title: "Support DashScope (Alibaba Cloud Bailian) provider with role mapping (developer → system)"
labels: ["enhancement", "provider-support", "dashscope"]

🐛 Problem Description

Alibaba Cloud Bailian (DashScope) API's OpenAI-compatible endpoint does not support the developer role, which OpenClaw uses by default for system prompts. This causes all DashScope models (including Qwen3.5-Plus) to fail with HTTP 400 errors.

Error Message

HTTP 400: developer is not one of ['system', 'assistant', 'user', 'tool', 'function'] - 'messages.['0'].role'

🔍 Root Cause

DashScope's OpenAI-compatible API (https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1) only accepts these roles:

• ✅ system
• ✅ user
• ✅ assistant
• ✅ tool
• ✅ function

But does NOT support:

• ❌ developer (OpenClaw default)

📋 Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure DashScope provider in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "dashscope": {
        "baseUrl": "https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
        "apiKey": "sk-xxxxxxxx",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {
            "id": "qwen3.5-plus-2026-02-15",
            "name": "Qwen3.5-Plus",
            "reasoning": false,
            "contextWindow": 1000000,
            "maxTokens": 65536
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Set primary model to DashScope:

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "dashscope/qwen3.5-plus-2026-02-15"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Restart OpenClaw Gateway:

openclaw gateway restart

4. Send any message to the agent

5. Expected: Model responds normally

6. Actual: HTTP 400 error with role validation failure

✅ Verification Tests

Test 1: Using system role (works)

curl -X POST https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "qwen3.5-plus-2026-02-15",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
      {"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}
    ]
  }'

Result: ✅ Success (200 OK, valid response)

Test 2: Using developer role (fails)

curl -X POST https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "qwen3.5-plus-2026-02-15",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "developer", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
      {"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}
    ]
  }'

Result: ❌ HTTP 400 Bad Request

💡 Proposed Solution

Add provider-level role mapping configuration to OpenClaw:

Option 1: Provider-level configuration

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "dashscope": {
        "baseUrl": "https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "roleMapping": {
          "developer": "system"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Option 2: Built-in DashScope provider detection

Automatically detect DashScope provider and map developer → system:

• Check if baseUrl matches dashscope.aliyuncs.com
• Apply role mapping automatically

📚 Additional Context

DashScope Endpoints

• China Mainland: https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1
• Singapore: https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1
• US (Virginia): https://dashscope-us.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1

Important Configuration Notes

1. reasoning must be false for DashScope models in OpenClaw config
2. Model IDs vary between SDK and HTTP API:
   • SDK: qwen3.5-plus
   • HTTP API: qwen3.5-plus-2026-02-15

Reference Documentation

• DashScope OpenAI-Compatible API Docs
• Qwen3.5-Plus Model Card

🔗 Related Issues

Similar role mapping solutions have been implemented for other providers:

• Minimax: Switched from OpenAI to Anthropic endpoint to avoid role conflicts
• This suggests OpenClaw already has infrastructure for provider-specific role handling

🎯 Impact

This issue prevents users from using Alibaba Cloud Bailian's Qwen models (including the powerful Qwen3.5-Plus with 1M context window) with OpenClaw, limiting options for users in China or those seeking cost-effective alternatives to Western AI providers.

Environment

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.2.15
• OS: Windows 11
• Node: v24.13.0
• DashScope API: OpenAI-compatible mode
• Model Tested: qwen3.5-plus-2026-02-15

Thank you for considering this enhancement! 🙏