# OpenClaw Model Usage Policy & Fallback Recommendations

## 1. Purpose

Ensure reliable model operations and cost efficiency through structured fallback mechanisms, cooldown logic, and token usage thresholds.

## 2. Fallback Policy Improvements

- **Trigger Conditions**: Failover when:
  - Error rate exceeds 5% over 5 minutes
  - Response latency >5s for 3 consecutive requests
  - Token quota exhausted (429 errors)
- **Cooldown Logic**:
  - 5-minute cooldown before retrying failed models
  - Progressive backoff (5m → 15m → 30m) after repeated failures
- **Priority Tiers**:
  - Tier 1: Primary model (e.g., qwen3-235b)
  - Tier 2: Secondary model (e.g., gpt-4o)
  - Tier 3: Budget model (e.g., gemma2-27b)

## 3. Token Thresholds

| Metric              | Warning Threshold | Hard Limit |
| ------------------- | ----------------- | ---------- |
| Tokens/Minute       | 8,000             | 10,000     |
| Tokens/Hour         | 400,000           | 500,000    |
| Daily Cost          | $80               | $100       |
| Concurrent Requests | 25                | 50         |

## 4. Monitoring

- Real-time dashboard with:
  - Token usage heatmaps
  - Error rate tracking
  - Fallback chain visualization
- Automated alerts via Slack/Email for:
  - Threshold breaches
  - Model outages
  - Cost anomalies

## 5. Implementation Roadmap

Q3 2026:

- Metrics collection pipeline
- Dynamic model routing
- Alerting framework

Q4 2026:

- Automated cooldown management
- Cost optimization module