Deploying OpenClaw on Alibaba Cloud and Integrating ZenMux: A Hands-on Guide

With ZenMux, you can be among the first to try:
OpenAI GPT-5.2 — A general-purpose LLM with top-tier code generation and logical reasoning
Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.6 — Ultra-long context, ideal for complex document processing
Google Gemini 3.1 Pro — Native multimodal support with strong image-and-text understanding
💡 No need to register separately for overseas platforms like OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic—one ZenMux account covers it all, so you can skip complicated credit card binding and regional restrictions.

Deploy OpenClaw

Deploying OpenClaw itself isn’t complicated. If you don’t have a spare Mac, a cloud server is a good option. Cloud servers are online 24/7, don’t suffer from power outages, and don’t consume your local machine’s resources. Major cloud providers also offer one-click OpenClaw deployment solutions. This guide uses Alibaba Cloud and costs only ~~RMB 68/year~~ (it seems the promotion has ended; you can purchase monthly to try it out).

Deploy the OpenClaw image and build a DingTalk AI employee

Alibaba Cloud integrates Bailian API Key by default, which comes with some free quota—enough to get the Web UI and DingTalk integration working.

Configure ZenMux

Prerequisites

OpenClaw has been deployed on the server and is running properly
You have registered a ZenMux account and obtained an API key

Step 1: Get a ZenMux API Key

Log in to the ZenMux Console
Go to the API Keys page
Click Create new key
Copy the generated key (format: sk-ss-v1-xxxx or sk-ai-v1-xxxx)

Notes:
Prefix sk-ss-v1-: Subscription plan (monthly billing)
Prefix sk-ai-v1-: Pay-as-you-go plan

Step 2: Edit the OpenClaw Configuration

Log in to the server and edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (default path on Alibaba Cloud servers is /home/admin/.openclaw). Update the models and agents sections:

json

{
  "models": {
    "mode": "merge",
    "providers": {
      "zenmux": {
        "baseUrl": "https://zenmux.ai/api/v1",
        "apiKey": "sk-ss-v1-replace-with-your-zenmux-api-key",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "openai/gpt-5.2",
            "name": "GPT-5.2 via ZenMux",
            "reasoning": false,
            "input": ["text", "image"],
            "cost": {
              "input": 0,
              "output": 0,
              "cacheRead": 0,
              "cacheWrite": 0
            },
            "contextWindow": 200000,
            "maxTokens": 8192
          },
          {
            "id": "google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview",
            "name": "Gemini 3.1 Pro via ZenMux",
            "reasoning": false,
            "input": ["text", "image"],
            "cost": {
              "input": 0,
              "output": 0,
              "cacheRead": 0,
              "cacheWrite": 0
            },
            "contextWindow": 200000,
            "maxTokens": 8192
          },
          {
            "id": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6",
            "name": "Claude Sonnet 4.6 via ZenMux",
            "reasoning": false,
            "input": ["text", "image"],
            "cost": {
              "input": 0,
              "output": 0,
              "cacheRead": 0,
              "cacheWrite": 0
            },
            "contextWindow": 200000,
            "maxTokens": 8192
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "zenmux/openai/gpt-5.2"
      },
      "models": {
        "zenmux/openai/gpt-5.2": {},
        "zenmux/google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview": {},
        "zenmux/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6": {}
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Verify the Configuration

Run on the server:

bash

# View the list of available models
openclaw models list

A successful setup means ZenMux models like zenmux/openai/gpt-5.2 appear in the list.

Example output:

NAME                                PROVIDER    ID
openai/gpt-5.2                      zenmux      openai/gpt-5.2
google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview       zenmux      google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview
anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6         zenmux      anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6

Then run:

bash

# Set the default model
openclaw models set zenmux/openai/gpt-5.2

# Test a conversation
openclaw agent --local --agent main --message "Hello, just testing"

Additional Configuration

The following configuration is strongly recommended: web search & Browser.

In theory, you can also ask OpenClaw to install these via chat, but in my experience it can end up breaking itself 😅. In the end, I installed Claude Code on the server to help me debug OpenClaw. Below is the ~~old-school~~ manual setup process.

Web Search Configuration (Tavily)

The Alibaba Cloud OpenClaw app image comes with a built-in web search Skill based on SearXNG, but in practice it often times out or fails to find results. The officially recommended Brave has a relatively high registration cost, so Tavily is recommended here. It’s easy to sign up and provides 1,000 free requests per month.

Go to the Tavily website to register, then retrieve your API key from the console.

openclaw-alibaba

Tip: You can also click Generate MCP Link and send the generated link to OpenClaw to have it automatically add the MCP service.

Step 2: Install the Tavily Plugin

bash

openclaw plugins install openclaw-tavily

Step 3: Restart the Gateway

bash

openclaw gateway restart

Step 4: Configure the Plugin

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and add:

json

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "openclaw-tavily": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "apiKey": "tvly-..."
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Verify the Configuration

Just tell OpenClaw to prefer Tavily for web search going forward.

openclaw-alibaba

Browser Configuration

The Browser tool allows OpenClaw to directly control a browser for page visits, screenshots, automation, and more.

The steps below apply only to CentOS/OpenCloudOS environments (Alibaba Cloud ECS default OS).

Step 1: Install Google Chrome

bash

sudo yum install -y wget
sudo yum install -y https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm

If installation fails, install dependencies first:

bash

sudo yum install -y nss atk cups-libs libdrm libXcomposite libXdamage libXrandr libgbm alsa-lib pango gtk3
sudo yum install -y liberation-fonts xdg-utils google-noto-sans-cjk-fonts

Step 2: Install Chinese Fonts

bash

sudo yum install -y fontconfig freetype
sudo yum install -y google-noto-sans-cjk-fonts
sudo yum install -y wqy-microhei
sudo fc-cache -f -v

Verify fonts:

bash

fc-list | grep -i -E "noto|cjk|wqy|wenquanyi" | head

Step 3: Configure Browser Options

bash

openclaw config set browser.executablePath "/usr/bin/google-chrome"
openclaw config set browser.defaultProfile "openclaw"
openclaw config set browser.headless true
openclaw config set browser.noSandbox true

Step 4: Restart the Gateway

bash

openclaw gateway restart

Step 5: Verify the Configuration

bash

openclaw browser status

Expected output: running: true, and it no longer shows browser: unknown. Use OpenClaw Browser to take a screenshot of any Chinese website (e.g., Baidu). If Chinese renders correctly, the setup is successful.

openclaw-alibaba

DingTalk AI Card Configuration

OpenClaw supports DingTalk AI interactive cards, enabling streaming output, reasoning display, and more.

Prerequisite: You have completed the basic configuration of the DingTalk app and bot.

Step 1: Create an AI Card Template

Visit the DingTalk Card Platform
Create a new template → select the AI Card type → associate your DingTalk app
Make no changes—just save and publish
Record the template ID for later configuration

Step 2: Enable Card Permissions

Go to the DingTalk App Development page, select your app, and enable the following under Permission Management:

Permission	Description
✅ Card.Instance.Write	Create and deliver card instances
✅ Card.Streaming.Write	Streaming update permission for AI cards

Step 3: Configure OpenClaw

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and update channels.dingtalk:

json

{
  "channels": {
    "dingtalk": {
      "enabled": true,
      "clientId": "dingxxxxxx",
      "clientSecret": "your-app-secret",
      "robotCode": "dingxxxxxx",
      "messageType": "card",
      "cardTemplateId": "xxxxxx",
      "cardTemplateKey": "content",
      "dmPolicy": "open",
      "groupPolicy": "open"
    }
  }
}

Key Configuration Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
clientId	✅	DingTalk app AppKey
clientSecret	✅	DingTalk app AppSecret
messageType	❌	`markdown` (default) or `card`
cardTemplateId	❌	AI card template ID
cardTemplateKey	❌	Card content field; default is `content`
dmPolicy	❌	DM policy: `open` / `pairing` / `allowlist`
groupPolicy	❌	Group policy: `open` / `allowlist`

Step 4: Restart and Verify

bash

openclaw gateway restart

Run a conversation test in DingTalk. If you see the card-based interactive UI, the configuration is successful.

Use Cases

Scheduled Task: Monitoring New ZenMux Models

Set up a scheduled task to check daily whether ZenMux has released new models, so you can try the latest capabilities as soon as possible.

openclaw-alibaba

In the Web UI, you can see the configured scheduled tasks and manually trigger them to validate the logic.

openclaw-alibaba

Actual result: the bot automatically pushes new model announcements to the DingTalk group.

openclaw-alibaba

Contact Us

If you encounter any issues during use, or have suggestions and feedback, please contact us through the following channels:

Get Help

Official Website: https://zenmux.ai
Technical Support Email: [email protected]
Business Cooperation Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ZenMuxAI
Discord Community: http://discord.gg/vHZZzj84Bm

For more contacts and details, visit our Contact Us page.

Deploying OpenClaw on Alibaba Cloud and Integrating ZenMux: A Hands-on Guide ​

Deploy OpenClaw ​

Configure ZenMux ​

Prerequisites ​

Step 1: Get a ZenMux API Key ​

Step 2: Edit the OpenClaw Configuration ​

Step 3: Verify the Configuration ​

Additional Configuration ​

Web Search Configuration (Tavily) ​

Step 1: Sign Up and Get an API Key ​

Step 2: Install the Tavily Plugin ​

Step 3: Restart the Gateway ​

Step 4: Configure the Plugin ​

Step 5: Verify the Configuration ​

Browser Configuration ​

Step 1: Install Google Chrome ​

Step 2: Install Chinese Fonts ​

Step 3: Configure Browser Options ​

Step 4: Restart the Gateway ​

Step 5: Verify the Configuration ​

DingTalk AI Card Configuration ​

Step 1: Create an AI Card Template ​

Step 2: Enable Card Permissions ​

Step 3: Configure OpenClaw ​

Key Configuration Parameters ​

Step 4: Restart and Verify ​

Use Cases ​

Scheduled Task: Monitoring New ZenMux Models ​

Related Resources ​

Contact Us ​

Deploying OpenClaw on Alibaba Cloud and Integrating ZenMux: A Hands-on Guide

Deploy OpenClaw

Configure ZenMux

Prerequisites

Step 1: Get a ZenMux API Key

Step 2: Edit the OpenClaw Configuration

Step 3: Verify the Configuration

Additional Configuration

Web Search Configuration (Tavily)

Step 1: Sign Up and Get an API Key

Step 2: Install the Tavily Plugin

Step 3: Restart the Gateway

Step 4: Configure the Plugin

Step 5: Verify the Configuration

Browser Configuration

Step 1: Install Google Chrome

Step 2: Install Chinese Fonts

Step 3: Configure Browser Options

Step 4: Restart the Gateway

Step 5: Verify the Configuration

DingTalk AI Card Configuration

Step 1: Create an AI Card Template

Step 2: Enable Card Permissions

Step 3: Configure OpenClaw

Key Configuration Parameters

Step 4: Restart and Verify

Use Cases

Scheduled Task: Monitoring New ZenMux Models

Related Resources

Contact Us