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Freeride

  • 8 installs
  • 33 repo stars
  • Updated April 26, 2026
  • bighardperson/computer-science-skills-collection

freeride is a skill that configures OpenClaw to use free OpenRouter models, ranking them and setting fallbacks to handle rate limits.

About

freeride is a skill that configures OpenClaw to use free AI models from OpenRouter. A developer uses it to set the best free model as primary, add ranked fallbacks so rate limits do not interrupt work, and update openclaw.json while preserving existing config. It exposes a freeride CLI plus an optional watcher for auto-rotation.

  • Configures free OpenRouter models as the primary model for OpenClaw
  • Ranks free models and sets ranked fallbacks for rate-limit handling
  • Optional watcher daemon auto-rotates models when rate limited

Freeride by the numbers

  • 8 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • Ranked #12,269 of 16,556 AI & Agent Building skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Data as of Jul 30, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
At a glance

freeride capabilities & compatibility

Needs a free OpenRouter API key; the configured models are free, so runtime cost is zero.

Capabilities
model routing · fallback config · cost optimization
Use cases
orchestration
Pricing
Bring your own API key
From the docs

What freeride says it does

Configures OpenClaw to use **free** AI models from OpenRouter.
SKILL.md
The first fallback is always `openrouter/free` — OpenRouter's smart router that auto-picks the best available model based on the request.
SKILL.md
npx skills add https://github.com/bighardperson/computer-science-skills-collection --skill freeride

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs8
repo stars33
Last updatedApril 26, 2026
Repositorybighardperson/computer-science-skills-collection

What it does

Configure OpenClaw with the best free OpenRouter model plus ranked fallbacks to avoid rate-limit interruptions.

Who is it for?

Cutting AI costs by routing OpenClaw to ranked free OpenRouter models with automatic fallbacks.

Skip if: Agents other than OpenClaw or providers other than OpenRouter.

When should I use this skill?

The user mentions free AI, OpenRouter, model switching, rate limits, or reducing AI costs in OpenClaw.

What you get

OpenClaw runs on the best free OpenRouter model with ranked fallbacks and optional auto-rotation on rate limits.

  • Updated openclaw.json with a free primary model and ranked fallbacks

By the numbers

  • default 5 fallback models
  • first fallback is always openrouter/free

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

FreeRide - Free AI for OpenClaw

What This Skill Does

Configures OpenClaw to use free AI models from OpenRouter. Sets the best free model as primary, adds ranked fallbacks so rate limits don't interrupt the user, and preserves existing config.

Prerequisites

Before running any FreeRide command, ensure:

1. OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set. Check with echo $OPENROUTER_API_KEY. If empty, the user must get a free key at https://openrouter.ai/keys and set it:

   export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-..."
   # Or persist it:
   openclaw config set env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY "sk-or-v1-..."

2. The `freeride` CLI is installed. Check with which freeride. If not found:

   cd ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/free-ride
   pip install -e .

Primary Workflow

When the user wants free AI, run these steps in order:

# Step 1: Configure best free model + fallbacks
freeride auto

# Step 2: Restart gateway so OpenClaw picks up the changes
openclaw gateway restart

That's it. The user now has free AI with automatic fallback switching.

Verify by telling the user to send /status to check the active model.

Commands Reference

CommandWhen to use it
freeride autoUser wants free AI set up (most common)
freeride auto -fUser wants fallbacks but wants to keep their current primary model
freeride auto -c 10User wants more fallbacks (default is 5)
freeride listUser wants to see available free models
freeride list -n 30User wants to see all free models
freeride switch <model>User wants a specific model (e.g. freeride switch qwen3-coder)
freeride switch <model> -fAdd specific model as fallback only
freeride statusCheck current FreeRide configuration
freeride fallbacksUpdate only the fallback models
freeride refreshForce refresh the cached model list

After any command that changes config, always run `openclaw gateway restart`.

What It Writes to Config

FreeRide updates only these keys in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

  • agents.defaults.model.primary — e.g. openrouter/qwen/qwen3-coder:free
  • agents.defaults.model.fallbacks — e.g. ["openrouter/free", "nvidia/nemotron:free", ...]
  • agents.defaults.models — allowlist so /model command shows the free models

Everything else (gateway, channels, plugins, env, customInstructions, named agents) is preserved.

The first fallback is always openrouter/free — OpenRouter's smart router that auto-picks the best available model based on the request.

Watcher (Optional)

For auto-rotation when rate limited, the user can run:

freeride-watcher --daemon    # Continuous monitoring
freeride-watcher --rotate    # Force rotate now
freeride-watcher --status    # Check rotation history

Troubleshooting

ProblemFix
freeride: command not foundcd ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/free-ride && pip install -e .
OPENROUTER_API_KEY not setUser needs a key from https://openrouter.ai/keys
Changes not taking effectopenclaw gateway restart then /new for fresh session
Agent shows 0 tokensCheck freeride status — primary should be openrouter/<provider>/<model>:free

Related skills

FAQ

What does freeride change?

It updates only agents.defaults.model.primary, model.fallbacks, and models in openclaw.json, preserving everything else.

How do I apply changes?

After any config-changing command run openclaw gateway restart so OpenClaw picks up the new models.

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