Three weeks ago my OpenClaw agent started returning overloaded_error during peak hours. Not because MiniMax was actually down — because the fallback chain was broken. Three of the five models in it were returning 404s or bad responses, and by the time OpenClaw cycled through the dead entries, the request had already timed out.
I fixed it this week. The new chain has seven entries: two local Ollama models, three OpenRouter free models, and two MiniMax models. It has not missed a request in three days.
Here's exactly what I changed, what I tested, and what I'd do differently.
The Problem With Fallback Chains Nobody Talks About
Fallback chains sound simple: if model A fails, try B, then C, then D. The reality is messier. Models don't fail with clean error codes — they return 404s, 429s, malformed responses, or just hang. And when you're running a multi-step agentic workflow, a broken fallback means a broken morning.
