On April 4th, Anthropic ended support for using Claude Max subscriptions via OAuth in third-party tools. This affects every OpenClaw user who was using their Claude subscription — rather than an API key — to power their agent.

If your agent suddenly stopped responding or started throwing authentication errors, this is almost certainly why.

What Exactly Changed

Previously, you could connect OpenClaw to Claude by authenticating with your Claude.ai account or Claude Code CLI token. This let Claude Max subscribers use their subscription's "unlimited" usage in OpenClaw.

Anthropic has revoked this access path. The reason isn't hard to figure out: OpenClaw heartbeats and autonomous agent workflows generate sustained API load that Claude Max wasn't priced for. From Anthropic's perspective, one OpenClaw user with a $20/mo subscription could be consuming the equivalent of 10–20 regular Claude users.

This is not an OpenClaw bug. OpenClaw hasn't changed. Anthropic revoked the token class that enabled this usage pattern. Blaming OpenClaw for this is like blaming your browser when a website changes its login system.

Your 3 Options

1
Switch to Anthropic API Key (Recommended)
⏱ 10 minutes · 💰 Pay-per-use · ✅ Fully supported

This is the cleanest fix. An API key bypasses the OAuth restriction entirely — it's a separate billing relationship directly with Anthropic, not tied to your Claude Max subscription.

  • Go to console.anthropic.com → API Keys → Create Key
  • Set a spend limit immediately (Settings → Limits) — $20–50/mo is plenty for most users
  • Update your openclaw.json model config to use the API key
  • Restart OpenClaw

Cost reality: Most OpenClaw users on Claude Sonnet spend $5–30/mo via API. Haiku is cheaper still. You're not going to burn $200/mo unless you have very aggressive heartbeat configs.

2
Route Through Claude Code CLI (Advanced)
⏱ 30–60 minutes · 💰 Uses Claude Code subscription · ⚠️ May not be long-term stable

Some users have found a workaround: route OpenClaw through the Claude Code CLI as a proxy, which preserves subscription access. The community has posted step-by-step instructions for this.

Honest caveat: this is a workaround, not a supported path. Anthropic may close this gap in a future update. If you go this route, have a fallback plan.

3
Switch to a Different Model Provider
⏱ 15 minutes · 💰 Varies · ✅ Fully supported

OpenClaw supports multiple providers. If you don't want to pay Anthropic's API rates, alternatives include:

  • OpenAI — GPT-4o is strong for most agent tasks
  • Google Gemini — competitive pricing, good context window
  • Ollama (local) — free, runs on your hardware, quality depends on your machine
  • Groq — very fast, good for high-frequency heartbeat tasks

The 10-Minute API Key Fix (Step by Step)

  1. Go to console.anthropic.com and sign in (create account if needed — separate from Claude.ai)
  2. Click API Keys in the left sidebar → Create Key → name it "openclaw" → copy it immediately (you won't see it again)
  3. Go to Settings → Limits → set a monthly spend limit ($20 is a safe start)
  4. Add $5–10 of credit to get started (Settings → Billing)
  5. Open your OpenClaw config: nano ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
  6. Find your model config and replace the OAuth/token field with your new API key
  7. Save and restart OpenClaw: sudo systemctl restart openclaw (or however you run it)
  8. Send a test message — you should be back online within 60 seconds
💡 Cost Estimate
A typical OpenClaw user on Claude Sonnet 4 via API: $8–25/month depending on heartbeat frequency and session volume. Claude Haiku for lightweight tasks: $2–8/month. Set your limit at $30 and you'll never get surprised.

What If You're Not Technical Enough to Edit the Config?

This is exactly the kind of thing ClawReady handles. Book a call and we'll do the migration for you — usually takes under 30 minutes, and we'll clean up your config while we're in there.

If you were powering OpenClaw with Claude Max and this broke your setup, now is a good time to get everything else properly configured too. An API key migration is a 10-minute fix — a fully secured, production-ready setup takes 48 hours and costs $99.

Will Claude OAuth Ever Come Back?

Unlikely in the near term. Anthropic's business model depends on API revenue, and autonomous agents are exactly the sustained-usage case they need to price correctly. The Claude Max subscription was designed for human-paced usage, not 24/7 agent heartbeats.

The silver lining: the API is actually the better long-term foundation. You control costs, you're not dependent on subscription tier changes, and your setup doesn't break when Anthropic adjusts their OAuth policies.