	{"author":"NVIDIA"}

Use a Local Inference Server

Gotchas

• Ollama is convenient for local chat, but some model/template combinations can return tool calls as plain text under realistic agent load.

Prerequisites

• NemoClaw installed.
• A local model server running, or a supported Ollama, vLLM, or NIM setup that the NemoClaw onboard wizard can use, start, or install.

NemoClaw can route inference to a model server running on your machine instead of a cloud API. This page covers Ollama, compatible-endpoint paths for other servers, and experimental managed options for vLLM and NVIDIA NIM.

All approaches use the same inference.local routing model. The agent inside the sandbox never connects to your model server directly. OpenShell intercepts inference traffic and forwards it to the local endpoint you configure.

Ollama

Ollama is the default local inference option. The onboard wizard detects Ollama automatically when it is installed or running on the host.

If Ollama is installed but not running, NemoClaw starts it for you. On macOS and Linux, the wizard can also offer to install Ollama when it is not present. On WSL, the wizard can use, start, restart, or install Ollama on the Windows host through PowerShell interop. On Debian and Ubuntu, the native Linux install path checks for zstd before it runs the Ollama installer. If zstd is missing, NemoClaw installs it with apt-get and explains the sudo prompt before continuing. On non-apt Linux distributions, install zstd first, then rerun onboarding.

Run the onboard wizard.

$ nemoclaw onboard

Select Local Ollama from the provider list. NemoClaw lists installed models or offers starter models if none are installed. On hosts with at least 32 GiB of detected GPU memory, the starter list includes qwen3.6:35b and selects it by default. It pulls the selected model, loads it into memory, and validates it before continuing. If the selected model declares that it does not support tool calling, onboarding stops with guidance to choose a model whose ollama show <model> capabilities include tools. The validation also requires structured chat-completions tool calls. If the model leaks tool-call JSON as plain message text, onboarding stops so you can choose a model that returns tool calls in the expected response field. On WSL, if you choose the Windows-host Ollama path, NemoClaw uses host.docker.internal:11434 and pulls missing models through the Ollama HTTP API instead of requiring the ollama CLI inside WSL.

WSL with Windows-Host Ollama

When NemoClaw runs inside WSL, the provider menu can include Windows-host Ollama actions:

• Use Ollama on Windows host when the Windows daemon is already reachable.
• Restart Ollama on Windows host when the daemon is installed but only bound to Windows loopback.
• Start Ollama on Windows host when Ollama is installed but not running.
• Install Ollama on Windows host when Windows does not have Ollama installed.

The install and restart paths set OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434 on the Windows side so Docker and WSL can reach the daemon through host.docker.internal. After an install or restart action, NemoClaw relaunches Ollama from the detected Windows tray app or verified ollama.exe path and waits until host.docker.internal:11434 responds. If the daemon does not become reachable, onboarding prints PowerShell commands you can run to inspect the Windows-side process and port state. Use one Ollama instance on port 11434 at a time. If both WSL and Windows-host Ollama are running, pick the intended menu entry during onboarding so NemoClaw validates and pulls models against the right daemon.

Warning:

Ollama is convenient for local chat, but some model/template combinations can return tool calls as plain text under realistic agent load. If the TUI shows raw JSON such as {"name":"memory_search","arguments":{...}} instead of running a tool, switch to vLLM with --enable-auto-tool-choice and the correct --tool-call-parser. See Tool-Calling Reliability (use the nemoclaw-user-configure-inference skill).

Authenticated Reverse Proxy

On non-WSL hosts, NemoClaw keeps Ollama bound to 127.0.0.1:11434 and starts a token-gated reverse proxy on 0.0.0.0:11435. The native install/start paths also reset NemoClaw-managed systemd launches to the loopback binding. Containers and other hosts on the local network reach Ollama only through the proxy, which validates a Bearer token before forwarding requests. On that native path, NemoClaw never exposes Ollama without authentication.

WSL Ollama paths do not use this proxy. Windows-host Ollama uses the Windows daemon through host.docker.internal.

For non-WSL Ollama setups, the onboard wizard manages the proxy automatically:

• Generates a random 24-byte token on first run and stores it in ~/.nemoclaw/ollama-proxy-token with 0600 permissions.
• Starts the proxy after Ollama and verifies it before continuing.
• Cleans up stale proxy processes from previous runs.
• Probes the sandbox Docker network path to the proxy before committing the inference route.
• Stops matching proxy processes during uninstall before deleting NemoClaw state.
• Reuses the persisted token after a host reboot so you do not need to re-run onboard.

On native Linux hosts, a firewall can allow the host proxy health check while still blocking sandbox containers on the OpenShell Docker bridge. When the sandbox-side proxy probe fails with a TCP error, onboarding exits before it saves the inference route and prints a command like:

$ sudo ufw allow from <openshell-docker-subnet> to any port 11435 proto tcp
$ nemoclaw onboard

If the probe cannot run, for example because Docker Desktop or WSL uses a different host routing model, onboarding continues and relies on the regular proxy health check.

The sandbox provider is configured to use proxy port 11435 with the generated token as its OPENAI_API_KEY credential. OpenShell's L7 proxy injects the token at egress, so the agent inside the sandbox never sees the token directly.

All proxy endpoints require the Bearer token, including GET /api/tags. Internal health and reachability checks run via the proxy treat any HTTP response (including 401) as proof the proxy is alive — they only fail when nothing answers at all.

If Ollama is already running on a non-loopback address when you start onboard, the wizard restarts it on 127.0.0.1:11434 so the proxy is the only network path to the model server.

GPU Memory Cleanup

When you switch away from Ollama, stop host services, or destroy an Ollama-backed sandbox, NemoClaw asks Ollama to unload currently loaded models from GPU memory. The cleanup sends keep_alive: 0 for each model reported by Ollama and runs on a best-effort basis, so shutdown continues if Ollama is already stopped. This does not delete downloaded model files.

Non-Interactive Setup

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=ollama \
  NEMOCLAW_MODEL=qwen2.5:14b \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive --yes

If NEMOCLAW_MODEL is not set, NemoClaw selects a default model based on available memory.

--yes (or NEMOCLAW_YES=1) authorises the Ollama model download without an interactive confirmation prompt. Under --non-interactive, --yes (or NEMOCLAW_YES=1) is required to authorise the download — onboard exits otherwise, since it cannot prompt. Run onboard without --non-interactive to get the interactive [y/N] prompt that shows the model size before downloading.

Variable	Purpose
NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER	Set to ollama.
NEMOCLAW_MODEL	Ollama model tag to use. Optional.
NEMOCLAW_YES	Set to 1 to auto-accept the model-download confirmation prompt. Optional.

OpenAI-Compatible Server

This option works with any server that implements /v1/chat/completions, including vLLM, TensorRT-LLM, llama.cpp, LocalAI, and others. For compatible endpoints, NemoClaw uses /v1/chat/completions by default. This avoids a class of failures where local backends accept /v1/responses requests but silently drop the system prompt and tool definitions. To opt in to /v1/responses, set NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API=openai-responses before running onboard.

Start your model server. The examples below use vLLM, but any OpenAI-compatible server works.

$ vllm serve meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct --port 8000

Run the onboard wizard.

$ nemoclaw onboard

When the wizard asks you to choose an inference provider, select Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Enter the base URL of your local server, for example http://localhost:8000/v1.

The wizard prompts for an API key. If your server does not require authentication, enter any non-empty string (for example, dummy).

NemoClaw validates the endpoint by sending a test inference request before continuing. The wizard probes /v1/chat/completions by default for the compatible-endpoint provider. If you set NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API=openai-responses, NemoClaw probes /v1/responses instead and only selects it when the response includes the streaming events OpenClaw requires. If a reasoning model returns only reasoning content before producing a final answer, NemoClaw retries the smoke request with a larger response budget. Route, configuration, and authentication failures still fail immediately.

Non-Interactive Setup

Set the following environment variables for scripted or CI/CD deployments.

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=custom \
  NEMOCLAW_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localhost:8000/v1 \
  NEMOCLAW_MODEL=meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct \
  COMPATIBLE_API_KEY=dummy \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

Variable	Purpose
NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER	Set to custom for an OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
NEMOCLAW_ENDPOINT_URL	Base URL of the local server.
NEMOCLAW_MODEL	Model ID as reported by the server.
COMPATIBLE_API_KEY	API key for the endpoint. Use any non-empty value if authentication is not required.

Selecting the API Path

For the compatible-endpoint provider, /v1/chat/completions is the default. NemoClaw tests streaming events during onboarding and uses chat completions without probing the Responses API.

To opt in to /v1/responses, set NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API before running onboard:

$ NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API=openai-responses nemoclaw onboard

The wizard then probes /v1/responses and only selects it when streaming support is complete. If the probe fails, the wizard falls back to /v1/chat/completions automatically. You can use this variable in both interactive and non-interactive mode.

Variable	Values	Default
NEMOCLAW_PREFERRED_API	openai-completions, openai-responses	openai-completions for compatible endpoints

If you already onboarded and the sandbox is failing at runtime, re-run nemoclaw onboard to re-probe the endpoint and bake the correct API path into the image. Refer to Switch Inference Models (use the nemoclaw-user-configure-inference skill) for details.

Anthropic-Compatible Server

If your local server implements the Anthropic Messages API (/v1/messages), choose Other Anthropic-compatible endpoint during onboarding instead.

$ nemoclaw onboard

For non-interactive setup, use NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=anthropicCompatible and set COMPATIBLE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=anthropicCompatible \
  NEMOCLAW_ENDPOINT_URL=http://localhost:8080 \
  NEMOCLAW_MODEL=my-model \
  COMPATIBLE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=dummy \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

vLLM

When vLLM is already running on localhost:8000, NemoClaw can detect it automatically and query the /v1/models endpoint to determine the loaded model. On supported Linux hosts with NVIDIA GPUs, the onboard wizard can also install or start a managed vLLM container for you.

For an already-running vLLM server, run nemoclaw onboard and select Local vLLM [experimental] from the provider list.

$ nemoclaw onboard

If vLLM is already running, NemoClaw detects the running model and validates the endpoint. If vLLM is not running and your host matches a DGX Spark or DGX Station managed profile, NemoClaw shows the Install vLLM or Start vLLM entry by default. Generic Linux NVIDIA GPU hosts still require NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 or NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=install-vllm before the managed entry appears. NemoClaw pulls the vLLM image, downloads model weights into ~/.cache/huggingface, starts the nemoclaw-vllm container on localhost:8000, and prints progress markers while the model loads. The first run can take 10 to 30 minutes. Later runs reuse the cached image and model weights.

Managed vLLM uses these profiles:

Host profile	Default model
DGX Spark	Qwen/Qwen3.6-27B-FP8
DGX Station	Qwen/Qwen3.6-27B-FP8
Linux with an NVIDIA GPU	nvidia/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3-Nano-4B-FP8

Note:

NemoClaw forces the chat/completions API path for vLLM. The vLLM /v1/responses endpoint does not run the --tool-call-parser, so tool calls arrive as raw text.

Non-Interactive Setup

Use an already-running vLLM server:

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=vllm \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

Install or start managed vLLM when a supported profile is detected. On DGX Spark and DGX Station, NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=install-vllm is enough for non-interactive runs; add NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 on generic Linux NVIDIA GPU hosts.

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=install-vllm \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

NemoClaw records the model returned by vLLM's /v1/models endpoint. Start vLLM with the model you want before onboarding if you manage the server yourself.

Override the Managed-vLLM Model

Managed vLLM serves the profile default unless you select a different registry entry. Export NEMOCLAW_VLLM_MODEL=<slug> before invoking the installer to choose a different model from the registry. NemoClaw uses the matching vllm serve flags, including the reasoning parser, tool-call parser, and --max-model-len. Recognised slugs:

Slug	Hugging Face model	Notes
qwen3.6-27b	Qwen/Qwen3.6-27B-FP8	Default on DGX Spark and DGX Station profiles
nemotron-3-nano-4b	nvidia/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3-Nano-4B-FP8	Default on the generic Linux + NVIDIA GPU profile
deepseek-r1-distill-70b	deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama-70B	Gated. Requires Hugging Face license acceptance

The slug is case-insensitive; the full Hugging Face id is also accepted. An unrecognised value fails fast with a list of valid slugs.

Gated models require a Hugging Face token; export it before onboarding so NemoClaw can forward it into the managed vLLM container:

$ export HF_TOKEN=<your-hf-token>
$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=install-vllm \
  NEMOCLAW_VLLM_MODEL=deepseek-r1-distill-70b \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN is accepted as an alternative. The token check runs on the host before any docker pull, so a missing or empty token aborts onboarding before bandwidth is spent on a 401.

NVIDIA NIM (Experimental)

NemoClaw can pull, start, and manage a NIM container on hosts with a NIM-capable NVIDIA GPU.

Set the experimental flag and run onboard.

$ NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 nemoclaw onboard

Select Local NVIDIA NIM [experimental] from the provider list. NemoClaw filters available models by GPU VRAM, pulls the NIM container image, starts it, and waits for it to become healthy before continuing. On hosts with mixed NVIDIA GPU models, the preflight summary shows each detected GPU model and the total VRAM so you can confirm which device class the model selection used.

NIM container images are hosted on nvcr.io and require NGC registry authentication before docker pull succeeds. If Docker is not already logged in to nvcr.io, onboard prompts for an NGC API key and runs docker login nvcr.io over --password-stdin so the key is never written to disk or shell history. The prompt masks the key during input and retries once on a bad key before failing. In non-interactive mode, onboard exits with login instructions if Docker is not already authenticated; run docker login nvcr.io yourself, then re-run nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive. If NGC_API_KEY or NVIDIA_API_KEY is already exported, NemoClaw passes it into the managed NIM container through the process environment instead of command-line arguments. If the NIM container exits before the health endpoint becomes ready, onboarding stops early and prints the last container log lines.

Note:

NIM uses vLLM internally. The same chat/completions API path restriction applies.

Non-Interactive Setup

$ NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 \
  NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=nim \
  nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

To select a specific model, set NEMOCLAW_MODEL.

Timeout Configuration

Local inference requests use a default timeout of 180 seconds. Large prompts on hardware such as DGX Spark can exceed shorter timeouts, so NemoClaw sets a higher default for Ollama, vLLM, NIM, and compatible-endpoint setup.

To override the timeout, set the NEMOCLAW_LOCAL_INFERENCE_TIMEOUT environment variable before onboarding:

$ export NEMOCLAW_LOCAL_INFERENCE_TIMEOUT=300
$ nemoclaw onboard

The value is in seconds. This setting is baked into the sandbox at build time. Changing it after onboarding requires re-running nemoclaw onboard.

NEMOCLAW_LOCAL_INFERENCE_TIMEOUT only governs the inference-server validation probe. The post-create readiness wait (image build, gateway upload, in-sandbox boot) has its own budget, NEMOCLAW_SANDBOX_READY_TIMEOUT, also defaulting to 180 seconds. On hosts where the sandbox image takes minutes to build or upload — large quantised models, DGX Station first runs, or remote VMs over a slow link — raise both together:

$ export NEMOCLAW_LOCAL_INFERENCE_TIMEOUT=300
$ export NEMOCLAW_SANDBOX_READY_TIMEOUT=600
$ nemoclaw onboard

If onboard ends with Sandbox '<name>' was created but did not become ready within 180s, refer to Troubleshooting (use the nemoclaw-user-reference skill).

Verify the Configuration

After onboarding completes, confirm the active provider and model.

$ nemoclaw <name> status

The output shows the provider label (for example, "Local vLLM" or "Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint") and the active model. For Local Ollama, status also checks the authenticated proxy when a proxy token is available. If Inference is healthy but Inference (auth proxy) is not, rerun onboarding to repair the proxy path that sandbox requests use.

Switch Models at Runtime

You can change the model without re-running onboard. Refer to Switch Inference Models (use the nemoclaw-user-configure-inference skill) for the full procedure.

For compatible endpoints, the command is:

$ nemoclaw inference set --provider compatible-endpoint --model <model-name>

If the provider itself needs to change (for example, switching from vLLM to a cloud API), pass the new provider to nemoclaw inference set.

References

• Load references/switch-inference-providers.md when switching inference providers, changing the model runtime, or reconfiguring inference routing. Changes the active inference model without restarting the sandbox.
• Load references/set-up-sub-agent.md when users ask how to add a second model, configure a sub-agent model, use Omni for vision tasks, configure agents.list, or use sessions_spawn in NemoClaw. Shows the NemoClaw-specific file paths and update flow for adding an auxiliary OpenClaw sub-agent model.
• references/tool-calling-reliability.md — Explains Ollama tool-call leak symptoms, when vLLM with a tool-call parser is recommended, and how to repoint NemoClaw to a parser-aware local endpoint.
• Load references/inference-options.md when explaining which providers are available, what the onboard wizard presents, or how inference routing works. Lists all inference providers offered during NemoClaw onboarding.

Related Skills

• nemoclaw-user-get-started — Quickstart (use the nemoclaw-user-get-started skill) for first-time installation