fix(agents): allow configured ollama endpoints without dummy api keys

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Subagents/announce completion scoping: scope nested direct-child completion aggregation to the current requester run window, harden frozen completion capture for deterministic descendant synthesis, and route completion announce delivery through parent-agent announce turns with provenance-aware internal events. (#35080) Thanks @tyler6204.
 - Nodes/system.run approval hardening: use explicit argv-mutation signaling when regenerating prepared `rawCommand`, and cover the `system.run.prepare -> system.run` handoff so direct PATH-based `nodes.run` commands no longer fail with `rawCommand does not match command`. (#33137) thanks @Sid-Qin.
 - Models/custom provider headers: propagate `models.providers.<name>.headers` across inline, fallback, and registry-found model resolution so header-authenticated proxies consistently receive configured request headers. (#27490) thanks @Sid-Qin.
+- Ollama/remote provider auth fallback: synthesize a local runtime auth key for explicitly configured `models.providers.ollama` entries that omit `apiKey`, so remote Ollama endpoints run without requiring manual dummy-key setup while preserving env/profile/config key precedence and missing-config failures. (#11283) Thanks @cpreecs.
 - Ollama/custom provider headers: forward resolved model headers into native Ollama stream requests so header-authenticated Ollama proxies receive configured request headers. (#24337) thanks @echoVic.
 - Daemon/systemd install robustness: treat `systemctl --user is-enabled` exit-code-4 `not-found` responses as not-enabled by combining stderr/stdout detail parsing, so Ubuntu fresh installs no longer fail with `systemctl is-enabled unavailable`. (#33634) Thanks @Yuandiaodiaodiao.
 - Slack/system-event session routing: resolve reaction/member/pin/interaction system-event session keys through channel/account bindings (with sender-aware DM routing) so inbound Slack events target the correct agent session in multi-account setups instead of defaulting to `agent:main`. (#34045) Thanks @paulomcg, @daht-mad and @vincentkoc.

src/agents/model-auth.profiles.test.ts

@@ -226,6 +226,62 @@ describe("getApiKeyForModel", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("resolves synthetic local auth key for configured ollama provider without apiKey", async () => {
+    await withEnvAsync({ OLLAMA_API_KEY: undefined }, async () => {
+      const resolved = await resolveApiKeyForProvider({
+        provider: "ollama",
+        store: { version: 1, profiles: {} },
+        cfg: {
+          models: {
+            providers: {
+              ollama: {
+                baseUrl: "http://gpu-node-server:11434",
+                api: "openai-completions",
+                models: [],
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      });
+      expect(resolved.apiKey).toBe("ollama-local");
+      expect(resolved.mode).toBe("api-key");
+      expect(resolved.source).toContain("synthetic local key");
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("prefers explicit OLLAMA_API_KEY over synthetic local key", async () => {
+    await withEnvAsync({ OLLAMA_API_KEY: "env-ollama-key" }, async () => {
+      const resolved = await resolveApiKeyForProvider({
+        provider: "ollama",
+        store: { version: 1, profiles: {} },
+        cfg: {
+          models: {
+            providers: {
+              ollama: {
+                baseUrl: "http://gpu-node-server:11434",
+                api: "openai-completions",
+                models: [],
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      });
+      expect(resolved.apiKey).toBe("env-ollama-key");
+      expect(resolved.source).toContain("OLLAMA_API_KEY");
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("still throws for ollama when no env/profile/config provider is available", async () => {
+    await withEnvAsync({ OLLAMA_API_KEY: undefined }, async () => {
+      await expect(
+        resolveApiKeyForProvider({
+          provider: "ollama",
+          store: { version: 1, profiles: {} },
+        }),
+      ).rejects.toThrow('No API key found for provider "ollama".');
+    });
+  });
+
   it("resolves Vercel AI Gateway API key from env", async () => {
     await withEnvAsync({ AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY: "gateway-test-key" }, async () => {
       const resolved = await resolveApiKeyForProvider({

src/agents/model-auth.ts

@@ -67,6 +67,35 @@ function resolveProviderAuthOverride(
   return undefined;
 }
 
+function resolveSyntheticLocalProviderAuth(params: {
+  cfg: OpenClawConfig | undefined;
+  provider: string;
+}): ResolvedProviderAuth | null {
+  const normalizedProvider = normalizeProviderId(params.provider);
+  if (normalizedProvider !== "ollama") {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const providerConfig = resolveProviderConfig(params.cfg, params.provider);
+  if (!providerConfig) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const hasApiConfig =
+    Boolean(providerConfig.api?.trim()) ||
+    Boolean(providerConfig.baseUrl?.trim()) ||
+    (Array.isArray(providerConfig.models) && providerConfig.models.length > 0);
+  if (!hasApiConfig) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return {
+    apiKey: "ollama-local",
+    source: "models.providers.ollama (synthetic local key)",
+    mode: "api-key",
+  };
+}
+
 function resolveEnvSourceLabel(params: {
   applied: Set<string>;
   envVars: string[];
@@ -207,6 +236,11 @@ export async function resolveApiKeyForProvider(params: {
     return { apiKey: customKey, source: "models.json", mode: "api-key" };
   }
 
+  const syntheticLocalAuth = resolveSyntheticLocalProviderAuth({ cfg, provider });
+  if (syntheticLocalAuth) {
+    return syntheticLocalAuth;
+  }
+
   const normalized = normalizeProviderId(provider);
   if (authOverride === undefined && normalized === "amazon-bedrock") {
     return resolveAwsSdkAuthInfo();