# How to connect OpenAI to OpenClaw (paste one key, 126 tools) > Connect OpenAI to OpenClaw with ClawLink: paste your OpenAI key once and 126 tools work from chat. No MCP server to run, nothing stored on your machine. Web version: https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/openai The usual route to OpenAI access for OpenClaw is an MCP server you configure and keep running, plus your own OAuth app or API keys. ClawLink gives OpenClaw a more practical OpenAI setup: install one ClawHub skill, connect OpenAI in the browser, and OpenClaw can call real OpenAI actions from any chat surface with no auth, token refresh, or tool wiring to build yourself. **Start here:** install the ClawLink plugin (`openclaw plugins install clawhub:clawlink-plugin`), pair it in the browser, then connect the app in the ClawLink dashboard. The interactive install prompt is on the web version of this page: https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/openai ## Setup It takes three steps to connect OpenClaw to OpenAI. 1. **Install ClawLink** — add the plugin to OpenClaw once. 2. **Connect OpenAI** — one-click OAuth in the ClawLink dashboard. 3. **Use it from chat** — ask OpenClaw in plain English. **Alternative for any agent (no plugin needed):** if the OpenClaw plugin route isn't available or doesn't work, any AI agent with shell access can use the ClawLink CLI instead: ```bash npx -y @useclawlink/cli login # sign in via browser — no API key to paste npx -y @useclawlink/cli connect openai # connect OpenAI (browser OAuth) npx -y @useclawlink/cli actions openai # list available actions npx -y @useclawlink/cli run openai --input '' # execute (add --confirm for writes) ``` ### Install by command The setup prompt above does all of this in one paste. By hand, it is one install command plus a browser approval: ```bash openclaw plugins install clawhub:clawlink-plugin ``` Then ask OpenClaw to set up ClawLink. It starts browser pairing and prints an approval link — open it, approve the device, return to the chat, and say `done`. Finally, connect OpenAI in the [ClawLink dashboard](https://claw-link.dev/dashboard) — paste your OpenAI API key once. Verify the connection by asking OpenClaw: > Use OpenAI to add upload part and walk me through the result in plain English. ### Using a different agent? The OpenClaw plugin is one client of ClawLink's MCP server. Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or any agent that can run a shell command pairs with the same ClawLink account through the CLI: ```bash npx -y @useclawlink/cli login ``` `login` opens the same browser approval and stores a credential locally. Once OpenAI is connected in the dashboard, that agent calls the same 126 OpenAI tools over MCP. Full setup for MCP clients and shell agents: [connect apps to any AI agent](https://claw-link.dev/learn/connect-apps-to-any-ai-agent). ## OpenAI MCP for OpenClaw Looking for a OpenAI MCP server for OpenClaw? ClawLink connects OpenAI to OpenClaw and exposes 126 OpenAI tools your agent can call over [MCP](https://claw-link.dev/learn/what-is-an-mcp-server), with [hosted auth](https://claw-link.dev/learn/oauth-for-ai-agents) and nothing to run or maintain yourself. Using Hermes instead? The [Hermes OpenAI integration](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/openai) works the same way. ## What the OpenClaw OpenAI integration can do 126 OpenAI tools are ready for OpenClaw once the account is connected. The 30 below are the ones people reach for most; your agent can call all 126. ### 30 of 126 OpenAI tools for OpenClaw | Tool | What it does | |---|---| | **Add upload part** `openai_add_upload_part` | Tool to add a part (chunk of bytes) to an Upload object. Use when uploading large files in chunks, with each part up to 64 MB. | | **Cancel batch** `openai_cancel_batch` | Tool to cancel an in-progress batch. Use when you need to stop a batch that is currently processing. | | **Cancel eval run** `openai_cancel_eval_run` | Tool to cancel an ongoing evaluation run. Use when you need to stop an evaluation run that is currently in progress. | | **Cancel response** `openai_cancel_response` | Tool to cancel a background model response by its ID. Use when you need to stop a response that was created with the 'background' parameter set to true. | | **Cancel run** `openai_cancel_run` | Tool to cancel a run that is currently in progress. Use when you need to stop an assistant run that is taking too long or is no longer needed. | | **Cancel upload** `openai_cancel_upload` | Tool to cancel an upload. Use when you need to stop an upload that is in progress. No parts may be added after cancellation. | | **Compact response** `openai_compact_response` | Tool to compact a conversation or response to reduce token usage. Use when you need to reduce the size of long conversations while preserving important context. | | **Create audio transcription** `openai_create_audio_transcription` | Tool to transcribe audio files to text via OpenAI Audio Transcriptions API. Use when you need to convert speech in audio files to written text, optionally with timestamps or speaker diarization. | | **Create audio translation** `openai_create_audio_translation` | Tool to translate audio files to English text via OpenAI Audio Translations API. Use when you need to convert speech in audio files (any language) to English text. | | **Create batch** `openai_create_batch` | Tool to create and execute a batch from an uploaded file of requests. Use after uploading a JSONL file with purpose 'batch' to process multiple API requests in a single batch operation. | | **Create chat completion** `openai_create_chat_completion` | Tool to create a chat completion response from OpenAI models. Use for conversational AI, text generation, function calling, multimodal tasks with vision/audio, and structured JSON outputs. | | **Create completion** `openai_create_completion` | Tool to generate text completions using OpenAI's legacy Completions API. Use for single-turn text generation with models like gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct. | | **Create embeddings** `openai_create_embeddings` | Generate text embeddings via the OpenAI embeddings endpoint | | **Create moderation** `openai_create_moderation` | Classify text and/or image inputs for potentially harmful content via the OpenAI Moderation API | | **Create speech** `openai_create_speech` | Generate text-to-speech audio using OpenAI's Audio API | | **Download file** `openai_download_file` | Download the contents of a specified file by its ID | | **Download video** `openai_download_video` | Download video content (MP4) or preview assets from OpenAI Videos API | | **Get chat completion** `openai_get_chat_completion` | Retrieve a stored chat completion | | **Get chat completion messages** `openai_get_chat_completion_messages` | Retrieve messages from a stored chat completion | | **Get chatkit thread** `openai_get_chatkit_thread` | Retrieve a ChatKit thread by its ID | | **Get conversation item** `openai_get_conversation_item` | Retrieve a single item from a conversation | | **Get eval** `openai_get_eval` | Retrieve an evaluation by ID | | **Get eval run** `openai_get_eval_run` | Retrieve an evaluation run by ID to check status and results | | **Get eval run output item** `openai_get_eval_run_output_item` | Retrieve a specific output item from an evaluation run by its ID | | **Get eval run output items** `openai_get_eval_run_output_items` | Get a list of output items for an evaluation run | | **Get eval runs** `openai_get_eval_runs` | Get a paginated list of runs for an evaluation | | **Get input token counts** `openai_get_input_token_counts` | Calculate input token counts for OpenAI API requests | | **Get message** `openai_get_message` | Retrieve a specific message from a thread by its ID | | **Get response** `openai_get_response` | Retrieve a model response by ID | | **Get run step** `openai_get_run_step` | Retrieve a specific run step from an Assistants API run to inspect detailed execution progress | ## Example prompts **Add Upload Part** > Use OpenAI to add upload part and walk me through the result in plain English. **Cancel Batch** > Use OpenAI to cancel batch and walk me through the result in plain English. **Cancel Eval Run** > Use OpenAI to cancel eval run and walk me through the result in plain English. **Cancel Response** > Use OpenAI to cancel response and walk me through the result in plain English. ## ClawLink vs. building it yourself The alternative to ClawLink is usually manual API key setup plus your own token handling, permission troubleshooting, and tool plumbing for OpenClaw. That is fine if you want to build and maintain the integration yourself. Most teams just want OpenAI working from chat. | | Manual | ClawLink | |---|---|---| | **Credential handling** | Collect, validate, store, and rotate the OpenAI API key yourself, then make sure every tool call uses the right account. | Users complete the hosted ClawLink setup once and the connected OpenAI account becomes available to the agent without you building credential management. | | **Ongoing maintenance** | You own refresh logic, permission debugging, environment config, and every provider-specific edge case for OpenAI. | ClawLink handles the repetitive integration plumbing so your team can focus on the workflow instead of the infrastructure. | | **Agent usability** | You still need to expose the right OpenAI actions to the runtime in a format your agent can reliably use. | 126 tools for OpenAI are already exposed through ClawLink, so the agent can read and act from chat immediately. | ## ClawLink vs. Composio Composio also exposes OpenAI to AI agents. It is developer infrastructure: Python and TypeScript SDKs, an MCP server, and a catalog past 1,000 apps, aimed at teams shipping agent products. ClawLink is built for OpenClaw users instead. You install the plugin once, connect OpenAI in the browser, and the 126 tools above work from chat. There is no SDK and no config file, and the OpenAI key you paste at setup is stored server-side rather than kept in your environment. Choosing between them? Read the full [Composio alternatives](https://claw-link.dev/hub/composio-alternatives) comparison. ### OpenClaw installed the OpenAI skill but can't call the tools The ClawHub skill teaches OpenClaw about OpenAI, but the calls run through the ClawLink plugin and your connected account. Make sure OpenAI is connected in the dashboard, then start a fresh chat so OpenClaw reloads the tool catalog. If OpenClaw runs as a persistent gateway, restart it so the new tools register. ### Connection succeeds but no tools appear Reconnect OpenAI from the dashboard, then start a fresh chat if the runtime still has the old tool catalog loaded. ### "Tool schema not loaded yet" error when calling OpenAI tools OpenAI tool schemas load on demand the first time a tool runs and are cached after that, so this error usually clears on its own: wait a few seconds and retry the same request. If every OpenAI call keeps failing with it in a fresh chat, reconnect from the dashboard, and contact support if it still persists — that pattern points to a configuration problem on our side, not something you can fix by reconnecting again. ### OpenAI returns 403 or "permission denied" on one action while others work Two usual causes. The connected account may not have access to the specific workspace, inbox, store, or project in the request — check that first. If access looks right, the agent may have sent a placeholder value (like "YOUR_ID" or an example id from documentation) instead of a real one: ask it to run a list or search tool first, then retry the action with a real id from those results. Most failures at this stage are one of these two, not ClawLink bugs. ### API key setup works but results look incomplete Double-check that the API key for OpenAI has the right scopes or account access. A valid key can still be too limited for some reads or writes. ### Is there a OpenClaw OpenAI integration? Yes. ClawLink is the fastest way to connect OpenClaw to OpenAI: link your OpenAI account once in the browser and OpenClaw can call the OpenAI API through 126 ready-made tools — no custom code or token handling. ### How do I add OpenAI to OpenClaw with ClawLink? Paste the setup prompt from this page into OpenClaw. It installs the ClawLink OpenAI skill from ClawHub, then you click Connect in the dashboard to authorize OpenAI. OpenClaw calls the tools from the next message — no config files, and the OpenAI key you paste is stored server-side instead of in your environment. ### How long does it take to connect OpenAI to OpenClaw? About two minutes. Sign in, click Connect next to OpenAI in the dashboard, authenticate, and OpenClaw can use it from the next chat message. ### Why use ClawLink instead of wiring OpenAI up myself? The alternative to ClawLink is usually manual API key setup plus your own token handling, permission troubleshooting, and tool plumbing for OpenClaw. That is fine if you want to build and maintain the integration yourself. Most teams just want OpenAI working from chat. ### OpenClaw installed the OpenAI skill but can't call the tools The ClawHub skill teaches OpenClaw about OpenAI, but the calls run through the ClawLink plugin and your connected account. Make sure OpenAI is connected in the dashboard, then start a fresh chat so OpenClaw reloads the tool catalog. If OpenClaw runs as a persistent gateway, restart it so the new tools register. ## Related - [DataRobot](https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/datarobot) — DataRobot is a machine learning platform that automates model building, deployment, and monitoring, enabling organizations to derive predictive insights from large datasets. - [OpenClaw Chatbotkit integration](https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/chatbotkit) — ChatBotKit is a platform that enables developers to build and manage AI-powered chatbots, offering comprehensive APIs and SDKs for seamless integration into applications. - [Connect ElevenLabs](https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/elevenlabs) — Generate speech and voice cloning