OpenClaw + Alibaba Coding Plan: Complete Setup Guide (2026)

Alibaba's Coding Plan gives you access to Qwen models through an OpenAI-compatible API, and it works with OpenClaw out of the box. The pricing is hard to argue with. But the setup has one gotcha that trips up almost everyone: the reasoning: false flag.

This guide walks you through the entire process, from signing up for Coding Plan to verifying your first request through OpenClaw. If you already have OpenClaw running (beginner's guide here), this takes about five minutes.

Why Use Alibaba Coding Plan with OpenClaw?

Three reasons:

1. Price. Alibaba's per-token rates undercut most providers, and the free tier is generous enough for light use.
2. Quality. Qwen models perform well on coding tasks. Not Claude-tier for reasoning, but solid for straightforward generation and refactoring.
3. Compatibility. The API uses the OpenAI-compatible format, so OpenClaw treats it like any other provider.

For a deeper look at how this compares to other providers on cost, see our OpenClaw cost and pricing breakdown.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• A running OpenClaw instance (local or VPS)
• Access to your openclaw.json config file
• A web browser for signing up on Alibaba's platform

If you do not have OpenClaw installed yet, follow the OpenClaw beginner's guide first.

Step 1: Sign Up for Alibaba Coding Plan

Head to the Alibaba Cloud Model Studio and create an account if you do not have one. Once logged in:

1. Navigate to the Coding Plan section under API services.
2. Select the plan tier that matches your usage. The free tier works fine for testing.
3. Accept the terms and activate your plan.

The activation is usually instant. If you see a "pending approval" status, wait a few minutes and refresh.

Step 2: Get Your sk-sp API Key

This is where people get confused. Alibaba Coding Plan uses a different key format than standard Alibaba Cloud API keys.

1. In the Model Studio dashboard, go to API Keys.
2. Click Create API Key.
3. Your key will start with sk-sp-. Copy it immediately, because you will not be able to view it again.

Store this key somewhere safe. You will need it in the next step.

Important: Regular Alibaba Cloud API keys (the ones starting with LTAI) will not work with the Coding Plan endpoint. You specifically need the sk-sp- prefixed key.

Step 3: Edit openclaw.json

Open your OpenClaw configuration file. On most setups, this lives at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json or in the root of your OpenClaw install directory.

Add a new provider entry for Alibaba Coding Plan. Here is the JSON config block you need:

{
  "providers": {
    "alibaba-coding": {
      "type": "openai-compatible",
      "baseUrl": "https://coding-intl.dashscope.aliyuncs.com/v1",
      "apiKey": "sk-sp-YOUR_KEY_HERE",
      "models": {
        "qwen3-coder-plus": {
          "reasoning": false,
          "maxTokens": 8192,
          "contextWindow": 131072
        },
        "qwen3.5-plus": {
          "reasoning": false,
          "maxTokens": 8192,
          "contextWindow": 131072
        },
        "kimi-k2.5": {
          "reasoning": false,
          "maxTokens": 8192,
          "contextWindow": 131072
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace sk-sp-YOUR_KEY_HERE with your actual API key from Step 2.

A few notes on this config:

• type must be openai-compatible. This tells OpenClaw to use the OpenAI SDK format for requests.
• baseUrl points to Alibaba's international Coding Plan endpoint. If you are in mainland China, use https://coding.dashscope.aliyuncs.com/v1 instead.
• models lists the specific models you want to route through this provider. You can add or remove models as needed.

Step 4: Set the Base URL Correctly

The base URL is the most common source of connection errors. Make sure you are using the right one for your region:

Do not add a trailing slash. Do not append /chat/completions or any other path. OpenClaw handles the routing from the base URL.

If you are unsure which region your account belongs to, check the URL in your browser when you are logged into the Alibaba Cloud console. International accounts use intl in the domain.

Step 5: Set reasoning: false

This is the step that breaks most setups. Read it carefully.

Alibaba's Coding Plan endpoint does not support the reasoning parameter that some OpenAI-compatible APIs accept. When OpenClaw sends a request with reasoning: true (the default for some model configurations), the API either returns an error or silently drops the request.

The fix is simple. For every model under your Alibaba Coding Plan provider, explicitly set:

"reasoning": false

If you copied the config block from Step 3, this is already done. But if you are editing an existing config or merging with other provider settings, double-check every model entry.

How to tell if this is your problem: If your OpenClaw logs show successful connections but empty responses, or if you see 400 Bad Request errors with no helpful message, reasoning: true is almost certainly the cause.

For more on debugging connection issues, see our OpenClaw Coding Plan troubleshooting guide.

Step 6: Restart the Gateway

After saving your openclaw.json changes, restart the OpenClaw gateway to pick up the new configuration:

openclaw restart

Or if you are running OpenClaw as a systemd service:

sudo systemctl restart openclaw

Watch the startup logs to confirm the new provider loaded:

openclaw logs --tail 20

You should see a line like:

[info] Provider "alibaba-coding" loaded with 3 model(s)

If you see errors about invalid configuration, go back to Step 3 and check your JSON syntax. A missing comma or bracket is the usual culprit.

Step 7: Verify Your Setup

Send a test request through OpenClaw to confirm everything works:

openclaw chat --provider alibaba-coding --model qwen3-coder-plus "Write a hello world function in Python"

You should get a response within a few seconds. If it works, your setup is complete.

To verify the routing is working in your normal workflow (without manually specifying the provider), check that your model routing rules in openclaw.json include the Alibaba models. For example:

{
  "routing": {
    "coding": "alibaba-coding/qwen3-coder-plus",
    "general": "alibaba-coding/qwen3.5-plus"
  }
}

This tells OpenClaw to send coding tasks to Qwen Coder and general tasks to Qwen Plus. You can mix providers freely: route complex reasoning to Claude or GPT-4 and everything else to Alibaba. See best AI model for OpenClaw for more on choosing the right model for each task.

Troubleshooting Quick Reference

If none of these solve your problem, the OpenClaw Coding Plan troubleshooting guide covers edge cases in more detail.

Security Considerations

A few things to keep in mind when connecting external providers:

• API key storage. Your openclaw.json file now contains a live API key. Make sure file permissions are restricted (chmod 600 ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json).
• Request logging. OpenClaw logs may include portions of your prompts and responses. If you are working with sensitive data, configure log retention accordingly.
• Data routing. Requests sent through Alibaba's endpoint are processed on Alibaba Cloud infrastructure. Review their data processing terms if you are handling regulated data.

For a broader look at OpenClaw security practices, see our OpenClaw security issues guide.

What to Do Next

With Alibaba Coding Plan connected, you have a cost-effective model provider for everyday tasks. Here are some next steps:

• Optimize your routing. Send expensive reasoning tasks to premium models and bulk work to Alibaba. The OpenClaw cost and pricing breakdown has specific numbers.
• Try different Qwen models. Alibaba updates their model lineup regularly. Check what is available in your Coding Plan dashboard.
• Read the Alibaba Coding Plan review. Our Alibaba Coding Plan review covers the strengths and limitations in detail.

The whole point of OpenClaw's provider system is that you are not locked into one vendor. Alibaba Coding Plan is a strong option for the price, and now you know exactly how to wire it up.