fix: codify agent model config input boundary

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 - Security/Exec: detect obfuscated commands before exec allowlist decisions and require explicit approval for obfuscation patterns. (#8592) Thanks @CornBrother0x and @vincentkoc.
 - Agents/Compaction: pass `agentDir` into manual `/compact` command runs so compaction auth/profile resolution stays scoped to the active agent. (#24133) thanks @Glucksberg.
-- Agents/Models: split explicit vs effective agent model resolution and fix `models status --agent` source attribution so defaults-inherited agents are labeled as `defaults` while runtime selection still honors defaults fallback. (#24210) thanks @bianbiandashen.
+- Agents/Models: codify `agents.defaults.model` / `agents.defaults.imageModel` config-boundary input as `string | {primary,fallbacks}`, split explicit vs effective model resolution, and fix `models status --agent` source attribution so defaults-inherited agents are labeled as `defaults` while runtime selection still honors defaults fallback. (#24210) thanks @bianbiandashen.
 - Security/Skills: escape user-controlled prompt, filename, and output-path values in `openai-image-gen` HTML gallery generation to prevent stored XSS in generated `index.html` output. (#12538) Thanks @CornBrother0x.
 - Security/Skills: harden `skill-creator` packaging by skipping symlink entries and rejecting files whose resolved paths escape the selected skill root. (#24260, #16959) Thanks @CornBrother0x and @vincentkoc.
 - Security/OTEL: redact sensitive values (API keys, tokens, credential fields) from diagnostics-otel log bodies, log attributes, and error/reason span fields before OTLP export. (#12542) Thanks @brandonwise.

extensions/llm-task/src/llm-task-tool.ts

@@ -96,7 +96,11 @@ export function createLlmTaskTool(api: OpenClawPluginApi) {
 
       const pluginCfg = (api.pluginConfig ?? {}) as PluginCfg;
 
-      const primary = api.config?.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary;
+      const defaultsModel = api.config?.agents?.defaults?.model;
+      const primary =
+        typeof defaultsModel === "string"
+          ? defaultsModel.trim()
+          : (defaultsModel?.primary?.trim() ?? undefined);
       const primaryProvider = typeof primary === "string" ? primary.split("/")[0] : undefined;
       const primaryModel =
         typeof primary === "string" ? primary.split("/").slice(1).join("/") : undefined;

extensions/tlon/src/monitor/index.ts

@@ -422,11 +422,12 @@ export async function monitorTlonProvider(opts: MonitorTlonOpts = {}): Promise<v
               model?: string;
             };
             const extRoute = route as typeof route & { model?: string };
+            const defaultModel = cfg.agents?.defaults?.model;
             const modelInfo =
               extPayload.metadata?.model ||
               extPayload.model ||
               extRoute.model ||
-              cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary;
+              (typeof defaultModel === "string" ? defaultModel : defaultModel?.primary);
             replyText = `${replyText}\n\n_[Generated by ${formatModelName(modelInfo)}]_`;
           }
 

src/agents/model-selection.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "../config/model-input.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger } from "../logging/subsystem.js";
 import { resolveAgentConfig, resolveAgentEffectiveModelPrimary } from "./agent-scope.js";
 import { DEFAULT_MODEL, DEFAULT_PROVIDER } from "./defaults.js";
@@ -357,7 +358,7 @@ export function resolveSubagentSpawnModelSelection(params: {
       cfg: params.cfg,
       agentId: params.agentId,
     }) ??
-    normalizeModelSelection(params.cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary) ??
+    normalizeModelSelection(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(params.cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)) ??
     `${runtimeDefault.provider}/${runtimeDefault.model}`
   );
 }

src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { randomBytes } from "node:crypto";
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import type { ThinkLevel } from "../../auto-reply/thinking.js";
+import { resolveAgentModelFallbackValues } from "../../config/model-input.js";
 import { generateSecureToken } from "../../infra/secure-random.js";
 import { getGlobalHookRunner } from "../../plugins/hook-runner-global.js";
 import type { PluginHookBeforeAgentStartResult } from "../../plugins/types.js";
@@ -231,7 +232,7 @@ export async function runEmbeddedPiAgent(
       let modelId = (params.model ?? DEFAULT_MODEL).trim() || DEFAULT_MODEL;
       const agentDir = params.agentDir ?? resolveOpenClawAgentDir();
       const fallbackConfigured =
-        (params.config?.agents?.defaults?.model?.fallbacks?.length ?? 0) > 0;
+        resolveAgentModelFallbackValues(params.config?.agents?.defaults?.model).length > 0;
       await ensureOpenClawModelsJson(params.config, agentDir);
 
       // Run before_model_resolve hooks early so plugins can override the

src/auto-reply/reply/commands-status.ts

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   resolveMainSessionAlias,
 } from "../../agents/tools/sessions-helpers.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
+import { toAgentModelListLike } from "../../config/model-input.js";
 import type { SessionEntry, SessionScope } from "../../config/sessions.js";
 import { logVerbose } from "../../globals.js";
 import {
@@ -164,7 +165,7 @@ export async function buildStatusReply(params: {
     agent: {
       ...agentDefaults,
       model: {
-        ...agentDefaults.model,
+        ...toAgentModelListLike(agentDefaults.model),
         primary: `${provider}/${model}`,
       },
       contextTokens,

src/commands/auth-choice.apply.huggingface.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "../config/model-input.js";
 import type { WizardPrompter } from "../wizard/prompts.js";
 import { applyAuthChoiceHuggingface } from "./auth-choice.apply.huggingface.js";
 import {
@@ -87,7 +88,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoiceHuggingface", () => {
       provider: "huggingface",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toMatch(/^huggingface\/.+/);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toMatch(
+      /^huggingface\/.+/,
+    );
     expect(text).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({ message: expect.stringContaining("Hugging Face") }),
     );
@@ -173,7 +176,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoiceHuggingface", () => {
     });
 
     expect(result).not.toBeNull();
-    expect(String(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary)).toContain(":cheapest");
+    expect(String(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model))).toContain(
+      ":cheapest",
+    );
     expect(note).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       "Provider locked — router will choose backend by cost or speed.",
       "Hugging Face",

src/commands/auth-choice.apply.minimax.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "../config/model-input.js";
 import type { WizardPrompter } from "../wizard/prompts.js";
 import { applyAuthChoiceMiniMax } from "./auth-choice.apply.minimax.js";
 import {
@@ -114,7 +115,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoiceMiniMax", () => {
         provider,
         mode: "api_key",
       });
-      expect(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(expectedModel);
+      expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+        expectedModel,
+      );
       expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
       expect(confirm).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 
@@ -144,7 +147,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoiceMiniMax", () => {
       provider: "minimax-cn",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("minimax-cn/MiniMax-M2.5");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "minimax-cn/MiniMax-M2.5",
+    );
     expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(confirm).toHaveBeenCalled();
 
@@ -176,7 +181,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoiceMiniMax", () => {
       provider: "minimax",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("minimax/MiniMax-M2.5-Lightning");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result?.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "minimax/MiniMax-M2.5-Lightning",
+    );
     expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(confirm).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 

src/commands/auth-choice.moonshot.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "../config/model-input.js";
 import type { WizardPrompter } from "../wizard/prompts.js";
 import { applyAuthChoice } from "./auth-choice.js";
 import {
@@ -72,7 +73,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice (moonshot)", () => {
     expect(text).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({ message: "Enter Moonshot API key (.cn)" }),
     );
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("anthropic/claude-opus-4-5");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+    );
     expect(result.config.models?.providers?.moonshot?.baseUrl).toBe("https://api.moonshot.cn/v1");
     expect(result.agentModelOverride).toBe("moonshot/kimi-k2.5");
 
@@ -88,7 +91,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice (moonshot)", () => {
       setDefaultModel: true,
     });
 
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("moonshot/kimi-k2.5");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "moonshot/kimi-k2.5",
+    );
     expect(result.config.models?.providers?.moonshot?.baseUrl).toBe("https://api.moonshot.cn/v1");
     expect(result.agentModelOverride).toBeUndefined();
 

src/commands/auth-choice.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import type { OAuthCredentials } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "../config/model-input.js";
 import type { WizardPrompter } from "../wizard/prompts.js";
 import { applyAuthChoice, resolvePreferredProviderForAuthChoice } from "./auth-choice.js";
 import { GOOGLE_GEMINI_DEFAULT_MODEL } from "./google-gemini-model-default.js";
@@ -278,7 +279,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "huggingface",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toMatch(/^huggingface\/.+/);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toMatch(
+      /^huggingface\/.+/,
+    );
 
     expect((await readAuthProfile("huggingface:default"))?.key).toBe("hf-test-token");
   });
@@ -310,7 +313,7 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       expect.objectContaining({ message: "Select Z.AI endpoint", initialValue: "global" }),
     );
     expect(result.config.models?.providers?.zai?.baseUrl).toBe(ZAI_CODING_CN_BASE_URL);
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("zai/glm-5");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe("zai/glm-5");
 
     expect((await readAuthProfile("zai:default"))?.key).toBe("zai-test-key");
   });
@@ -368,7 +371,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       expect.objectContaining({ message: "Select Z.AI endpoint" }),
     );
     expect(result.config.models?.providers?.zai?.baseUrl).toBe(ZAI_CODING_GLOBAL_BASE_URL);
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("zai/glm-4.5");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "zai/glm-4.5",
+    );
   });
 
   it("maps apiKey + tokenProvider=huggingface to huggingface-api-key flow", async () => {
@@ -396,7 +401,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "huggingface",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toMatch(/^huggingface\/.+/);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toMatch(
+      /^huggingface\/.+/,
+    );
     expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 
     expect((await readAuthProfile("huggingface:default"))?.key).toBe("hf-token-provider-test");
@@ -425,7 +432,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "together",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toMatch(/^together\/.+/);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toMatch(
+      /^together\/.+/,
+    );
     expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(confirm).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect((await readAuthProfile("together:default"))?.key).toBe(
@@ -456,7 +465,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "kimi-coding",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toMatch(/^kimi-coding\/.+/);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toMatch(
+      /^kimi-coding\/.+/,
+    );
     expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(confirm).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect((await readAuthProfile("kimi-coding:default"))?.key).toBe("sk-kimi-token-provider-test");
@@ -485,7 +496,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "google",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(GOOGLE_GEMINI_DEFAULT_MODEL);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      GOOGLE_GEMINI_DEFAULT_MODEL,
+    );
     expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(confirm).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect((await readAuthProfile("google:default"))?.key).toBe("sk-gemini-token-provider-test");
@@ -514,7 +527,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "litellm",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toMatch(/^litellm\/.+/);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toMatch(
+      /^litellm\/.+/,
+    );
     expect(text).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(confirm).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect((await readAuthProfile("litellm:default"))?.key).toBe("sk-litellm-token-provider-test");
@@ -612,7 +627,11 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
         provider,
         mode: "api_key",
       });
-      expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary?.startsWith(modelPrefix)).toBe(true);
+      expect(
+        resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)?.startsWith(
+          modelPrefix,
+        ),
+      ).toBe(true);
       expect((await readAuthProfile(profileId))?.key).toBe(token);
     },
   );
@@ -642,7 +661,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "google",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("openai/gpt-4o-mini");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
+    );
     expect(result.agentModelOverride).toBe(GOOGLE_GEMINI_DEFAULT_MODEL);
     expect((await readAuthProfile("google:default"))?.key).toBe("sk-gemini-test");
   });
@@ -706,7 +727,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "synthetic",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toMatch(/^synthetic\/.+/);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toMatch(
+      /^synthetic\/.+/,
+    );
 
     expect((await readAuthProfile("synthetic:default"))?.key).toBe("sk-synthetic-env");
   });
@@ -731,7 +754,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "xai",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("openai/gpt-4o-mini");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
+    );
     expect(result.agentModelOverride).toBe("xai/grok-4");
 
     expect((await readAuthProfile("xai:default"))?.key).toBe("sk-xai-test");
@@ -761,7 +786,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
         setDefaultModel: true,
       });
 
-      expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("github-copilot/gpt-4o");
+      expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+        "github-copilot/gpt-4o",
+      );
     } finally {
       if (previousIsTTYDescriptor) {
         Object.defineProperty(stdin, "isTTY", previousIsTTYDescriptor);
@@ -794,7 +821,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
     expect(text).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({ message: "Enter OpenCode Zen API key" }),
     );
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("anthropic/claude-opus-4-5");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+    );
     expect(result.config.models?.providers?.["opencode-zen"]).toBeUndefined();
     expect(result.agentModelOverride).toBe("opencode/claude-opus-4-6");
   });
@@ -868,7 +897,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "openrouter",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("openrouter/auto");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "openrouter/auto",
+    );
 
     expect((await readAuthProfile("openrouter:default"))?.key).toBe("sk-openrouter-test");
 
@@ -963,7 +994,7 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "vercel-ai-gateway",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
       "vercel-ai-gateway/anthropic/claude-opus-4.6",
     );
 
@@ -1001,7 +1032,7 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "cloudflare-ai-gateway",
       mode: "api_key",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
       "cloudflare-ai-gateway/claude-sonnet-4-5",
     );
 
@@ -1178,7 +1209,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "qwen-portal",
       mode: "oauth",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("qwen-portal/coder-model");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "qwen-portal/coder-model",
+    );
     expect(result.config.models?.providers?.["qwen-portal"]).toMatchObject({
       baseUrl: "https://portal.qwen.ai/v1",
       apiKey: "qwen-oauth",
@@ -1252,7 +1285,9 @@ describe("applyAuthChoice", () => {
       provider: "minimax-portal",
       mode: "oauth",
     });
-    expect(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("minimax-portal/MiniMax-M2.1");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(result.config.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      "minimax-portal/MiniMax-M2.1",
+    );
     expect(result.config.models?.providers?.["minimax-portal"]).toMatchObject({
       baseUrl: "https://api.minimax.io/anthropic",
       apiKey: "minimax-oauth",

src/commands/models/set-image.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { logConfigUpdated } from "../../config/logging.js";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "../../config/model-input.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../../runtime.js";
 import { applyDefaultModelPrimaryUpdate, updateConfig } from "./shared.js";
 
@@ -8,5 +9,7 @@ export async function modelsSetImageCommand(modelRaw: string, runtime: RuntimeEn
   });
 
   logConfigUpdated(runtime);
-  runtime.log(`Image model: ${updated.agents?.defaults?.imageModel?.primary ?? modelRaw}`);
+  runtime.log(
+    `Image model: ${resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(updated.agents?.defaults?.imageModel) ?? modelRaw}`,
+  );
 }

src/commands/models/set.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { logConfigUpdated } from "../../config/logging.js";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "../../config/model-input.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../../runtime.js";
 import { applyDefaultModelPrimaryUpdate, updateConfig } from "./shared.js";
 
@@ -8,5 +9,7 @@ export async function modelsSetCommand(modelRaw: string, runtime: RuntimeEnv) {
   });
 
   logConfigUpdated(runtime);
-  runtime.log(`Default model: ${updated.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary ?? modelRaw}`);
+  runtime.log(
+    `Default model: ${resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(updated.agents?.defaults?.model) ?? modelRaw}`,
+  );
 }

src/commands/onboard-auth.config-minimax.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { toAgentModelListLike } from "../config/model-input.js";
 import type { ModelProviderConfig } from "../config/types.models.js";
 import {
   applyAgentDefaultModelPrimary,
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ export function applyMinimaxHostedConfig(
       defaults: {
         ...next.agents?.defaults,
         model: {
-          ...next.agents?.defaults?.model,
+          ...toAgentModelListLike(next.agents?.defaults?.model),
           primary: MINIMAX_HOSTED_MODEL_REF,
         },
       },

src/commands/onboard-auth.test.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import type { OAuthCredentials } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import {
+  resolveAgentModelFallbackValues,
+  resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue,
+} from "../config/model-input.js";
 import {
   applyAuthProfileConfig,
   applyLitellmProviderConfig,
@@ -84,11 +88,15 @@ function createConfigWithFallbacks() {
 }
 
 function expectFallbacksPreserved(cfg: ReturnType<typeof applyMinimaxApiConfig>) {
-  expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.fallbacks).toEqual([...EXPECTED_FALLBACKS]);
+  expect(resolveAgentModelFallbackValues(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toEqual([
+    ...EXPECTED_FALLBACKS,
+  ]);
 }
 
 function expectPrimaryModelPreserved(cfg: ReturnType<typeof applyMinimaxApiProviderConfig>) {
-  expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("anthropic/claude-opus-4-5");
+  expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+    "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
+  );
 }
 
 function expectAllowlistContains(
@@ -431,7 +439,7 @@ describe("applyZaiConfig", () => {
     for (const modelId of ["glm-4.7-flash", "glm-4.7-flashx"] as const) {
       const cfg = applyZaiConfig({}, { endpoint: "coding-cn", modelId });
       expect(cfg.models?.providers?.zai?.baseUrl).toBe(ZAI_CODING_CN_BASE_URL);
-      expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(`zai/${modelId}`);
+      expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(`zai/${modelId}`);
     }
   });
 });
@@ -479,7 +487,7 @@ describe("primary model defaults", () => {
     ] as const;
     for (const { getConfig, primaryModel } of configCases) {
       const cfg = getConfig();
-      expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(primaryModel);
+      expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(primaryModel);
     }
   });
 });
@@ -491,7 +499,7 @@ describe("applyXiaomiConfig", () => {
       baseUrl: "https://api.xiaomimimo.com/anthropic",
       api: "anthropic-messages",
     });
-    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("xiaomi/mimo-v2-flash");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe("xiaomi/mimo-v2-flash");
   });
 
   it("merges Xiaomi models and keeps existing provider overrides", () => {
@@ -521,7 +529,7 @@ describe("applyXaiConfig", () => {
       baseUrl: "https://api.x.ai/v1",
       api: "openai-completions",
     });
-    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(XAI_DEFAULT_MODEL_REF);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(XAI_DEFAULT_MODEL_REF);
   });
 });
 
@@ -550,7 +558,9 @@ describe("applyMistralConfig", () => {
       baseUrl: "https://api.mistral.ai/v1",
       api: "openai-completions",
     });
-    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(MISTRAL_DEFAULT_MODEL_REF);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
+      MISTRAL_DEFAULT_MODEL_REF,
+    );
   });
 });
 
@@ -685,7 +695,7 @@ describe("default-model config helpers", () => {
     ] as const;
     for (const { applyConfig, primaryModel } of configCases) {
       const cfg = applyConfig({});
-      expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe(primaryModel);
+      expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(primaryModel);
 
       const cfgWithFallbacks = applyConfig(createConfigWithFallbacks());
       expectFallbacksPreserved(cfgWithFallbacks);

src/config/config.legacy-config-detection.accepts-imessage-dmpolicy.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { resolveAgentModelFallbackValues, resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "./model-input.js";
 
 const { loadConfig, migrateLegacyConfig, readConfigFileSnapshot, validateConfigObject } =
   await vi.importActual<typeof import("./config.js")>("./config.js");
@@ -241,10 +242,16 @@ describe("legacy config detection", () => {
       },
     });
 
-    expect(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary).toBe("anthropic/claude-opus-4-5");
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.model)).toBe(
-    expect(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.model?.fallbacks).toEqual(["openai/gpt-4.1-mini"]);
+      "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
-    expect(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.imageModel?.primary).toBe("openai/gpt-4.1-mini");
+    );
-    expect(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.imageModel?.fallbacks).toEqual([
+    expect(resolveAgentModelFallbackValues(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.model)).toEqual([
+      "openai/gpt-4.1-mini",
+    ]);
+    expect(resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.imageModel)).toBe(
+      "openai/gpt-4.1-mini",
+    );
+    expect(resolveAgentModelFallbackValues(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.imageModel)).toEqual([
       "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
     ]);
     expect(res.config?.agents?.defaults?.models?.["anthropic/claude-opus-4-5"]).toMatchObject({

src/config/defaults.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { DEFAULT_CONTEXT_TOKENS } from "../agents/defaults.js";
 import { normalizeProviderId, parseModelRef } from "../agents/model-selection.js";
 import { DEFAULT_AGENT_MAX_CONCURRENT, DEFAULT_SUBAGENT_MAX_CONCURRENT } from "./agent-limits.js";
+import { resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue } from "./model-input.js";
 import { resolveTalkApiKey } from "./talk.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "./types.js";
 import type { ModelDefinitionConfig } from "./types.models.js";
@@ -427,7 +428,9 @@ export function applyContextPruningDefaults(cfg: OpenClawConfig): OpenClawConfig
       modelsMutated = true;
     }
 
-    const primary = resolvePrimaryModelRef(defaults.model?.primary ?? undefined);
+    const primary = resolvePrimaryModelRef(
+      resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(defaults.model) ?? undefined,
+    );
     if (primary) {
       const parsedPrimary = parseModelRef(primary, "anthropic");
       if (parsedPrimary?.provider === "anthropic") {

src/config/model-input.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import type { AgentModelConfig } from "./types.agents-shared.js";
+
+type AgentModelListLike = {
+  primary?: string;
+  fallbacks?: string[];
+};
+
+export function resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(model?: AgentModelConfig): string | undefined {
+  if (typeof model === "string") {
+    const trimmed = model.trim();
+    return trimmed || undefined;
+  }
+  if (!model || typeof model !== "object") {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const primary = model.primary?.trim();
+  return primary || undefined;
+}
+
+export function resolveAgentModelFallbackValues(model?: AgentModelConfig): string[] {
+  if (!model || typeof model !== "object") {
+    return [];
+  }
+  return Array.isArray(model.fallbacks) ? model.fallbacks : [];
+}
+
+export function toAgentModelListLike(model?: AgentModelConfig): AgentModelListLike | undefined {
+  if (typeof model === "string") {
+    const primary = model.trim();
+    return primary ? { primary } : undefined;
+  }
+  if (!model || typeof model !== "object") {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return model;
+}

src/config/types.agent-defaults.ts

@@ -118,10 +118,10 @@ export type CliBackendConfig = {
 };
 
 export type AgentDefaultsConfig = {
-  /** Primary model and fallbacks (provider/model). */
+  /** Primary model and fallbacks (provider/model). Accepts string or {primary,fallbacks}. */
-  model?: AgentModelListConfig;
+  model?: AgentModelConfig;
-  /** Optional image-capable model and fallbacks (provider/model). */
+  /** Optional image-capable model and fallbacks (provider/model). Accepts string or {primary,fallbacks}. */
-  imageModel?: AgentModelListConfig;
+  imageModel?: AgentModelConfig;
   /** Model catalog with optional aliases (full provider/model keys). */
   models?: Record<string, AgentModelEntryConfig>;
   /** Agent working directory (preferred). Used as the default cwd for agent runs. */

src/security/audit-extra.sync.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ import { resolveToolProfilePolicy } from "../agents/tool-policy.js";
 import { resolveBrowserConfig } from "../browser/config.js";
 import { formatCliCommand } from "../cli/command-format.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import {
+  resolveAgentModelFallbackValues,
+  resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue,
+} from "../config/model-input.js";
 import type { AgentToolsConfig } from "../config/types.tools.js";
 import { resolveGatewayAuth } from "../gateway/auth.js";
 import {
@@ -106,12 +110,20 @@ function addModel(models: ModelRef[], raw: unknown, source: string) {
 
 function collectModels(cfg: OpenClawConfig): ModelRef[] {
   const out: ModelRef[] = [];
-  addModel(out, cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.primary, "agents.defaults.model.primary");
+  addModel(
-  for (const f of cfg.agents?.defaults?.model?.fallbacks ?? []) {
+    out,
+    resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model),
+    "agents.defaults.model.primary",
+  );
+  for (const f of resolveAgentModelFallbackValues(cfg.agents?.defaults?.model)) {
     addModel(out, f, "agents.defaults.model.fallbacks");
   }
-  addModel(out, cfg.agents?.defaults?.imageModel?.primary, "agents.defaults.imageModel.primary");
+  addModel(
-  for (const f of cfg.agents?.defaults?.imageModel?.fallbacks ?? []) {
+    out,
+    resolveAgentModelPrimaryValue(cfg.agents?.defaults?.imageModel),
+    "agents.defaults.imageModel.primary",
+  );
+  for (const f of resolveAgentModelFallbackValues(cfg.agents?.defaults?.imageModel)) {
     addModel(out, f, "agents.defaults.imageModel.fallbacks");
   }