MoltBot Configure API Proxy: 3-Step Complete Tutorial to Access Claude Opus and Other Models

Want to connect MoltBot to Claude Opus 4.5 or other Large Language Models but aren't sure how to configure an API proxy? This guide will walk you through the MoltBot Multi-Provider configuration step-by-step, allowing your AI assistant to connect to multiple model services simultaneously for smart switching and disaster recovery.

Core Value: By the end of this article, you'll master the models.providers configuration in MoltBot and learn how to set up primary models, fallbacks, and model aliases to build a stable and reliable AI assistant.

MoltBot API Proxy Configuration: Core Concepts Explained

MoltBot supports connecting to nearly all major Large Language Model services via OpenAI-compatible APIs. Understanding the following core concepts is key to a successful configuration.

MoltBot Configuration System

MoltBot Provider Configuration: Core Fields

Each Provider configuration includes the following key fields:

API Protocol Types

MoltBot supports two mainstream OpenAI-compatible protocols:

🎯 Configuration Tip: Most API proxy services (such as APIYI apiyi.com) use the openai-completions protocol. If you're using locally deployed LM Studio or Ollama, you'll need to use openai-responses.

MoltBot Multi-Provider Configuration: A Complete Example

Here’s a real-world example of a multi-provider configuration, integrating both APIYI and Qwen Portal services:

Complete Configuration File Example

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "qwen-portal": {
        "baseUrl": "https://portal.qwen.ai/v1",
        "apiKey": "${QWEN_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          { "id": "coder-model", "name": "Qwen Coder", "contextWindow": 128000 },
          { "id": "vision-model", "name": "Qwen Vision", "contextWindow": 128000 }
        ]
      },
      "apiyi": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.apiyi.com/v1",
        "apiKey": "${APIYI_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          { "id": "claude-opus-4-5-20251101", "name": "Claude Opus 4.5", "contextWindow": 200000 },
          { "id": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514", "name": "Claude Sonnet 4", "contextWindow": 200000 },
          { "id": "gpt-4o", "name": "GPT-4o", "contextWindow": 128000 }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
        "fallbacks": ["qwen-portal/vision-model"]
      },
      "models": {
        "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101": { "alias": "opus" },
        "apiyi/claude-sonnet-4-20250514": { "alias": "sonnet" },
        "qwen-portal/coder-model": { "alias": "qwen" }
      }
    }
  },
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "botToken": "${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}"
    }
  }
}

Configuration Structure Breakdown

1. The models.providers Section

This is where you define your API proxy services:

"providers": {
  "apiyi": {
    "baseUrl": "https://api.apiyi.com/v1",
    "apiKey": "${APIYI_API_KEY}",
    "api": "openai-completions",
    "models": [...]
  }
}

• Provider ID (apiyi): A custom identifier for the service, used when referencing it later.
• baseUrl: The API endpoint, which must end with /v1.
• apiKey: You can enter this directly or use a ${ENV_VAR} environment variable.
• models: A list of models supported by this provider.

2. The agents.defaults.model Section

This defines the default model and the failover (disaster recovery) strategy:

"model": {
  "primary": "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
  "fallbacks": ["qwen-portal/vision-model"]
}

• primary: Your main model, formatted as provider-id/model-id.
• fallbacks: An array of backup models that the system automatically switches to if the primary model fails.

3. The agents.defaults.models Section

This defines model aliases to make switching easier:

"models": {
  "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101": { "alias": "opus" },
  "qwen-portal/coder-model": { "alias": "qwen" }
}

Once an alias is set, you can quickly switch models in a chat using the /model opus command.

MoltBot API Proxy Configuration: Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: Get Your API Key

Before you start configuring, you'll need to have your API Key ready:

🚀 Quick Start: We recommend using APIYI (apiyi.com) as your primary provider. You can access major models like Claude, GPT, and Gemini with a single API Key, so there's no need to register on multiple platforms.

Step 2: Set Environment Variables

For security reasons, it's best to store your API Keys in environment variables:

# Linux/macOS - Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export APIYI_API_KEY="sk-your-apiyi-key"
export QWEN_API_KEY="your-qwen-key"
export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="your-telegram-token"

# Apply the changes
source ~/.bashrc

# Windows PowerShell
$env:APIYI_API_KEY = "sk-your-apiyi-key"
$env:QWEN_API_KEY = "your-qwen-key"
$env:TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN = "your-telegram-token"

Step 3: Edit the Configuration File

Open or create the MoltBot configuration file:

# Open the configuration file
nano ~/.moltbot/moltbot.json

# Or use VS Code
code ~/.moltbot/moltbot.json

Paste the following configuration into the file:

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "apiyi": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.apiyi.com/v1",
        "apiKey": "${APIYI_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
            "name": "Claude Opus 4.5",
            "contextWindow": 200000
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Verify the Configuration

Restart MoltBot and check if the configuration is working:

# Restart MoltBot
moltbot restart

# Check the current model configuration
moltbot models list

# Test a model call
moltbot chat "Hello, please tell me which model you are."

{
  "models": {
    "mode": "merge",
    "providers": {
      "apiyi": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.apiyi.com/v1",
        "apiKey": "${APIYI_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
            "name": "Claude Opus 4.5",
            "contextWindow": 200000,
            "maxTokens": 32000
          },
          {
            "id": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
            "name": "Claude Sonnet 4",
            "contextWindow": 200000,
            "maxTokens": 64000
          },
          {
            "id": "gpt-4o",
            "name": "GPT-4o",
            "contextWindow": 128000,
            "maxTokens": 16384
          },
          {
            "id": "gemini-2.5-pro",
            "name": "Gemini 2.5 Pro",
            "contextWindow": 1000000,
            "maxTokens": 65536
          }
        ]
      },
      "qwen-portal": {
        "baseUrl": "https://portal.qwen.ai/v1",
        "apiKey": "${QWEN_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "coder-model",
            "name": "Qwen Coder",
            "contextWindow": 128000
          },
          {
            "id": "vision-model",
            "name": "Qwen Vision",
            "contextWindow": 128000
          }
        ]
      },
      "local-ollama": {
        "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434/v1",
        "apiKey": "ollama-local",
        "api": "openai-responses",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "llama3.3:70b",
            "name": "Llama 3.3 70B",
            "contextWindow": 128000
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
        "fallbacks": [
          "apiyi/claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
          "qwen-portal/vision-model",
          "local-ollama/llama3.3:70b"
        ]
      },
      "models": {
        "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101": {
          "alias": "opus",
          "params": { "temperature": 0.7 }
        },
        "apiyi/claude-sonnet-4-20250514": {
          "alias": "sonnet",
          "params": { "temperature": 0.5 }
        },
        "apiyi/gpt-4o": {
          "alias": "gpt"
        },
        "qwen-portal/coder-model": {
          "alias": "qwen"
        },
        "local-ollama/llama3.3:70b": {
          "alias": "llama"
        }
      },
      "imageModel": "apiyi/gpt-4o"
    }
  },
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "botToken": "${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}"
    },
    "discord": {
      "enabled": false,
      "token": "${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"
    }
  }
}

💡 Configuration Tip: Using "mode": "merge" lets you keep MoltBot's built-in model settings while adding your own custom providers. This way, if your custom service becomes unavailable, the system can fall back to the default configuration.

MoltBot Model Configuration: Advanced Parameter Details

Full Fields for Model Entries

Model Parameter Configuration (params)

You can set default parameters for each model within agents.defaults.models:

"models": {
  "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101": {
    "alias": "opus",
    "params": {
      "temperature": 0.7,
      "maxTokens": 16000
    }
  }
}

⚠️ Note: temperature is an advanced parameter. Unless you're familiar with the model's default settings and specifically need to adjust them, it's usually better to leave this unset.

MoltBot Fallback Configuration

The fallback mechanism is a core feature of MoltBot, ensuring your AI assistant stays available even if a specific service hits a snag.

How Fallback Works

User Request
    ↓
Primary Model (primary)
    ↓ (Fail)
Fallback Model 1 (fallbacks[0])
    ↓ (Fail)
Fallback Model 2 (fallbacks[1])
    ↓ (Fail)
...Continue trying

Recommended Fallback Strategies

Recommended Configuration:

"model": {
  "primary": "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101",
  "fallbacks": [
    "apiyi/claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    "apiyi/gpt-4o",
    "qwen-portal/vision-model"
  ]
}

💰 Cost Optimization: By configuring fallbacks through APIYI (apiyi.com), you can automatically switch between multiple models while enjoying a unified billing system, making cost management a breeze.

MoltBot Model Switching: Pro Tips

Quick Switching with Aliases

Once you've set up aliases, you can switch models mid-conversation whenever you like:

You: /model opus
MoltBot: Switched to Claude Opus 4.5

You: /model sonnet
MoltBot: Switched to Claude Sonnet 4

You: /model qwen
MoltBot: Switched to Qwen Coder

Assigning Models to Specific Tasks

You don't have to switch permanently; you can specify a model for a single request:

You: /model gpt help me analyze this image
MoltBot: [Analyzing image using GPT-4o...]

You: /model opus write a deep-dive technical article
MoltBot: [Writing with Claude Opus...]

Checking Current Model Status

# Check via command line
moltbot models list

# Check during a conversation
You: /model
MoltBot: Current model: apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101 (alias: opus)

MoltBot API Proxy Configuration: FAQ

{
  "models": {
    "mode": "merge",
    "providers": {
      "local-ollama": {
        "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434/v1",
        "apiKey": "ollama-local",
        "api": "openai-responses",
        "models": [...]
      },
      "apiyi": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.apiyi.com/v1",
        "apiKey": "${APIYI_API_KEY}",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [...]
      }
    }
  }
}

"agents": {
  "defaults": {
    "model": {
      "primary": "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101"
    },
    "imageModel": "apiyi/gpt-4o",
    "models": {
      "apiyi/claude-opus-4-5-20251101": { "alias": "opus" },
      "apiyi/gpt-4o": { "alias": "vision" }
    }
  }
}

MoltBot API Proxy Configuration: Summary & Recommendations

By now, you should have a solid handle on how to configure API proxies in MoltBot:

1. Understand the config structure: models.providers defines the services, while agents.defaults defines the usage strategy.
2. Set up multiple Providers: Connect to several API services at once to improve availability.
3. Configure Fallbacks: Automatically switch to a backup model if the primary one fails.
4. Use Aliases: Switch models quickly using /model alias.

Best Practice Recommendations

We recommend using APIYI (apiyi.com) as your primary API proxy service. It provides unified access to mainstream Large Language Models like Claude, GPT, and Gemini. The setup is simple, and it supports flexible billing, making it a great fit for MoltBot's multi-model switching capabilities.

References

1. MoltBot Official Docs – Models: Detailed Model Configuration

   • Link: docs.molt.bot/concepts/models
   • Description: Official model configuration guide

2. MoltBot Official Docs – Configuration: Full Configuration Reference

   • Link: docs.molt.bot/gateway/configuration
   • Description: Detailed breakdown of all configuration options

3. MoltBot Official Docs – Model Providers: Provider Configuration

   • Link: docs.molt.bot/concepts/model-providers
   • Description: How to set up custom providers

4. MoltBot GitHub: Source Code and Issue Discussions

   • Link: github.com/moltbot/moltbot
   • Description: Latest releases and community feedback

Author: APIYI Team | For more AI tech insights, visit APIYI at apiyi.com

Updated: January 2026