Z.AI

Z.AI

Z.AI is the API platform for GLM models. It provides REST APIs for GLM and uses API keys for authentication. Create your API key in the Z.AI console. Velaclaw uses the zai provider with a Z.AI API key.

• Provider: zai
• Auth: ZAI_API_KEY
• API: Z.AI Chat Completions (Bearer auth)

Getting started

Auto-detect endpoint

Best for: most users. Velaclaw detects the matching Z.AI endpoint from the key and applies the correct base URL automatically.

1. Run onboarding

   velaclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-api-key
   
2. Set a default model

   {
     env: { ZAI_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
     agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "zai/glm-5.1" } } },
   }
   
3. Verify the model is available

   velaclaw models list --provider zai
   

Explicit regional endpoint

Best for: users who want to force a specific Coding Plan or general API surface.

1. Pick the right onboarding choice

   # Coding Plan Global (recommended for Coding Plan users)
   velaclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-coding-global
   
   # Coding Plan CN (China region)
   velaclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-coding-cn
   
   # General API
   velaclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-global
   
   # General API CN (China region)
   velaclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-cn
   
2. Set a default model

   {
     env: { ZAI_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
     agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "zai/glm-5.1" } } },
   }
   
3. Verify the model is available

   velaclaw models list --provider zai
   

Bundled GLM catalog

Velaclaw currently seeds the bundled zai provider with:

Model ref	Notes
zai/glm-5.1	Default model
zai/glm-5
zai/glm-5-turbo
zai/glm-5v-turbo
zai/glm-4.7
zai/glm-4.7-flash
zai/glm-4.7-flashx
zai/glm-4.6
zai/glm-4.6v
zai/glm-4.5
zai/glm-4.5-air
zai/glm-4.5-flash
zai/glm-4.5v

GLM models are available as zai/<model> (example: zai/glm-5). The default bundled model ref is zai/glm-5.1.

Advanced configuration

Forward-resolving unknown GLM-5 models

Unknown glm-5* ids still forward-resolve on the bundled provider path by synthesizing provider-owned metadata from the glm-4.7 template when the id matches the current GLM-5 family shape.

Tool-call streaming

tool_stream is enabled by default for Z.AI tool-call streaming. To disable it:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "zai/<model>": {
          params: { tool_stream: false },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Image understanding

The bundled Z.AI plugin registers image understanding.

Property	Value
Model	glm-4.6v

Image understanding is auto-resolved from the configured Z.AI auth — no additional config is needed.

Auth details

• Z.AI uses Bearer auth with your API key.
• The zai-api-key onboarding choice auto-detects the matching Z.AI endpoint from the key prefix.
• Use the explicit regional choices (zai-coding-global, zai-coding-cn, zai-global, zai-cn) when you want to force a specific API surface.

Related

GLM model family

Model family overview for GLM.

Model selection

Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior.