Connect an AI Model API to FoneClaw: Text, Images, and Android Tools
Set up a compatible AI model API in FoneClaw with provider presets, credentials, and model ID. Test text, image support, and Android tool calling separately.
- Use FoneClaw’s free default model or configure a compatible online provider. A consumer chatbot subscription does not establish API access or billing.
- Provider presets help with configuration, while the base URL, API key, and exact model ID must match the chosen endpoint. Image and tool support controls must reflect capabilities the provider actually supports.
- Verify three results separately: a harmless text response, interpretation of a selected image with a vision-capable model, and one enabled Android tool result under required permissions and the actual approval policy.
- Model deprecation and retirement are provider lifecycle events, separate from Android permissions. After changing models, retest supported capabilities and inspect unfinished actions before retrying external writes.
Use the Default Model or Connect Your Own API
FoneClaw can run with its free default model, or you can configure a compatible AI model API inside FoneClaw using a provider preset where appropriate, API Base URL, API Key, and model ID. Image and tool support controls let you configure the capabilities available through that provider and model. Verify text, selected-image interpretation, and Android tool execution separately.
You do not need to connect a separate consumer chatbot app to your phone. The selected model is the reasoning layer inside FoneClaw, and FoneClaw remains the Android phone-agent runtime. For a custom provider, you need that provider’s API account access and credentials; a consumer chatbot subscription does not automatically include API access or cover API usage charges.
That split matters. The model understands the request, plans the next step, and writes useful text. FoneClaw handles supported Android tools, permissions, approval behavior, visible results, and recovery when the phone state blocks a task. A correct model response is useful, but it is not the same thing as Android execution.
| Model path | Best for | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Free default model | First setup, low-risk testing, and users who do not want to bring API credentials. | Whether the default model supports and handles the phone tasks you need. |
| Compatible model API | Users who want a specific provider, model behavior, or API account setup. | Endpoint compatibility, credentials, available model ID, image and tool capabilities, and provider costs. |
The practical setup goal is to connect the model’s reasoning to a supported Android result: configure the endpoint, test a harmless response, check any image capability you need, then verify one governed tool action through FoneClaw.
Provider Preset, Base URL, API Key, and Model ID
Each configuration value has a different job. A provider preset is a convenience for setup; it does not prove that your account has access, that every model works through the endpoint, or that the model supports images and tools.
| Field or control | Purpose | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Provider preset | Helps configure a supported provider route. | It matches the service and endpoint you intend to use. |
| API Base URL | Identifies where model requests are sent. | The provider documents that endpoint and its compatible request format. |
| API Key | Authenticates your provider account. | The credential is valid and has the required API access. |
| Model ID | Selects the API-facing model. | The exact identifier is available to your account through this endpoint. |
| Image support | Configures use of supported image input. | The model and endpoint accept images and support vision. |
| Tool support | Configures use of supported tool calling. | The provider, model, and endpoint support the required tool-call format. |
Some providers expose OpenAI-compatible routes through a provider-specific endpoint. Google’s Gemini API OpenAI compatibility guide is one example of familiar client patterns that still require the provider’s own endpoint and model name. A provider’s native API can use a different protocol, so copying its native base URL into a configuration expecting another format does not establish compatibility.
The API Key authenticates the request. OpenAI’s API authentication reference explains API key authentication and key protection. Keep real credentials out of public issues, screenshots, chats, and shared documents.
The model ID is not always the marketing name shown in a consumer app. Use the provider’s exact API-facing identifier. Do not add spaces around credentials, paste a whole code sample into the Base URL field, or assume every provider uses the same path. These values can fail independently.
Configure a Provider and Model Capabilities
Before changing anything, decide whether you need a custom endpoint. If you are new to FoneClaw, start with the free default model and run one simple task. If you already have a compatible provider account, a known model ID, and a reason to use that model, configure it inside FoneClaw settings.
- Collect provider details. Identify the documented compatible endpoint, your API credential, and an exact model ID available to your account.
- Open FoneClaw model configuration. Choose an appropriate provider preset when available, then verify its values against your provider’s documentation.
- Check the API Base URL. Use the compatible HTTPS endpoint, rather than a documentation page or consumer-app link.
- Enter the API Key and model ID. Keep the key private and use the provider’s exact API model identifier.
- Set image and tool support appropriately. Enable a capability only when the selected model and endpoint support it. A toggle does not add vision or tool calling to a model that lacks it.
- Save and select the configuration. Keep the default model available as a fallback and begin with a harmless text request.
FoneClaw optimizes selected large images and corrects their orientation, but interpreting an image still requires a compatible vision-capable model. These input improvements do not turn a text-only model into a vision model.
The FoneClaw Android repository provides the public Android project. For the execution layer after model setup, AI Agent Phone Control on Android: Intent, Confirmation, Action explains how supported tools, permissions, and confirmation connect a request to a phone result.
Test Text, Images, and Android Tools Separately
Test in three stages so the result identifies which layer works. These are suggested checks for your own configuration, rather than measured performance results.
- Text connection: Ask the selected model to summarize a short, non-sensitive sentence. A coherent response checks basic endpoint reachability, authentication, model selection, and text response handling without involving Android tools.
- Selected-image interpretation: If vision is supported, deliberately attach a harmless image and ask about a visible detail. Compare the answer with the image. This checks image input and interpretation; text success alone does not establish either.
- Android tool execution: If tool calling is supported, enable an appropriate read-only tool and ask FoneClaw to inspect media volume or Bluetooth status without changing it. Confirm that the tool ran and returned a status result consistent with the phone’s settings.
The selected model within FoneClaw interprets the request and plans the supported tool call. Android tools execute within enabled scope, required permissions, current app state, and the actual approval policy. A model’s statement that it checked a setting is not enough: inspect the tool result and the corresponding phone state.
Watch three things during the tool test. Did FoneClaw choose a supported tool path? Was any required permission or approval handled under the current policy? Was the result visible enough to confirm what happened? Completing these checks establishes the tested paths, rather than proving that every image or Android action will work.
Fix Credentials, Endpoint, Capability, and Permission Errors
If the model cannot answer a harmless text request, check the API Base URL, API Key, model ID, provider account, and network. If text works but images fail, check vision support and image configuration. If reasoning works but a phone action fails, distinguish model tool calling from Android tool availability, permissions, app state, and approval policy.
| Symptom | Likely layer | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 401 or unauthorized | Provider authentication. | Missing, incorrect, expired, or revoked credentials; account API access and credential scope. |
| 404 or not found | Endpoint or model route. | The compatible base URL and path, exact model ID, and availability through that endpoint. |
| Model unavailable or retired | Provider model access or lifecycle. | Account access, model identifier, retirement status, and the provider’s recommended migration. |
| Timeout or no response | Network or provider response. | Connection, service status, and request size; compare a short text request or the default model. |
| Text works, image fails | Vision capability or image request handling. | Image support configuration and documented model and endpoint support for image input. |
| Text works, tool call fails | Model or endpoint tool-call support. | Tool support configuration, compatible tool-call format, and valid tool arguments. |
| Tool selected, Android action blocked | Phone execution. | Enabled tool scope, required Android permission, current app state, and approval policy. |
Providers can differ in status codes and wording, so read the returned error as well as its number. A valid API Key does not authorize contacts, location, notifications, files, camera, or microphone on the phone. Likewise, changing Android permissions cannot restore a retired API model.
For a temporary provider failure rather than a configuration error, Android AI Assistant Model Outage: Retry, Switch Models, and Resume Safely explains fallback and retry choices without repeating the setup process.
Choose a Model and Check Its Lifecycle
There is no universally best custom model for Android phone agents. Choose by the task and documented capabilities. Short commands and simple rewriting have different requirements from ambiguous multi-step planning or image interpretation. For phone actions, confirm tool calling through the chosen endpoint rather than relying only on conversational quality.
Provider lifecycle is a separate maintenance check. As of October 6, 2026, Anthropic’s official model deprecation schedule lists claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 as deprecated from September 30, 2026, with retirement planned for November 30, 2026. Its recommended replacement is claude-sonnet-5-5. Deprecated models remain functional during the deprecation period; requests to retired models fail.
Those dates apply to Anthropic-operated platforms. Partner platforms set their own schedules and may expose different model identifiers. Before migrating, verify account availability and endpoint compatibility. Anthropic’s recommended replacement does not prove that its native Messages API is compatible with a FoneClaw configuration using an OpenAI-format endpoint.
Latency, cost, and provider policy also matter. Repeated model calls can affect workflow costs, and a quick response with incorrect tool arguments can lead to retries. A configured online model may receive the text or selected context you supply. Check the provider’s data controls before using sensitive material.
For deeper routing choices, Kimi K3 vs DeepSeek V4 vs GLM-5.2 for Phone Agents: Routing, Cost, and Android Actions discusses task fit. Provider-specific guides such as DeepSeek AI Agent and Android Phone Control: What It Can and Cannot Do and Can Grok Control an Android Phone? Calls, Assistant Settings, and FoneClaw Actions help distinguish model expectations from supported phone execution.
Retest Configuration and Verify Unfinished Actions
After changing a provider, endpoint, or model ID, repeat the harmless text test, the selected-image test if supported, and the read-only Android tool test if supported. Confirm the capability controls still match the new configuration. The selected model reasons inside FoneClaw; enabled tools execute under the phone’s permissions, app state, and actual approval policy.
Our FoneClaw Features page describes supported capability areas, while FoneClaw Download provides installation options. Tool controls and approval settings determine which actions can run and how approval is handled; model access alone does not enable every action.
Before resuming an interrupted workflow, inspect the destination. A sent message, saved calendar entry, or other completed write may already exist even if the model response stopped. Retry only the missing step to avoid duplicate effects. Phone Agent Debugging and Recovery: Fix Failed Android AI Assistant Tasks explains how to check completion, targets, permissions, and app state before retrying.
For the next supported action, watch the tool choice, handle required permissions and approvals, and verify the actual result on the phone. If the tool or capability is unavailable, resolve that specific condition before returning to the workflow.