Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

OpenClaw 2026.6.5 misroutes deepseek-v4-pro to the OpenAI Responses API, causing HTTP 401 (worked on 2026.5.27).

Steps to reproduce

1. On OpenClaw 2026.6.5 (npm global, Linux, systemd --user gateway), configure
   DeepSeek as a custom OpenAI-compatible provider: API-key auth, empty baseUrl
   (DeepSeek default), model deepseek-v4-pro with reasoning: false, and
   agents.defaults.thinkingDefault: "off". Default model = deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro.
2. Run openclaw models status --probe (or send any message to the agent in Telegram).
3. Observe deepseek-v4-pro fail with HTTP 401 and this gateway log line:
   [openai-transport] [responses] error provider=deepseek api=openai-responses model=deepseek-v4-pro status=401 code=invalid_api_key ... "find your API key at
   https://platform.openai.com/account/api-keys"

Expected behavior

On 2026.5.27 (verified directly by rolling back), the same config and the same
openclaw models status --probe return ok for deepseek-v4-pro, and the agent
replies normally in Telegram. DeepSeek requests should go to api.deepseek.com via
chat-completions, not the OpenAI Responses API. The key is valid: a direct
GET https://api.deepseek.com/user/balance with the same key returns 200.D

Actual behavior

deepseek-v4-pro requests return HTTP 401. openclaw models status --probe reports
deepseek-v4-pro as auth / "Authentication failed (provider returned HTTP 401)".
The gateway log shows the request was sent to the OpenAI Responses API using the
DeepSeek key, which OpenAI rejects:

[openai-transport] [responses] error provider=deepseek api=openai-responses
model=deepseek-v4-pro status=401 code=invalid_api_key
message=401 Incorrect API key provided: sk-... ; find your API key at
https://platform.openai.com/account/api-keys

A direct GET https://api.deepseek.com/user/balance with the same key returns 200,
confirming the key is valid.

OpenClaw version

2026.6.5 (5181e4f)

Operating system

Ubuntu (Linux 6.8.0-124-generic, x86_64), Node 22.22.3

Install method

npm global: sudo npm install -g openclaw

Model

deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro

Provider / routing chain

openclaw -> deepseek (direct, api.deepseek.com, OpenAI-compatible chat-completions)

Additional provider/model setup details

• DeepSeek is a direct custom OpenAI-compatible provider (no Cloudflare / OpenRouter / proxy).
• models.providers.deepseek: models deepseek-v4-pro / deepseek-v4-flash / deepseek-reasoner,
  all with reasoning:false; baseUrl empty (uses DeepSeek default https://api.deepseek.com).
• agents.defaults.thinkingDefault: "off". Default model deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro. No fallbacks.
• Key resolves from the per-agent auth profile (deepseek:manual) and DEEPSEEK_API_KEY env;
  openclaw models status shows deepseek auth as present.
• Tried setting models.providers.deepseek.api = "openai-completions" to force chat-completions;
  it did NOT stop the routing to the Responses API.
• No API keys, tokens, or passwords included.

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response