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Configuration Reference

Every field available in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. For a task-oriented overview, see Configuration.

Config format is JSON5 (comments + trailing commas allowed). All fields are optional — OpenClaw uses safe defaults when omitted.

Channels

Each channel starts automatically when its config section exists (unless enabled: false).

DM and group access

All channels support DM policies and group policies:

DM policy Behavior
pairing (default) Unknown senders get a one-time pairing code; owner must approve
allowlist Only senders in allowFrom (or paired allow store)
open Allow all inbound DMs (requires allowFrom: ["*"])
disabled Ignore all inbound DMs
Group policy Behavior
allowlist (default) Only groups matching the configured allowlist
open Bypass group allowlists (mention-gating still applies)
disabled Block all group/room messages

channels.defaults.groupPolicy sets the default when a provider's groupPolicy is unset. Pairing codes expire after 1 hour. Pending DM pairing requests are capped at 3 per channel. Slack/Discord have a special fallback: if their provider section is missing entirely, runtime group policy can resolve to open (with a startup warning).

WhatsApp

WhatsApp runs through the gateway's web channel (Baileys Web). It starts automatically when a linked session exists.

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      dmPolicy: "pairing", // pairing | allowlist | open | disabled
      allowFrom: ["+15555550123", "+447700900123"],
      textChunkLimit: 4000,
      chunkMode: "length", // length | newline
      mediaMaxMb: 50,
      sendReadReceipts: true, // blue ticks (false in self-chat mode)
      groups: {
        "*": { requireMention: true },
      },
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      groupAllowFrom: ["+15551234567"],
    },
  },
  web: {
    enabled: true,
    heartbeatSeconds: 60,
    reconnect: {
      initialMs: 2000,
      maxMs: 120000,
      factor: 1.4,
      jitter: 0.2,
      maxAttempts: 0,
    },
  },
}


{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      accounts: {
        default: {},
        personal: {},
        biz: {
          // authDir: "~/.openclaw/credentials/whatsapp/biz",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Outbound commands default to account default if present; otherwise the first configured account id (sorted).
  • Legacy single-account Baileys auth dir is migrated by openclaw doctor into whatsapp/default.
  • Per-account overrides: channels.whatsapp.accounts.<id>.sendReadReceipts, channels.whatsapp.accounts.<id>.dmPolicy, channels.whatsapp.accounts.<id>.allowFrom.

Telegram

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "your-bot-token",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      allowFrom: ["tg:123456789"],
      groups: {
        "*": { requireMention: true },
        "-1001234567890": {
          allowFrom: ["@admin"],
          systemPrompt: "Keep answers brief.",
          topics: {
            "99": {
              requireMention: false,
              skills: ["search"],
              systemPrompt: "Stay on topic.",
            },
          },
        },
      },
      customCommands: [
        { command: "backup", description: "Git backup" },
        { command: "generate", description: "Create an image" },
      ],
      historyLimit: 50,
      replyToMode: "first", // off | first | all
      linkPreview: true,
      streamMode: "partial", // off | partial | block
      draftChunk: {
        minChars: 200,
        maxChars: 800,
        breakPreference: "paragraph", // paragraph | newline | sentence
      },
      actions: { reactions: true, sendMessage: true },
      reactionNotifications: "own", // off | own | all
      mediaMaxMb: 5,
      retry: {
        attempts: 3,
        minDelayMs: 400,
        maxDelayMs: 30000,
        jitter: 0.1,
      },
      network: { autoSelectFamily: false },
      proxy: "socks5://localhost:9050",
      webhookUrl: "https://example.com/telegram-webhook",
      webhookSecret: "secret",
      webhookPath: "/telegram-webhook",
    },
  },
}
  • Bot token: channels.telegram.botToken or channels.telegram.tokenFile, with TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN as fallback for the default account.
  • configWrites: false blocks Telegram-initiated config writes (supergroup ID migrations, /config set|unset).
  • Telegram stream previews use sendMessage + editMessageText (works in direct and group chats).
  • Retry policy: see Retry policy.

Discord

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      enabled: true,
      token: "your-bot-token",
      mediaMaxMb: 8,
      allowBots: false,
      actions: {
        reactions: true,
        stickers: true,
        polls: true,
        permissions: true,
        messages: true,
        threads: true,
        pins: true,
        search: true,
        memberInfo: true,
        roleInfo: true,
        roles: false,
        channelInfo: true,
        voiceStatus: true,
        events: true,
        moderation: false,
      },
      replyToMode: "off", // off | first | all
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      allowFrom: ["1234567890", "steipete"],
      dm: { enabled: true, groupEnabled: false, groupChannels: ["openclaw-dm"] },
      guilds: {
        "123456789012345678": {
          slug: "friends-of-openclaw",
          requireMention: false,
          reactionNotifications: "own",
          users: ["987654321098765432"],
          channels: {
            general: { allow: true },
            help: {
              allow: true,
              requireMention: true,
              users: ["987654321098765432"],
              skills: ["docs"],
              systemPrompt: "Short answers only.",
            },
          },
        },
      },
      historyLimit: 20,
      textChunkLimit: 2000,
      chunkMode: "length", // length | newline
      maxLinesPerMessage: 17,
      ui: {
        components: {
          accentColor: "#5865F2",
        },
      },
      retry: {
        attempts: 3,
        minDelayMs: 500,
        maxDelayMs: 30000,
        jitter: 0.1,
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Token: channels.discord.token, with DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN as fallback for the default account.
  • Use user:<id> (DM) or channel:<id> (guild channel) for delivery targets; bare numeric IDs are rejected.
  • Guild slugs are lowercase with spaces replaced by -; channel keys use the slugged name (no #). Prefer guild IDs.
  • Bot-authored messages are ignored by default. allowBots: true enables them (own messages still filtered).
  • maxLinesPerMessage (default 17) splits tall messages even when under 2000 chars.
  • channels.discord.ui.components.accentColor sets the accent color for Discord components v2 containers.

Reaction notification modes: off (none), own (bot's messages, default), all (all messages), allowlist (from guilds.<id>.users on all messages).

Google Chat

{
  channels: {
    googlechat: {
      enabled: true,
      serviceAccountFile: "/path/to/service-account.json",
      audienceType: "app-url", // app-url | project-number
      audience: "https://gateway.example.com/googlechat",
      webhookPath: "/googlechat",
      botUser: "users/1234567890",
      dm: {
        enabled: true,
        policy: "pairing",
        allowFrom: ["users/1234567890"],
      },
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      groups: {
        "spaces/AAAA": { allow: true, requireMention: true },
      },
      actions: { reactions: true },
      typingIndicator: "message",
      mediaMaxMb: 20,
    },
  },
}
  • Service account JSON: inline (serviceAccount) or file-based (serviceAccountFile).
  • Env fallbacks: GOOGLE_CHAT_SERVICE_ACCOUNT or GOOGLE_CHAT_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE.
  • Use spaces/<spaceId> or users/<userId|email> for delivery targets.

Slack

{
  channels: {
    slack: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "xoxb-...",
      appToken: "xapp-...",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      allowFrom: ["U123", "U456", "*"],
      dm: { enabled: true, groupEnabled: false, groupChannels: ["G123"] },
      channels: {
        C123: { allow: true, requireMention: true, allowBots: false },
        "#general": {
          allow: true,
          requireMention: true,
          allowBots: false,
          users: ["U123"],
          skills: ["docs"],
          systemPrompt: "Short answers only.",
        },
      },
      historyLimit: 50,
      allowBots: false,
      reactionNotifications: "own",
      reactionAllowlist: ["U123"],
      replyToMode: "off", // off | first | all
      thread: {
        historyScope: "thread", // thread | channel
        inheritParent: false,
      },
      actions: {
        reactions: true,
        messages: true,
        pins: true,
        memberInfo: true,
        emojiList: true,
      },
      slashCommand: {
        enabled: true,
        name: "openclaw",
        sessionPrefix: "slack:slash",
        ephemeral: true,
      },
      textChunkLimit: 4000,
      chunkMode: "length",
      mediaMaxMb: 20,
    },
  },
}
  • Socket mode requires both botToken and appToken (SLACK_BOT_TOKEN + SLACK_APP_TOKEN for default account env fallback).
  • HTTP mode requires botToken plus signingSecret (at root or per-account).
  • configWrites: false blocks Slack-initiated config writes.
  • Use user:<id> (DM) or channel:<id> for delivery targets.

Reaction notification modes: off, own (default), all, allowlist (from reactionAllowlist).

Thread session isolation: thread.historyScope is per-thread (default) or shared across channel. thread.inheritParent copies parent channel transcript to new threads.

Action group Default Notes
reactions enabled React + list reactions
messages enabled Read/send/edit/delete
pins enabled Pin/unpin/list
memberInfo enabled Member info
emojiList enabled Custom emoji list

Mattermost

Mattermost ships as a plugin: openclaw plugins install @openclaw/mattermost.

{
  channels: {
    mattermost: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "mm-token",
      baseUrl: "https://chat.example.com",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      chatmode: "oncall", // oncall | onmessage | onchar
      oncharPrefixes: [">", "!"],
      textChunkLimit: 4000,
      chunkMode: "length",
    },
  },
}

Chat modes: oncall (respond on @-mention, default), onmessage (every message), onchar (messages starting with trigger prefix).

Signal

{
  channels: {
    signal: {
      reactionNotifications: "own", // off | own | all | allowlist
      reactionAllowlist: ["+15551234567", "uuid:123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000"],
      historyLimit: 50,
    },
  },
}

Reaction notification modes: off, own (default), all, allowlist (from reactionAllowlist).

iMessage

OpenClaw spawns imsg rpc (JSON-RPC over stdio). No daemon or port required.

{
  channels: {
    imessage: {
      enabled: true,
      cliPath: "imsg",
      dbPath: "~/Library/Messages/chat.db",
      remoteHost: "user@gateway-host",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      allowFrom: ["+15555550123", "[email protected]", "chat_id:123"],
      historyLimit: 50,
      includeAttachments: false,
      mediaMaxMb: 16,
      service: "auto",
      region: "US",
    },
  },
}
  • Requires Full Disk Access to the Messages DB.
  • Prefer chat_id:<id> targets. Use imsg chats --limit 20 to list chats.
  • cliPath can point to an SSH wrapper; set remoteHost for SCP attachment fetching.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
exec ssh -T gateway-host imsg "$@"

Multi-account (all channels)

Run multiple accounts per channel (each with its own accountId):

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      accounts: {
        default: {
          name: "Primary bot",
          botToken: "123456:ABC...",
        },
        alerts: {
          name: "Alerts bot",
          botToken: "987654:XYZ...",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
  • default is used when accountId is omitted (CLI + routing).
  • Env tokens only apply to the default account.
  • Base channel settings apply to all accounts unless overridden per account.
  • Use bindings[].match.accountId to route each account to a different agent.

Group chat mention gating

Group messages default to require mention (metadata mention or regex patterns). Applies to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Google Chat, and iMessage group chats.

Mention types:

  • Metadata mentions: Native platform @-mentions. Ignored in WhatsApp self-chat mode.
  • Text patterns: Regex patterns in agents.list[].groupChat.mentionPatterns. Always checked.
  • Mention gating is enforced only when detection is possible (native mentions or at least one pattern).
{
  messages: {
    groupChat: { historyLimit: 50 },
  },
  agents: {
    list: [{ id: "main", groupChat: { mentionPatterns: ["@openclaw", "openclaw"] } }],
  },
}

messages.groupChat.historyLimit sets the global default. Channels can override with channels.<channel>.historyLimit (or per-account). Set 0 to disable.

DM history limits

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      dmHistoryLimit: 30,
      dms: {
        "123456789": { historyLimit: 50 },
      },
    },
  },
}

Resolution: per-DM override → provider default → no limit (all retained).

Supported: telegram, whatsapp, discord, slack, signal, imessage, msteams.

Self-chat mode

Include your own number in allowFrom to enable self-chat mode (ignores native @-mentions, only responds to text patterns):

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      allowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
      groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } },
    },
  },
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "main",
        groupChat: { mentionPatterns: ["reisponde", "@openclaw"] },
      },
    ],
  },
}

Commands (chat command handling)

{
  commands: {
    native: "auto", // register native commands when supported
    text: true, // parse /commands in chat messages
    bash: false, // allow ! (alias: /bash)
    bashForegroundMs: 2000,
    config: false, // allow /config
    debug: false, // allow /debug
    restart: false, // allow /restart + gateway restart tool
    allowFrom: {
      "*": ["user1"],
      discord: ["user:123"],
    },
    useAccessGroups: true,
  },
}

  • Text commands must be standalone messages with leading /.
  • native: "auto" turns on native commands for Discord/Telegram, leaves Slack off.
  • Override per channel: channels.discord.commands.native (bool or "auto"). false clears previously registered commands.
  • channels.telegram.customCommands adds extra Telegram bot menu entries.
  • bash: true enables ! <cmd> for host shell. Requires tools.elevated.enabled and sender in tools.elevated.allowFrom.<channel>.
  • config: true enables /config (reads/writes openclaw.json).
  • channels.<provider>.configWrites gates config mutations per channel (default: true).
  • allowFrom is per-provider. When set, it is the only authorization source (channel allowlists/pairing and useAccessGroups are ignored).
  • useAccessGroups: false allows commands to bypass access-group policies when allowFrom is not set.

Agent defaults

agents.defaults.workspace

Default: ~/.openclaw/workspace.

{
  agents: { defaults: { workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace" } },
}

agents.defaults.repoRoot

Optional repository root shown in the system prompt's Runtime line. If unset, OpenClaw auto-detects by walking upward from the workspace.

{
  agents: { defaults: { repoRoot: "~/Projects/openclaw" } },
}

agents.defaults.skipBootstrap

Disables automatic creation of workspace bootstrap files (AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, IDENTITY.md, USER.md, HEARTBEAT.md, BOOTSTRAP.md).

{
  agents: { defaults: { skipBootstrap: true } },
}

agents.defaults.bootstrapMaxChars

Max characters per workspace bootstrap file before truncation. Default: 20000.

{
  agents: { defaults: { bootstrapMaxChars: 20000 } },
}

agents.defaults.bootstrapTotalMaxChars

Max total characters injected across all workspace bootstrap files. Default: 24000.

{
  agents: { defaults: { bootstrapTotalMaxChars: 24000 } },
}

agents.defaults.userTimezone

Timezone for system prompt context (not message timestamps). Falls back to host timezone.

{
  agents: { defaults: { userTimezone: "America/Chicago" } },
}

agents.defaults.timeFormat

Time format in system prompt. Default: auto (OS preference).

{
  agents: { defaults: { timeFormat: "auto" } }, // auto | 12 | 24
}

agents.defaults.model

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": { alias: "opus" },
        "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1": { alias: "minimax" },
      },
      model: {
        primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6",
        fallbacks: ["minimax/MiniMax-M2.1"],
      },
      imageModel: {
        primary: "openrouter/qwen/qwen-2.5-vl-72b-instruct:free",
        fallbacks: ["openrouter/google/gemini-2.0-flash-vision:free"],
      },
      thinkingDefault: "low",
      verboseDefault: "off",
      elevatedDefault: "on",
      timeoutSeconds: 600,
      mediaMaxMb: 5,
      contextTokens: 200000,
      maxConcurrent: 3,
    },
  },
}
  • model.primary: format provider/model (e.g. anthropic/claude-opus-4-6). If you omit the provider, OpenClaw assumes anthropic (deprecated).
  • models: the configured model catalog and allowlist for /model. Each entry can include alias (shortcut) and params (provider-specific: temperature, maxTokens).
  • imageModel: only used if the primary model lacks image input.
  • maxConcurrent: max parallel agent runs across sessions (each session still serialized). Default: 1.

Built-in alias shorthands (only apply when the model is in agents.defaults.models):

Alias Model
opus anthropic/claude-opus-4-6
sonnet anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5
gpt openai/gpt-5.2
gpt-mini openai/gpt-5-mini
gemini google/gemini-3-pro-preview
gemini-flash google/gemini-3-flash-preview

Your configured aliases always win over defaults.

Z.AI GLM-4.x models automatically enable thinking mode unless you set --thinking off or define agents.defaults.models["zai/<model>"].params.thinking yourself.

agents.defaults.cliBackends

Optional CLI backends for text-only fallback runs (no tool calls). Useful as a backup when API providers fail.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      cliBackends: {
        "claude-cli": {
          command: "/opt/homebrew/bin/claude",
        },
        "my-cli": {
          command: "my-cli",
          args: ["--json"],
          output: "json",
          modelArg: "--model",
          sessionArg: "--session",
          sessionMode: "existing",
          systemPromptArg: "--system",
          systemPromptWhen: "first",
          imageArg: "--image",
          imageMode: "repeat",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
  • CLI backends are text-first; tools are always disabled.
  • Sessions supported when sessionArg is set.
  • Image pass-through supported when imageArg accepts file paths.

agents.defaults.heartbeat

Periodic heartbeat runs.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      heartbeat: {
        every: "30m", // 0m disables
        model: "openai/gpt-5.2-mini",
        includeReasoning: false,
        session: "main",
        to: "+15555550123",
        target: "last", // last | whatsapp | telegram | discord | ... | none
        prompt: "Read HEARTBEAT.md if it exists...",
        ackMaxChars: 300,
      },
    },
  },
}
  • every: duration string (ms/s/m/h). Default: 30m.
  • Per-agent: set agents.list[].heartbeat. When any agent defines heartbeat, only those agents run heartbeats.
  • Heartbeats run full agent turns — shorter intervals burn more tokens.

agents.defaults.compaction

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      compaction: {
        mode: "safeguard", // default | safeguard
        reserveTokensFloor: 24000,
        memoryFlush: {
          enabled: true,
          softThresholdTokens: 6000,
          systemPrompt: "Session nearing compaction. Store durable memories now.",
          prompt: "Write any lasting notes to memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md; reply with NO_REPLY if nothing to store.",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
  • mode: default or safeguard (chunked summarization for long histories). See Compaction.
  • memoryFlush: silent agentic turn before auto-compaction to store durable memories. Skipped when workspace is read-only.

agents.defaults.contextPruning

Prunes old tool results from in-memory context before sending to the LLM. Does not modify session history on disk.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      contextPruning: {
        mode: "cache-ttl", // off | cache-ttl
        ttl: "1h", // duration (ms/s/m/h), default unit: minutes
        keepLastAssistants: 3,
        softTrimRatio: 0.3,
        hardClearRatio: 0.5,
        minPrunableToolChars: 50000,
        softTrim: { maxChars: 4000, headChars: 1500, tailChars: 1500 },
        hardClear: { enabled: true, placeholder: "[Old tool result content cleared]" },
        tools: { deny: ["browser", "canvas"] },
      },
    },
  },
}

  • mode: "cache-ttl" enables pruning passes.
  • ttl controls how often pruning can run again (after the last cache touch).
  • Pruning soft-trims oversized tool results first, then hard-clears older tool results if needed.

Soft-trim keeps beginning + end and inserts ... in the middle.

Hard-clear replaces the entire tool result with the placeholder.

Notes:

  • Image blocks are never trimmed/cleared.
  • Ratios are character-based (approximate), not exact token counts.
  • If fewer than keepLastAssistants assistant messages exist, pruning is skipped.

See Session Pruning for behavior details.

Block streaming

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      blockStreamingDefault: "off", // on | off
      blockStreamingBreak: "text_end", // text_end | message_end
      blockStreamingChunk: { minChars: 800, maxChars: 1200 },
      blockStreamingCoalesce: { idleMs: 1000 },
      humanDelay: { mode: "natural" }, // off | natural | custom (use minMs/maxMs)
    },
  },
}
  • Non-Telegram channels require explicit *.blockStreaming: true to enable block replies.
  • Channel overrides: channels.<channel>.blockStreamingCoalesce (and per-account variants). Signal/Slack/Discord/Google Chat default minChars: 1500.
  • humanDelay: randomized pause between block replies. natural = 800–2500ms. Per-agent override: agents.list[].humanDelay.

See Streaming for behavior + chunking details.

Typing indicators

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      typingMode: "instant", // never | instant | thinking | message
      typingIntervalSeconds: 6,
    },
  },
}
  • Defaults: instant for direct chats/mentions, message for unmentioned group chats.
  • Per-session overrides: session.typingMode, session.typingIntervalSeconds.

See Typing Indicators.

agents.defaults.sandbox

Optional Docker sandboxing for the embedded agent. See Sandboxing for the full guide.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      sandbox: {
        mode: "non-main", // off | non-main | all
        scope: "agent", // session | agent | shared
        workspaceAccess: "none", // none | ro | rw
        workspaceRoot: "~/.openclaw/sandboxes",
        docker: {
          image: "openclaw-sandbox:bookworm-slim",
          containerPrefix: "openclaw-sbx-",
          workdir: "/workspace",
          readOnlyRoot: true,
          tmpfs: ["/tmp", "/var/tmp", "/run"],
          network: "none",
          user: "1000:1000",
          capDrop: ["ALL"],
          env: { LANG: "C.UTF-8" },
          setupCommand: "apt-get update && apt-get install -y git curl jq",
          pidsLimit: 256,
          memory: "1g",
          memorySwap: "2g",
          cpus: 1,
          ulimits: {
            nofile: { soft: 1024, hard: 2048 },
            nproc: 256,
          },
          seccompProfile: "/path/to/seccomp.json",
          apparmorProfile: "openclaw-sandbox",
          dns: ["1.1.1.1", "8.8.8.8"],
          extraHosts: ["internal.service:10.0.0.5"],
          binds: ["/home/user/source:/source:rw"],
        },
        browser: {
          enabled: false,
          image: "openclaw-sandbox-browser:bookworm-slim",
          cdpPort: 9222,
          vncPort: 5900,
          noVncPort: 6080,
          headless: false,
          enableNoVnc: true,
          allowHostControl: false,
          autoStart: true,
          autoStartTimeoutMs: 12000,
        },
        prune: {
          idleHours: 24,
          maxAgeDays: 7,
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    sandbox: {
      tools: {
        allow: [
          "exec",
          "process",
          "read",
          "write",
          "edit",
          "apply_patch",
          "sessions_list",
          "sessions_history",
          "sessions_send",
          "sessions_spawn",
          "session_status",
        ],
        deny: ["browser", "canvas", "nodes", "cron", "discord", "gateway"],
      },
    },
  },
}

Workspace access:

  • none: per-scope sandbox workspace under ~/.openclaw/sandboxes
  • ro: sandbox workspace at /workspace, agent workspace mounted read-only at /agent
  • rw: agent workspace mounted read/write at /workspace

Scope:

  • session: per-session container + workspace
  • agent: one container + workspace per agent (default)
  • shared: shared container and workspace (no cross-session isolation)

setupCommand runs once after container creation (via sh -lc). Needs network egress, writable root, root user.

Containers default to network: "none" — set to "bridge" if the agent needs outbound access.

Inbound attachments are staged into media/inbound/* in the active workspace.

docker.binds mounts additional host directories; global and per-agent binds are merged.

Sandboxed browser (sandbox.browser.enabled): Chromium + CDP in a container. noVNC URL injected into system prompt. Does not require browser.enabled in main config.

  • allowHostControl: false (default) blocks sandboxed sessions from targeting the host browser.
  • sandbox.browser.binds mounts additional host directories into the sandbox browser container only. When set (including []), it replaces docker.binds for the browser container.

Build images:

scripts/sandbox-setup.sh           # main sandbox image
scripts/sandbox-browser-setup.sh   # optional browser image

agents.list (per-agent overrides)

{
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "main",
        default: true,
        name: "Main Agent",
        workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
        agentDir: "~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent",
        model: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6", // or { primary, fallbacks }
        identity: {
          name: "Samantha",
          theme: "helpful sloth",
          emoji: "🦥",
          avatar: "avatars/samantha.png",
        },
        groupChat: { mentionPatterns: ["@openclaw"] },
        sandbox: { mode: "off" },
        subagents: { allowAgents: ["*"] },
        tools: {
          profile: "coding",
          allow: ["browser"],
          deny: ["canvas"],
          elevated: { enabled: true },
        },
      },
    ],
  },
}
  • id: stable agent id (required).
  • default: when multiple are set, first wins (warning logged). If none set, first list entry is default.
  • model: string form overrides primary only; object form { primary, fallbacks } overrides both ([] disables global fallbacks).
  • identity.avatar: workspace-relative path, http(s) URL, or data: URI.
  • identity derives defaults: ackReaction from emoji, mentionPatterns from name/emoji.
  • subagents.allowAgents: allowlist of agent ids for sessions_spawn (["*"] = any; default: same agent only).

Multi-agent routing

Run multiple isolated agents inside one Gateway. See Multi-Agent.

{
  agents: {
    list: [
      { id: "home", default: true, workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace-home" },
      { id: "work", workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace-work" },
    ],
  },
  bindings: [
    { agentId: "home", match: { channel: "whatsapp", accountId: "personal" } },
    { agentId: "work", match: { channel: "whatsapp", accountId: "biz" } },
  ],
}

Binding match fields

  • match.channel (required)
  • match.accountId (optional; * = any account; omitted = default account)
  • match.peer (optional; { kind: direct|group|channel, id })
  • match.guildId / match.teamId (optional; channel-specific)

Deterministic match order:

  1. match.peer
  2. match.guildId
  3. match.teamId
  4. match.accountId (exact, no peer/guild/team)
  5. match.accountId: "*" (channel-wide)
  6. Default agent

Within each tier, the first matching bindings entry wins.

Per-agent access profiles

{
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "personal",
        workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace-personal",
        sandbox: { mode: "off" },
      },
    ],
  },
}


{
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "family",
        workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace-family",
        sandbox: { mode: "all", scope: "agent", workspaceAccess: "ro" },
        tools: {
          allow: [
            "read",
            "sessions_list",
            "sessions_history",
            "sessions_send",
            "sessions_spawn",
            "session_status",
          ],
          deny: ["write", "edit", "apply_patch", "exec", "process", "browser"],
        },
      },
    ],
  },
}


{
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "public",
        workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace-public",
        sandbox: { mode: "all", scope: "agent", workspaceAccess: "none" },
        tools: {
          allow: [
            "sessions_list",
            "sessions_history",
            "sessions_send",
            "sessions_spawn",
            "session_status",
            "whatsapp",
            "telegram",
            "slack",
            "discord",
            "gateway",
          ],
          deny: [
            "read",
            "write",
            "edit",
            "apply_patch",
            "exec",
            "process",
            "browser",
            "canvas",
            "nodes",
            "cron",
            "gateway",
            "image",
          ],
        },
      },
    ],
  },
}

See Multi-Agent Sandbox & Tools for precedence details.

Session

{
  session: {
    scope: "per-sender",
    dmScope: "main", // main | per-peer | per-channel-peer | per-account-channel-peer
    identityLinks: {
      alice: ["telegram:123456789", "discord:987654321012345678"],
    },
    reset: {
      mode: "daily", // daily | idle
      atHour: 4,
      idleMinutes: 60,
    },
    resetByType: {
      thread: { mode: "daily", atHour: 4 },
      direct: { mode: "idle", idleMinutes: 240 },
      group: { mode: "idle", idleMinutes: 120 },
    },
    resetTriggers: ["/new", "/reset"],
    store: "~/.openclaw/agents/{agentId}/sessions/sessions.json",
    maintenance: {
      mode: "warn", // warn | enforce
      pruneAfter: "30d",
      maxEntries: 500,
      rotateBytes: "10mb",
    },
    mainKey: "main", // legacy (runtime always uses "main")
    agentToAgent: { maxPingPongTurns: 5 },
    sendPolicy: {
      rules: [{ action: "deny", match: { channel: "discord", chatType: "group" } }],
      default: "allow",
    },
  },
}

  • dmScope: how DMs are grouped.
  • main: all DMs share the main session.
  • per-peer: isolate by sender id across channels.
  • per-channel-peer: isolate per channel + sender (recommended for multi-user inboxes).
  • per-account-channel-peer: isolate per account + channel + sender (recommended for multi-account).
  • identityLinks: map canonical ids to provider-prefixed peers for cross-channel session sharing.
  • reset: primary reset policy. daily resets at atHour local time; idle resets after idleMinutes. When both configured, whichever expires first wins.
  • resetByType: per-type overrides (direct, group, thread). Legacy dm accepted as alias for direct.
  • mainKey: legacy field. Runtime now always uses "main" for the main direct-chat bucket.
  • sendPolicy: match by channel, chatType (direct|group|channel, with legacy dm alias), keyPrefix, or rawKeyPrefix. First deny wins.
  • maintenance: warn warns the active session on eviction; enforce applies pruning and rotation.

Messages

{
  messages: {
    responsePrefix: "🦞", // or "auto"
    ackReaction: "👀",
    ackReactionScope: "group-mentions", // group-mentions | group-all | direct | all
    removeAckAfterReply: false,
    queue: {
      mode: "collect", // steer | followup | collect | steer-backlog | steer+backlog | queue | interrupt
      debounceMs: 1000,
      cap: 20,
      drop: "summarize", // old | new | summarize
      byChannel: {
        whatsapp: "collect",
        telegram: "collect",
      },
    },
    inbound: {
      debounceMs: 2000, // 0 disables
      byChannel: {
        whatsapp: 5000,
        slack: 1500,
      },
    },
  },
}

Response prefix

Per-channel/account overrides: channels.<channel>.responsePrefix, channels.<channel>.accounts.<id>.responsePrefix.

Resolution (most specific wins): account → channel → global. "" disables and stops cascade. "auto" derives [{identity.name}].

Template variables:

Variable Description Example
{model} Short model name claude-opus-4-6
{modelFull} Full model identifier anthropic/claude-opus-4-6
{provider} Provider name anthropic
{thinkingLevel} Current thinking level high, low, off
{identity.name} Agent identity name (same as "auto")

Variables are case-insensitive. {think} is an alias for {thinkingLevel}.

Ack reaction

  • Defaults to active agent's identity.emoji, otherwise "👀". Set "" to disable.
  • Per-channel overrides: channels.<channel>.ackReaction, channels.<channel>.accounts.<id>.ackReaction.
  • Resolution order: account → channel → messages.ackReaction → identity fallback.
  • Scope: group-mentions (default), group-all, direct, all.
  • removeAckAfterReply: removes ack after reply (Slack/Discord/Telegram/Google Chat only).

Inbound debounce

Batches rapid text-only messages from the same sender into a single agent turn. Media/attachments flush immediately. Control commands bypass debouncing.

TTS (text-to-speech)

{
  messages: {
    tts: {
      auto: "always", // off | always | inbound | tagged
      mode: "final", // final | all
      provider: "elevenlabs",
      summaryModel: "openai/gpt-4.1-mini",
      modelOverrides: { enabled: true },
      maxTextLength: 4000,
      timeoutMs: 30000,
      prefsPath: "~/.openclaw/settings/tts.json",
      elevenlabs: {
        apiKey: "elevenlabs_api_key",
        baseUrl: "https://api.elevenlabs.io",
        voiceId: "voice_id",
        modelId: "eleven_multilingual_v2",
        seed: 42,
        applyTextNormalization: "auto",
        languageCode: "en",
        voiceSettings: {
          stability: 0.5,
          similarityBoost: 0.75,
          style: 0.0,
          useSpeakerBoost: true,
          speed: 1.0,
        },
      },
      openai: {
        apiKey: "openai_api_key",
        model: "gpt-4o-mini-tts",
        voice: "alloy",
      },
    },
  },
}
  • auto controls auto-TTS. /tts off|always|inbound|tagged overrides per session.
  • summaryModel overrides agents.defaults.model.primary for auto-summary.
  • API keys fall back to ELEVENLABS_API_KEY/XI_API_KEY and OPENAI_API_KEY.

Talk

Defaults for Talk mode (macOS/iOS/Android).

{
  talk: {
    voiceId: "elevenlabs_voice_id",
    voiceAliases: {
      Clawd: "EXAVITQu4vr4xnSDxMaL",
      Roger: "CwhRBWXzGAHq8TQ4Fs17",
    },
    modelId: "eleven_v3",
    outputFormat: "mp3_44100_128",
    apiKey: "elevenlabs_api_key",
    interruptOnSpeech: true,
  },
}
  • Voice IDs fall back to ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID or SAG_VOICE_ID.
  • apiKey falls back to ELEVENLABS_API_KEY.
  • voiceAliases lets Talk directives use friendly names.

Tools

Tool profiles

tools.profile sets a base allowlist before tools.allow/tools.deny:

Profile Includes
minimal session_status only
coding group:fs, group:runtime, group:sessions, group:memory, image
messaging group:messaging, sessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send, session_status
full No restriction (same as unset)

Tool groups

Group Tools
group:runtime exec, process (bash is accepted as an alias for exec)
group:fs read, write, edit, apply_patch
group:sessions sessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send, sessions_spawn, session_status
group:memory memory_search, memory_get
group:web web_search, web_fetch
group:ui browser, canvas
group:automation cron, gateway
group:messaging message
group:nodes nodes
group:openclaw All built-in tools (excludes provider plugins)

tools.allow / tools.deny

Global tool allow/deny policy (deny wins). Case-insensitive, supports * wildcards. Applied even when Docker sandbox is off.

{
  tools: { deny: ["browser", "canvas"] },
}

tools.byProvider

Further restrict tools for specific providers or models. Order: base profile → provider profile → allow/deny.

{
  tools: {
    profile: "coding",
    byProvider: {
      "google-antigravity": { profile: "minimal" },
      "openai/gpt-5.2": { allow: ["group:fs", "sessions_list"] },
    },
  },
}

tools.elevated

Controls elevated (host) exec access:

{
  tools: {
    elevated: {
      enabled: true,
      allowFrom: {
        whatsapp: ["+15555550123"],
        discord: ["steipete", "1234567890123"],
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Per-agent override (agents.list[].tools.elevated) can only further restrict.
  • /elevated on|off|ask|full stores state per session; inline directives apply to single message.
  • Elevated exec runs on the host, bypasses sandboxing.

tools.exec

{
  tools: {
    exec: {
      backgroundMs: 10000,
      timeoutSec: 1800,
      cleanupMs: 1800000,
      notifyOnExit: true,
      notifyOnExitEmptySuccess: false,
      applyPatch: {
        enabled: false,
        allowModels: ["gpt-5.2"],
      },
    },
  },
}

tools.web

{
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        enabled: true,
        apiKey: "brave_api_key", // or BRAVE_API_KEY env
        maxResults: 5,
        timeoutSeconds: 30,
        cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
      },
      fetch: {
        enabled: true,
        maxChars: 50000,
        maxCharsCap: 50000,
        timeoutSeconds: 30,
        cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
        userAgent: "custom-ua",
      },
    },
  },
}

tools.media

Configures inbound media understanding (image/audio/video):

{
  tools: {
    media: {
      concurrency: 2,
      audio: {
        enabled: true,
        maxBytes: 20971520,
        scope: {
          default: "deny",
          rules: [{ action: "allow", match: { chatType: "direct" } }],
        },
        models: [
          { provider: "openai", model: "gpt-4o-mini-transcribe" },
          { type: "cli", command: "whisper", args: ["--model", "base", "{{MediaPath}}"] },
        ],
      },
      video: {
        enabled: true,
        maxBytes: 52428800,
        models: [{ provider: "google", model: "gemini-3-flash-preview" }],
      },
    },
  },
}

Provider entry (type: "provider" or omitted):

  • provider: API provider id (openai, anthropic, google/gemini, groq, etc.)
  • model: model id override
  • profile / preferredProfile: auth profile selection

CLI entry (type: "cli"):

  • command: executable to run
  • args: templated args (supports {{MediaPath}}, {{Prompt}}, {{MaxChars}}, etc.)

Common fields:

  • capabilities: optional list (image, audio, video). Defaults: openai/anthropic/minimax → image, google → image+audio+video, groq → audio.
  • prompt, maxChars, maxBytes, timeoutSeconds, language: per-entry overrides.
  • Failures fall back to the next entry.

Provider auth follows standard order: auth profiles → env vars → models.providers.*.apiKey.

tools.agentToAgent

{
  tools: {
    agentToAgent: {
      enabled: false,
      allow: ["home", "work"],
    },
  },
}

tools.subagents

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      subagents: {
        model: "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1",
        maxConcurrent: 1,
        archiveAfterMinutes: 60,
      },
    },
  },
}
  • model: default model for spawned sub-agents. If omitted, sub-agents inherit the caller's model.
  • Per-subagent tool policy: tools.subagents.tools.allow / tools.subagents.tools.deny.

Custom providers and base URLs

OpenClaw uses the pi-coding-agent model catalog. Add custom providers via models.providers in config or ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/models.json.

{
  models: {
    mode: "merge", // merge (default) | replace
    providers: {
      "custom-proxy": {
        baseUrl: "http://localhost:4000/v1",
        apiKey: "LITELLM_KEY",
        api: "openai-completions", // openai-completions | openai-responses | anthropic-messages | google-generative-ai
        models: [
          {
            id: "llama-3.1-8b",
            name: "Llama 3.1 8B",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 128000,
            maxTokens: 32000,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Use authHeader: true + headers for custom auth needs.
  • Override agent config root with OPENCLAW_AGENT_DIR (or PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR).

Provider examples

{
  env: { CEREBRAS_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary: "cerebras/zai-glm-4.7",
        fallbacks: ["cerebras/zai-glm-4.6"],
      },
      models: {
        "cerebras/zai-glm-4.7": { alias: "GLM 4.7 (Cerebras)" },
        "cerebras/zai-glm-4.6": { alias: "GLM 4.6 (Cerebras)" },
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      cerebras: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.cerebras.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${CEREBRAS_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          { id: "zai-glm-4.7", name: "GLM 4.7 (Cerebras)" },
          { id: "zai-glm-4.6", name: "GLM 4.6 (Cerebras)" },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

Use cerebras/zai-glm-4.7 for Cerebras; zai/glm-4.7 for Z.AI direct.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "opencode/claude-opus-4-6" },
      models: { "opencode/claude-opus-4-6": { alias: "Opus" } },
    },
  },
}

Set OPENCODE_API_KEY (or OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY). Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice opencode-zen.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "zai/glm-4.7" },
      models: { "zai/glm-4.7": {} },
    },
  },
}

Set ZAI_API_KEY. z.ai/* and z-ai/* are accepted aliases. Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice zai-api-key.

  • General endpoint: https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4
  • Coding endpoint (default): https://api.z.ai/api/coding/paas/v4
  • For the general endpoint, define a custom provider with the base URL override.

{
  env: { MOONSHOT_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "moonshot/kimi-k2.5" },
      models: { "moonshot/kimi-k2.5": { alias: "Kimi K2.5" } },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      moonshot: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.moonshot.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${MOONSHOT_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          {
            id: "kimi-k2.5",
            name: "Kimi K2.5",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 256000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

For the China endpoint: baseUrl: "https://api.moonshot.cn/v1" or openclaw onboard --auth-choice moonshot-api-key-cn.

{
  env: { KIMI_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "kimi-coding/k2p5" },
      models: { "kimi-coding/k2p5": { alias: "Kimi K2.5" } },
    },
  },
}

Anthropic-compatible, built-in provider. Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice kimi-code-api-key.

{
  env: { SYNTHETIC_API_KEY: "sk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "synthetic/hf:MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.1" },
      models: { "synthetic/hf:MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.1": { alias: "MiniMax M2.1" } },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      synthetic: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.synthetic.new/anthropic",
        apiKey: "${SYNTHETIC_API_KEY}",
        api: "anthropic-messages",
        models: [
          {
            id: "hf:MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.1",
            name: "MiniMax M2.1",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
            contextWindow: 192000,
            maxTokens: 65536,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

Base URL should omit /v1 (Anthropic client appends it). Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice synthetic-api-key.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1" },
      models: {
        "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1": { alias: "Minimax" },
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      minimax: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.minimax.io/anthropic",
        apiKey: "${MINIMAX_API_KEY}",
        api: "anthropic-messages",
        models: [
          {
            id: "MiniMax-M2.1",
            name: "MiniMax M2.1",
            reasoning: false,
            input: ["text"],
            cost: { input: 15, output: 60, cacheRead: 2, cacheWrite: 10 },
            contextWindow: 200000,
            maxTokens: 8192,
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

Set MINIMAX_API_KEY. Shortcut: openclaw onboard --auth-choice minimax-api.

See Local Models. TL;DR: run MiniMax M2.1 via LM Studio Responses API on serious hardware; keep hosted models merged for fallback.

Skills

{
  skills: {
    allowBundled: ["gemini", "peekaboo"],
    load: {
      extraDirs: ["~/Projects/agent-scripts/skills"],
    },
    install: {
      preferBrew: true,
      nodeManager: "npm", // npm | pnpm | yarn
    },
    entries: {
      "nano-banana-pro": {
        apiKey: "GEMINI_KEY_HERE",
        env: { GEMINI_API_KEY: "GEMINI_KEY_HERE" },
      },
      peekaboo: { enabled: true },
      sag: { enabled: false },
    },
  },
}
  • allowBundled: optional allowlist for bundled skills only (managed/workspace skills unaffected).
  • entries.<skillKey>.enabled: false disables a skill even if bundled/installed.
  • entries.<skillKey>.apiKey: convenience for skills declaring a primary env var.

Plugins

{
  plugins: {
    enabled: true,
    allow: ["voice-call"],
    deny: [],
    load: {
      paths: ["~/Projects/oss/voice-call-extension"],
    },
    entries: {
      "voice-call": {
        enabled: true,
        config: { provider: "twilio" },
      },
    },
  },
}
  • Loaded from ~/.openclaw/extensions, <workspace>/.openclaw/extensions, plus plugins.load.paths.
  • Config changes require a gateway restart.
  • allow: optional allowlist (only listed plugins load). deny wins.

See Plugins.

Browser

{
  browser: {
    enabled: true,
    evaluateEnabled: true,
    defaultProfile: "chrome",
    profiles: {
      openclaw: { cdpPort: 18800, color: "#FF4500" },
      work: { cdpPort: 18801, color: "#0066CC" },
      remote: { cdpUrl: "http://10.0.0.42:9222", color: "#00AA00" },
    },
    color: "#FF4500",
    // headless: false,
    // noSandbox: false,
    // executablePath: "/Applications/Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser",
    // attachOnly: false,
  },
}
  • evaluateEnabled: false disables act:evaluate and wait --fn.
  • Remote profiles are attach-only (start/stop/reset disabled).
  • Auto-detect order: default browser if Chromium-based → Chrome → Brave → Edge → Chromium → Chrome Canary.
  • Control service: loopback only (port derived from gateway.port, default 18791).

UI

{
  ui: {
    seamColor: "#FF4500",
    assistant: {
      name: "OpenClaw",
      avatar: "CB", // emoji, short text, image URL, or data URI
    },
  },
}
  • seamColor: accent color for native app UI chrome (Talk Mode bubble tint, etc.).
  • assistant: Control UI identity override. Falls back to active agent identity.

Gateway

{
  gateway: {
    mode: "local", // local | remote
    port: 18789,
    bind: "loopback",
    auth: {
      mode: "token", // token | password | trusted-proxy
      token: "your-token",
      // password: "your-password", // or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD
      // trustedProxy: { userHeader: "x-forwarded-user" }, // for mode=trusted-proxy; see /gateway/trusted-proxy-auth
      allowTailscale: true,
      rateLimit: {
        maxAttempts: 10,
        windowMs: 60000,
        lockoutMs: 300000,
        exemptLoopback: true,
      },
    },
    tailscale: {
      mode: "off", // off | serve | funnel
      resetOnExit: false,
    },
    controlUi: {
      enabled: true,
      basePath: "/openclaw",
      // root: "dist/control-ui",
      // allowInsecureAuth: false,
      // dangerouslyDisableDeviceAuth: false,
    },
    remote: {
      url: "ws://gateway.tailnet:18789",
      transport: "ssh", // ssh | direct
      token: "your-token",
      // password: "your-password",
    },
    trustedProxies: ["10.0.0.1"],
    tools: {
      // Additional /tools/invoke HTTP denies
      deny: ["browser"],
      // Remove tools from the default HTTP deny list
      allow: ["gateway"],
    },
  },
}

  • mode: local (run gateway) or remote (connect to remote gateway). Gateway refuses to start unless local.
  • port: single multiplexed port for WS + HTTP. Precedence: --port > OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT > gateway.port > 18789.
  • bind: auto, loopback (default), lan (0.0.0.0), tailnet (Tailscale IP only), or custom.
  • Auth: required by default. Non-loopback binds require a shared token/password. Onboarding wizard generates a token by default.
  • auth.mode: "trusted-proxy": delegate auth to an identity-aware reverse proxy and trust identity headers from gateway.trustedProxies (see Trusted Proxy Auth).
  • auth.allowTailscale: when true, Tailscale Serve identity headers satisfy auth (verified via tailscale whois). Defaults to true when tailscale.mode = "serve".
  • auth.rateLimit: optional failed-auth limiter. Applies per client IP and per auth scope (shared-secret and device-token are tracked independently). Blocked attempts return 429 + Retry-After.
  • auth.rateLimit.exemptLoopback defaults to true; set false when you intentionally want localhost traffic rate-limited too (for test setups or strict proxy deployments).
  • tailscale.mode: serve (tailnet only, loopback bind) or funnel (public, requires auth).
  • remote.transport: ssh (default) or direct (ws/wss). For direct, remote.url must be ws:// or wss://.
  • gateway.remote.token is for remote CLI calls only; does not enable local gateway auth.
  • trustedProxies: reverse proxy IPs that terminate TLS. Only list proxies you control.
  • gateway.tools.deny: extra tool names blocked for HTTP POST /tools/invoke (extends default deny list).
  • gateway.tools.allow: remove tool names from the default HTTP deny list.

OpenAI-compatible endpoints

  • Chat Completions: disabled by default. Enable with gateway.http.endpoints.chatCompletions.enabled: true.
  • Responses API: gateway.http.endpoints.responses.enabled.
  • Responses URL-input hardening:
  • gateway.http.endpoints.responses.maxUrlParts
  • gateway.http.endpoints.responses.files.urlAllowlist
  • gateway.http.endpoints.responses.images.urlAllowlist

Multi-instance isolation

Run multiple gateways on one host with unique ports and state dirs:

OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH=~/.openclaw/a.json \
OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR=~/.openclaw-a \
openclaw gateway --port 19001

Convenience flags: --dev (uses ~/.openclaw-dev + port 19001), --profile <name> (uses ~/.openclaw-<name>).

See Multiple Gateways.

Hooks

{
  hooks: {
    enabled: true,
    token: "shared-secret",
    path: "/hooks",
    maxBodyBytes: 262144,
    defaultSessionKey: "hook:ingress",
    allowRequestSessionKey: false,
    allowedSessionKeyPrefixes: ["hook:"],
    allowedAgentIds: ["hooks", "main"],
    presets: ["gmail"],
    transformsDir: "~/.openclaw/hooks/transforms",
    mappings: [
      {
        match: { path: "gmail" },
        action: "agent",
        agentId: "hooks",
        wakeMode: "now",
        name: "Gmail",
        sessionKey: "hook:gmail:{{messages[0].id}}",
        messageTemplate: "From: {{messages[0].from}}\nSubject: {{messages[0].subject}}\n{{messages[0].snippet}}",
        deliver: true,
        channel: "last",
        model: "openai/gpt-5.2-mini",
      },
    ],
  },
}

Auth: Authorization: Bearer <token> or x-openclaw-token: <token>.

Endpoints:

  • POST /hooks/wake → { text, mode?: "now"|"next-heartbeat" }
  • POST /hooks/agent → { message, name?, agentId?, sessionKey?, wakeMode?, deliver?, channel?, to?, model?, thinking?, timeoutSeconds? }
  • sessionKey from request payload is accepted only when hooks.allowRequestSessionKey=true (default: false).
  • POST /hooks/<name> → resolved via hooks.mappings

  • match.path matches sub-path after /hooks (e.g. /hooks/gmail → gmail).
  • match.source matches a payload field for generic paths.
  • Templates like {{messages[0].subject}} read from the payload.
  • transform can point to a JS/TS module returning a hook action.
  • transform.module must be a relative path and stays within hooks.transformsDir (absolute paths and traversal are rejected).
  • agentId routes to a specific agent; unknown IDs fall back to default.
  • allowedAgentIds: restricts explicit routing (* or omitted = allow all, [] = deny all).
  • defaultSessionKey: optional fixed session key for hook agent runs without explicit sessionKey.
  • allowRequestSessionKey: allow /hooks/agent callers to set sessionKey (default: false).
  • allowedSessionKeyPrefixes: optional prefix allowlist for explicit sessionKey values (request + mapping), e.g. ["hook:"].
  • deliver: true sends final reply to a channel; channel defaults to last.
  • model overrides LLM for this hook run (must be allowed if model catalog is set).

Gmail integration

{
  hooks: {
    gmail: {
      account: "[email protected]",
      topic: "projects/<project-id>/topics/gog-gmail-watch",
      subscription: "gog-gmail-watch-push",
      pushToken: "shared-push-token",
      hookUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:18789/hooks/gmail",
      includeBody: true,
      maxBytes: 20000,
      renewEveryMinutes: 720,
      serve: { bind: "127.0.0.1", port: 8788, path: "/" },
      tailscale: { mode: "funnel", path: "/gmail-pubsub" },
      model: "openrouter/meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free",
      thinking: "off",
    },
  },
}
  • Gateway auto-starts gog gmail watch serve on boot when configured. Set OPENCLAW_SKIP_GMAIL_WATCHER=1 to disable.
  • Don't run a separate gog gmail watch serve alongside the Gateway.

Canvas host

{
  canvasHost: {
    root: "~/.openclaw/workspace/canvas",
    liveReload: true,
    // enabled: false, // or OPENCLAW_SKIP_CANVAS_HOST=1
  },
}
  • Serves agent-editable HTML/CSS/JS and A2UI over HTTP under the Gateway port:
  • http://<gateway-host>:<gateway.port>/__openclaw__/canvas/
  • http://<gateway-host>:<gateway.port>/__openclaw__/a2ui/
  • Local-only: keep gateway.bind: "loopback" (default).
  • Non-loopback binds: canvas routes require Gateway auth (token/password/trusted-proxy), same as other Gateway HTTP surfaces.
  • Node WebViews typically don't send auth headers; after a node is paired and connected, the Gateway allows a private-IP fallback so the node can load canvas/A2UI without leaking secrets into URLs.
  • Injects live-reload client into served HTML.
  • Auto-creates starter index.html when empty.
  • Also serves A2UI at /__openclaw__/a2ui/.
  • Changes require a gateway restart.
  • Disable live reload for large directories or EMFILE errors.

Discovery

mDNS (Bonjour)

{
  discovery: {
    mdns: {
      mode: "minimal", // minimal | full | off
    },
  },
}
  • minimal (default): omit cliPath + sshPort from TXT records.
  • full: include cliPath + sshPort.
  • Hostname defaults to openclaw. Override with OPENCLAW_MDNS_HOSTNAME.

Wide-area (DNS-SD)

{
  discovery: {
    wideArea: { enabled: true },
  },
}

Writes a unicast DNS-SD zone under ~/.openclaw/dns/. For cross-network discovery, pair with a DNS server (CoreDNS recommended) + Tailscale split DNS.

Setup: openclaw dns setup --apply.

Environment

env (inline env vars)

{
  env: {
    OPENROUTER_API_KEY: "sk-or-...",
    vars: {
      GROQ_API_KEY: "gsk-...",
    },
    shellEnv: {
      enabled: true,
      timeoutMs: 15000,
    },
  },
}
  • Inline env vars are only applied if the process env is missing the key.
  • .env files: CWD .env + ~/.openclaw/.env (neither overrides existing vars).
  • shellEnv: imports missing expected keys from your login shell profile.
  • See Environment for full precedence.

Env var substitution

Reference env vars in any config string with ${VAR_NAME}:

{
  gateway: {
    auth: { token: "${OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN}" },
  },
}
  • Only uppercase names matched: [A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*.
  • Missing/empty vars throw an error at config load.
  • Escape with $${VAR} for a literal ${VAR}.
  • Works with $include.

Auth storage

{
  auth: {
    profiles: {
      "anthropic:[email protected]": { provider: "anthropic", mode: "oauth", email: "[email protected]" },
      "anthropic:work": { provider: "anthropic", mode: "api_key" },
    },
    order: {
      anthropic: ["anthropic:[email protected]", "anthropic:work"],
    },
  },
}
  • Per-agent auth profiles stored at <agentDir>/auth-profiles.json.
  • Legacy OAuth imports from ~/.openclaw/credentials/oauth.json.
  • See OAuth.

Logging

{
  logging: {
    level: "info",
    file: "/tmp/openclaw/openclaw.log",
    consoleLevel: "info",
    consoleStyle: "pretty", // pretty | compact | json
    redactSensitive: "tools", // off | tools
    redactPatterns: ["\\bTOKEN\\b\\s*[=:]\\s*([\"']?)([^\\s\"']+)\\1"],
  },
}
  • Default log file: /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-YYYY-MM-DD.log.
  • Set logging.file for a stable path.
  • consoleLevel bumps to debug when --verbose.

Wizard

Metadata written by CLI wizards (onboard, configure, doctor):

{
  wizard: {
    lastRunAt: "2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
    lastRunVersion: "2026.1.4",
    lastRunCommit: "abc1234",
    lastRunCommand: "configure",
    lastRunMode: "local",
  },
}

Identity

{
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "main",
        identity: {
          name: "Samantha",
          theme: "helpful sloth",
          emoji: "🦥",
          avatar: "avatars/samantha.png",
        },
      },
    ],
  },
}

Written by the macOS onboarding assistant. Derives defaults:

  • messages.ackReaction from identity.emoji (falls back to 👀)
  • mentionPatterns from identity.name/identity.emoji
  • avatar accepts: workspace-relative path, http(s) URL, or data: URI

Bridge (legacy, removed)

Current builds no longer include the TCP bridge. Nodes connect over the Gateway WebSocket. bridge.* keys are no longer part of the config schema (validation fails until removed; openclaw doctor --fix can strip unknown keys).

{
  "bridge": {
    "enabled": true,
    "port": 18790,
    "bind": "tailnet",
    "tls": {
      "enabled": true,
      "autoGenerate": true
    }
  }
}

Cron

{
  cron: {
    enabled: true,
    maxConcurrentRuns: 2,
    sessionRetention: "24h", // duration string or false
  },
}
  • sessionRetention: how long to keep completed cron sessions before pruning. Default: 24h.

See Cron Jobs.

Media model template variables

Template placeholders expanded in tools.media.*.models[].args:

Variable Description
{{Body}} Full inbound message body
{{RawBody}} Raw body (no history/sender wrappers)
{{BodyStripped}} Body with group mentions stripped
{{From}} Sender identifier
{{To}} Destination identifier
{{MessageSid}} Channel message id
{{SessionId}} Current session UUID
{{IsNewSession}} "true" when new session created
{{MediaUrl}} Inbound media pseudo-URL
{{MediaPath}} Local media path
{{MediaType}} Media type (image/audio/document/…)
{{Transcript}} Audio transcript
{{Prompt}} Resolved media prompt for CLI entries
{{MaxChars}} Resolved max output chars for CLI entries
{{ChatType}} "direct" or "group"
{{GroupSubject}} Group subject (best effort)
{{GroupMembers}} Group members preview (best effort)
{{SenderName}} Sender display name (best effort)
{{SenderE164}} Sender phone number (best effort)
{{Provider}} Provider hint (whatsapp, telegram, discord, etc.)

Config includes ($include)

Split config into multiple files:

// ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
{
  gateway: { port: 18789 },
  agents: { $include: "./agents.json5" },
  broadcast: {
    $include: ["./clients/mueller.json5", "./clients/schmidt.json5"],
  },
}

Merge behavior:

  • Single file: replaces the containing object.
  • Array of files: deep-merged in order (later overrides earlier).
  • Sibling keys: merged after includes (override included values).
  • Nested includes: up to 10 levels deep.
  • Paths: relative (to the including file), absolute, or ../ parent references.
  • Errors: clear messages for missing files, parse errors, and circular includes.

Related: Configuration · Configuration Examples · Doctor