Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

OpenClaw Gateway fails to start with ReferenceError: Cannot access 'ANTHROPIC_MODEL_ALIASES' before initialization when agents.defaults.model is configured as an object (with primary key).

Steps to reproduce

// ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
{
"agents": {
"defaults": {
"model": {
"primary": "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5"
}
}
},
"gateway": {
"mode": "local",
"port": 3210
},
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"enabled": false
}
},
"tools": {
"elevated": {
"enabled": true
}
}
}

Expected behavior

Gateway should successfully start with object-style model configuration as documented.

According to the official documentation, agents.defaults.model should accept both formats:

String (simple): "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5"
Object (with fallbacks):
{
"primary": "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5",
"fallbacks": ["openai/gpt-5.2"]
}

Actual behavior

Service fails immediately on start:

$ sudo systemctl status openclaw-gateway.service
● openclaw-gateway.service - OpenClaw Gateway (Swarm Master)
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/openclaw-gateway.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2026-03-13 17:XX:XX UTC; 2s ago
Process: XXXXX ExecStart=/home/openclaw/.npm-global/bin/openclaw gateway (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: XXXXX (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

OpenClaw version

2026.3.12

Operating system

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Install method

npm global install

Model

claude-haiku-4-5

Provider / routing chain

Local OpenClaw Gateway → Anthropic (direct)

Config file / key location

No response

Additional provider/model setup details

ocal Gateway → Anthropic Provider (direct API)

Details:

• Gateway mode: "local" (localhost:3210)
• Target provider: Anthropic (claude-haiku-4-5)
• No proxies or model routers involved
• Error occurs during config parsing (before any API requests)
• Config loader → normalizeAnthropicModelId() → ReferenceError

The bug prevents gateway startup, so no actual provider routing happens.
Error is in config initialization, not in request routing.

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

ReferenceError: Cannot access 'ANTHROPIC_MODEL_ALIASES' before initialization
    at normalizeAnthropicModelId (file:///home/openclaw/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/auth-profiles-iXW75sRj.js:163883:2)
    at file:///home/openclaw/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/auth-profiles-iXW75sRj.js:163769:21
    at Array.map (<anonymous>)
    at Object.loadConfigSnapshot (file:///home/openclaw/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/auth-profiles-iXW75sRj.js:163755:61)

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

Ensure ANTHROPIC_MODEL_ALIASES is defined before any code path that calls normalizeAnthropicModelId() during config parsing.