Inference profiles

Configuration reference for NemoClaw inference providers — NVIDIA cloud, NCP partners, and experimental local options.

Inference profiles

NemoClaw ships with inference profiles defined in blueprint.yaml. Each profile configures an OpenShell inference provider and model route. The agent inside the sandbox uses whichever provider and model is active. Inference requests are routed transparently through the OpenShell gateway — they never leave the sandbox directly.

Two setup paths, two provider names. When using openclaw nemoclaw launch or openclaw nemoclaw migrate, the blueprint creates providers with the names in the table below (for example, nvidia-inference). When using the standalone nemoclaw onboard wizard, the provider is named nvidia-nim instead. The provider name matters when running openshell inference set to switch models.

Profile summary

Profile	Provider name	Model	Endpoint	Notes
default	nvidia-inference	nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b	integrate.api.nvidia.com	Production. Requires NVIDIA API key.
ncp	nvidia-ncp	nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b	Configurable	NCP partner endpoint. Requires NVIDIA API key.
nim-local	nim-local	nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b	nim-service.local:8000	Experimental. Requires NIM API key.
vllm	vllm-local	nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b	localhost:8000	Experimental. No API key required.

Available models

The nvidia-inference provider registers the following models from build.nvidia.com:

Model ID	Label	Context window	Max output
nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b	Nemotron 3 Super 120B	131,072	8,192
nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1	Nemotron Ultra 253B	131,072	4,096
nvidia/llama-3.3-nemotron-super-49b-v1.5	Nemotron Super 49B v1.5	131,072	4,096
nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B	131,072	4,096

The default profile activates Nemotron 3 Super 120B. You can switch to any model in the catalog at runtime without restarting the sandbox.

Provider types

NVIDIA Build (default)

The default profile routes inference to NVIDIA’s hosted API at build.nvidia.com. This is the recommended option for most users — it requires no local infrastructure.

Profile: default

Field	Value
Provider name	nvidia-inference
Provider type	nvidia
Endpoint	https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1
Default model	nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b
Credential env	NVIDIA_API_KEY

Getting an API key:

1. Go to build.nvidia.com and sign in.
2. Navigate to Settings → API Keys.
3. Create a new key and copy it.
4. Pass it to openclaw nemoclaw onboard --api-key <key> or set NVIDIA_API_KEY in your environment.

The onboard wizard stores the key in ~/.nemoclaw/credentials.json (mode 600).

Onboard:

openclaw nemoclaw onboard --endpoint build --api-key nvapi-xxxx --model nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

Switch model at runtime:

openshell inference set --provider nvidia-inference --model nvidia/llama-3.3-nemotron-super-49b-v1.5

The change takes effect immediately. No sandbox restart is needed.

NCP partner

The NCP (NVIDIA Cloud Partner) profile routes inference to a dedicated partner endpoint with configurable capacity and SLA backing.

Profile: ncp

Field	Value
Provider name	nvidia-ncp
Provider type	nvidia
Endpoint	Configurable (partner-supplied URL)
Default model	nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b
Credential env	NVIDIA_API_KEY
Dynamic endpoint	true

Onboard:

openclaw nemoclaw onboard \
  --endpoint ncp \
  --ncp-partner acme \
  --endpoint-url https://acme.api.nvidia.com/v1 \
  --api-key nvapi-xxxx \
  --model nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

The --ncp-partner flag records the partner name for reference. The --endpoint-url sets the dynamic endpoint for the NCP provider.

Local NIM (experimental)

nim-local is experimental and may change without notice. Set NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 to enable it in the interactive onboard menu.

Routes inference to a self-hosted NIM (NVIDIA Inference Microservice) container running on the local network.

Profile: nim-local

Field	Value
Provider name	nim-local
Provider type	openai
Default endpoint	http://nim-service.local:8000/v1
Default model	nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b
Credential env	NIM_API_KEY

Onboard:

NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 openclaw nemoclaw onboard \
  --endpoint nim-local \
  --endpoint-url http://nim-service.local:8000/v1 \
  --api-key your-nim-key \
  --model nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

Credential validation is best-effort during onboarding — the NIM service may not be running yet.

vLLM (experimental)

vllm is experimental and intended for local development. Set NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 to enable it.

Routes inference to a local vLLM server running on the host.

Profile: vllm

Field	Value
Provider name	vllm-local
Provider type	openai
Endpoint	http://localhost:8000/v1 (via host gateway)
Default model	nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b
Credential env	OPENAI_API_KEY
Default credential	dummy

The endpoint is resolved through http://host.openshell.internal:8000/v1 so sandbox network policy is not required for local traffic.

Onboard:

NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 openclaw nemoclaw onboard \
  --endpoint vllm \
  --model nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b

Ollama (experimental)

ollama is experimental. Set NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 to enable it.

Routes inference to a local Ollama server on the host.

Profile: ollama (experimental, not listed in blueprint.yaml; configured directly via openclaw nemoclaw onboard)

Field	Value
Provider name	ollama-local
Provider type	openai
Default endpoint	http://host.openshell.internal:11434/v1
Credential env	OPENAI_API_KEY
Default credential	ollama

If Ollama is detected running on localhost:11434 and NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 is set, the onboard wizard selects it automatically.

Onboard:

NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 openclaw nemoclaw onboard --endpoint ollama

Custom (experimental)

custom is experimental. Set NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 to enable it.

Routes inference to any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

Field	Value
Provider name	nvidia-ncp
Endpoint	Configurable (--endpoint-url)
Credential env	NVIDIA_API_KEY

Onboard:

NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 openclaw nemoclaw onboard \
  --endpoint custom \
  --endpoint-url https://my-llm-server.internal/v1 \
  --api-key my-key \
  --model my-custom-model

Enabling experimental providers

Local inference options (NIM, vLLM, Ollama, custom) are hidden by default. Set the NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL environment variable to expose them in the interactive menu:

NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1 openclaw nemoclaw onboard

You can also pass --endpoint directly without the environment variable — NemoClaw will issue a warning but proceed:

openclaw nemoclaw onboard --endpoint nim-local --endpoint-url http://nim-service.local:8000/v1 --api-key key

Credentials

Credentials are stored in ~/.nemoclaw/credentials.json with file permissions set to 600. The credential environment variable used depends on the endpoint type:

Endpoint type	Credential env
build	NVIDIA_API_KEY
ncp	NVIDIA_API_KEY
custom	NVIDIA_API_KEY
nim-local	NIM_API_KEY
vllm	OPENAI_API_KEY (default: dummy)
ollama	OPENAI_API_KEY (default: ollama)

Switching models at runtime

After the sandbox is running, switch the active model with the OpenShell CLI. The provider name depends on the setup method used:

Plugin setup (openclaw nemoclaw)

The blueprint creates a provider named nvidia-inference:

openshell inference set --provider nvidia-inference --model nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1

Standalone setup (nemoclaw onboard)

The standalone wizard creates a provider named nvidia-nim:

openshell inference set --provider nvidia-nim --model nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1

The change takes effect immediately. No sandbox restart is needed.