Connect OpenClaw to AntSeed P2P Network

Set up AntSeed as a model provider for OpenClaw. This installs a local buyer proxy that connects to the AntSeed peer-to-peer network and routes LLM requests to available providers.

Architecture

OpenClaw → http://127.0.0.1:5005 (AntSeed buyer proxy) → P2P network → Provider node → Upstream API (OpenRouter, Anthropic, etc.)

The buyer proxy runs locally, discovers providers via DHT, and exposes an API-compatible HTTP endpoint.

Step 1: Install AntSeed CLI and buyer plugin

npm install -g @antseed/cli
antseed plugin add @antseed/router-local-proxy

Verify: antseed --version (requires Node.js 20+).

Step 2: Start the buyer proxy

Run in a terminal or set up as a persistent service:

antseed connect --router local-proxy --port 5005

The proxy will:

1. Join the P2P network via DHT
2. Discover available providers
3. Listen on http://localhost:5005

Persistent service (systemd)

To run the proxy as a background service that survives reboots:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/antseed-buyer.service > /dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=AntSeed Buyer Proxy
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=$USER
ExecStart=/usr/bin/env antseed connect --router local-proxy --port 5005
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=antseed-buyer

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now antseed-buyer

Verify: sudo systemctl is-active antseed-buyer

Step 3: Configure OpenClaw model provider

Ask the user which model they want to use. Available models depend on what providers are active on the network.

Set the provider

openclaw config set models.providers.antseed.baseUrl "http://127.0.0.1:5005"
openclaw config set models.providers.antseed.apiKey "antseed-p2p"
openclaw config set models.providers.antseed.api "anthropic-messages"

Add a model

The model ID must match a model available on the network. Ask the user or suggest common options. Example for Kimi K2.5 via OpenRouter:

cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json | python3 -c "
import sys, json
cfg = json.load(sys.stdin)
providers = cfg.setdefault('models', {}).setdefault('providers', {})
providers['antseed'] = {
    'baseUrl': 'http://127.0.0.1:5005',
    'apiKey': 'antseed-p2p',
    'api': 'anthropic-messages',
    'models': [{
        'id': 'MODEL_ID_HERE',
        'name': 'MODEL_DISPLAY_NAME',
        'reasoning': False,
        'input': ['text'],
        'contextWindow': 131072,
        'maxTokens': 8192
    }]
}
json.dump(cfg, sys.stdout, indent=2)
" > /tmp/oc_antseed.json && mv /tmp/oc_antseed.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Replace MODEL_ID_HERE with the actual model (e.g., moonshotai/kimi-k2.5, anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514).

Set as default model

openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.primary "antseed/MODEL_ID_HERE"

The model reference format is antseed/ where antseed is the provider name.

Step 4: Restart and verify

# Restart the gateway to pick up the new provider
sudo systemctl restart openclaw  # or kill and restart the gateway process

# Test the connection
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5005/v1/models

If the proxy returns available models, the connection is working.

Bootstrap nodes (optional)

If the proxy can't find providers via DHT, add a known provider as a bootstrap node:

Edit ~/.antseed/config.json and add to the bootstrapNodes array:

{
  "bootstrapNodes": [
    { "host": "PROVIDER_IP", "port": 6882 }
  ]
}

Then restart the buyer proxy.

API format notes

• Use anthropic-messages API format. The AntSeed proxy translates between formats as needed.
• The apiKey value doesn't matter — set it to any non-empty string (e.g., antseed-p2p). The proxy doesn't validate it.
• Streaming is supported. The proxy relays SSE streams from providers.

Verification checklist

• [ ] antseed --version prints a version
• [ ] antseed connect --router local-proxy --port 5005 starts without errors
• [ ] curl http://127.0.0.1:5005/v1/models returns available models
• [ ] OpenClaw config has models.providers.antseed configured
• [ ] agents.defaults.model.primary is set to antseed/
• [ ] OpenClaw gateway responds to messages using the AntSeed model

Troubleshooting

• "No sellers available on the network": No providers found via DHT. Add a bootstrap node (see above) or check that providers are running.
• "DHT returned 0 results": Check internet connectivity and firewall. DHT uses UDP on random high ports. Ensure inbound UDP is allowed.
• Slow first request: DHT discovery takes 5-10 seconds on the first request. Subsequent requests reuse cached peer connections.
• Timeouts on large requests: Some models take longer through P2P routing. Ensure the OpenClaw model config has adequate maxTokens.
• "502 Upstream error": The provider's upstream API (OpenRouter, Anthropic) returned an error. Check the provider logs.
• Empty responses: Verify the model ID matches what the provider allows. Mismatched model names result in 403 errors.