Onboarding: add vLLM provider support

docs/concepts/model-providers.md

@@ -259,6 +259,32 @@ ollama pull llama3.3
 
 Ollama is automatically detected when running locally at `http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1`. See [/providers/ollama](/providers/ollama) for model recommendations and custom configuration.
 
+### vLLM
+
+vLLM is a local (or self-hosted) OpenAI-compatible server:
+
+- Provider: `vllm`
+- Auth: Optional (depends on your server)
+- Default base URL: `http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1`
+
+To opt in to auto-discovery locally (any value works if your server doesn’t enforce auth):
+
+```bash
+export VLLM_API_KEY="vllm-local"
+```
+
+Then set a model (replace with one of the IDs returned by `/v1/models`):
+
+```json5
+{
+  agents: {
+    defaults: { model: { primary: "vllm/your-model-id" } },
+  },
+}
+```
+
+See [/providers/vllm](/providers/vllm) for details.
+
 ### Local proxies (LM Studio, vLLM, LiteLLM, etc.)
 
 Example (OpenAI‑compatible):

docs/providers/index.md

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ See [Venice AI](/providers/venice).
 - [MiniMax](/providers/minimax)
 - [Venice (Venice AI, privacy-focused)](/providers/venice)
 - [Ollama (local models)](/providers/ollama)
+- [vLLM (local models)](/providers/vllm)
 - [Qianfan](/providers/qianfan)
 
 ## Transcription providers

docs/providers/vllm.md

@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+---
+summary: "Run OpenClaw with vLLM (OpenAI-compatible local server)"
+read_when:
+  - You want to run OpenClaw against a local vLLM server
+  - You want OpenAI-compatible /v1 endpoints with your own models
+title: "vLLM"
+---
+
+# vLLM
+
+vLLM can serve open-source (and some custom) models via an **OpenAI-compatible** HTTP API. OpenClaw can connect to vLLM using the `openai-completions` API.
+
+OpenClaw can also **auto-discover** available models from vLLM when you opt in with `VLLM_API_KEY` (any value works if your server doesn’t enforce auth) and you do not define an explicit `models.providers.vllm` entry.
+
+## Quick start
+
+1. Start vLLM with an OpenAI-compatible server.
+
+Your base URL should expose `/v1` endpoints (e.g. `/v1/models`, `/v1/chat/completions`). vLLM commonly runs on:
+
+- `http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1`
+
+2. Opt in (any value works if no auth is configured):
+
+```bash
+export VLLM_API_KEY="vllm-local"
+```
+
+3. Select a model (replace with one of your vLLM model IDs):
+
+```json5
+{
+  agents: {
+    defaults: {
+      model: { primary: "vllm/your-model-id" },
+    },
+  },
+}
+```
+
+## Model discovery (implicit provider)
+
+When `VLLM_API_KEY` is set (or an auth profile exists) and you **do not** define `models.providers.vllm`, OpenClaw will query:
+
+- `GET http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1/models`
+
+…and convert the returned IDs into model entries.
+
+If you set `models.providers.vllm` explicitly, auto-discovery is skipped and you must define models manually.
+
+## Explicit configuration (manual models)
+
+Use explicit config when:
+
+- vLLM runs on a different host/port.
+- You want to pin `contextWindow`/`maxTokens` values.
+- Your server requires a real API key (or you want to control headers).
+
+```json5
+{
+  models: {
+    providers: {
+      vllm: {
+        baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1",
+        apiKey: "${VLLM_API_KEY}",
+        api: "openai-completions",
+        models: [
+          {
+            id: "your-model-id",
+            name: "Local vLLM Model",
+            reasoning: false,
+            input: ["text"],
+            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
+            contextWindow: 128000,
+            maxTokens: 8192,
+          },
+        ],
+      },
+    },
+  },
+}
+```
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+- Check the server is reachable:
+
+```bash
+curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1/models
+```
+
+- If requests fail with auth errors, set a real `VLLM_API_KEY` that matches your server configuration, or configure the provider explicitly under `models.providers.vllm`.