How to Delete a Model in OpenClaw Without Breaking the Picker

Use the model configuration flow to remove stale entries cleanly, then verify the active primary model and allowlist from the CLI.

1 min readPublished Mar 17, 2026Updated Mar 17, 2026
MilanLast updated Mar 17, 2026Article metadata, reading time, and JSON-LD are generated directly from the Sanity post record.

Deleting a model is usually about cleaning the allowlist or switching the default, not about wiping every provider setting you have. The safest path is to use the model section of the CLI and confirm the resolved state afterwards.

Quick answer

Use openclaw configure --section model for allowlist cleanup, then confirm the result with openclaw models list and openclaw models status.

Command line steps

1. Open the model section of the CLI

This is the safest place to remove stale picker entries without guessing at nested config keys.

BASH
$openclaw configure --section model

2. Review the remaining model list

Make sure the model you wanted to remove is no longer in the configured list.

BASH
$openclaw models list openclaw models status

3. If you removed a fallback instead of a primary

Fallbacks have their own dedicated subcommands and are easier to manage directly from the CLI.

BASH
$openclaw models fallbacks list openclaw models fallbacks remove <provider/model>

What to check if it still fails

  • If the removed model still appears in /model, you probably edited one layer of config but not the allowlist.
  • If replies stop with 'model is not allowed', your new primary is outside agents.defaults.models.
  • If you are not sure whether you need deletion or replacement, set the new primary first and only remove the old entry second.

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