diff --git a/docs/providers/arcee.md b/docs/providers/arcee.md
index d7bff8aba23..a085fa47d3d 100644
--- a/docs/providers/arcee.md
+++ b/docs/providers/arcee.md
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ OpenClaw currently ships this bundled Arcee catalog:
 | `arcee/trinity-large-preview`  | Trinity Large Preview  | text  | 128K    | $0.25 / $1.00        | General-purpose; 400B params, 13B active  |
 | `arcee/trinity-mini`           | Trinity Mini 26B       | text  | 128K    | $0.045 / $0.15       | Fast and cost-efficient; function calling |
 
-When using OpenRouter, model refs are prefixed with `arcee/` (for example `arcee/arcee/trinity-large-thinking`).
+The same model refs work for both direct and OpenRouter setups (for example `arcee/trinity-large-thinking`).
 
 The onboarding preset sets `arcee/trinity-large-thinking` as the default model.
 
diff --git a/extensions/arcee/index.test.ts b/extensions/arcee/index.test.ts
index 587ef479e02..c97b6fd05f0 100644
--- a/extensions/arcee/index.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/arcee/index.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { resolveProviderPluginChoice } from "../../src/plugins/provider-auth-choice.runtime.js";
+import { resolveProviderAuthEnvVarCandidates } from "../../src/secrets/provider-env-vars.js";
 import { registerSingleProviderPlugin } from "../../test/helpers/plugins/plugin-registration.js";
 import arceePlugin from "./index.js";
 
@@ -67,6 +68,13 @@ describe("arcee provider plugin", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("keeps direct Arcee auth env candidates separate from OpenRouter", () => {
+    const candidates = resolveProviderAuthEnvVarCandidates();
+
+    expect(candidates.arcee).toEqual(["ARCEEAI_API_KEY"]);
+    expect(candidates.openrouter).toEqual(["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"]);
+  });
+
   it("builds the direct Arcee AI model catalog", async () => {
     const provider = await registerSingleProviderPlugin(arceePlugin);
     expect(provider.catalog).toBeDefined();
diff --git a/extensions/arcee/openclaw.plugin.json b/extensions/arcee/openclaw.plugin.json
index ae67430bbbc..03d1c4ec49b 100644
--- a/extensions/arcee/openclaw.plugin.json
+++ b/extensions/arcee/openclaw.plugin.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "enabledByDefault": true,
   "providers": ["arcee"],
   "providerAuthEnvVars": {
-    "arcee": ["ARCEEAI_API_KEY", "OPENROUTER_API_KEY"]
+    "arcee": ["ARCEEAI_API_KEY"]
   },
   "providerAuthChoices": [
     {