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Guides

CLI setup reference

This page covers step-by-step onboarding behavior, outputs, and internals. For a walkthrough, see Onboarding (CLI). For the full CLI flag reference (every --flag, non-interactive examples, provider-specific commands), see openclaw onboard.

What the wizard does

Local mode (default) walks you through:

  • Model and auth setup (Anthropic, OpenAI Code subscription OAuth, xAI, OpenCode, custom endpoints, and more provider-owned auth flows)
  • Workspace location and bootstrap files
  • Gateway settings (port, bind, auth, Tailscale)
  • Channels and providers (Discord, Feishu, Google Chat, iMessage, Mattermost, Microsoft Teams, QQ Bot, Signal, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, and other bundled or plugin channels)
  • Web search provider (optional)
  • Daemon install (LaunchAgent, systemd user unit, or native Windows Scheduled Task with Startup-folder fallback)
  • Health check
  • Skills setup

Remote mode configures this machine to connect to a Gateway elsewhere. It does not install or modify anything on the remote host.

Local flow details

  • Existing config detection

    • If ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json exists, choose Keep current values, Review and update, or Reset before setup.
    • Re-running the wizard does not wipe anything unless you explicitly choose Reset (or pass --reset).
    • CLI --reset defaults to config+creds+sessions; use --reset-scope full to also remove the workspace.
    • If config is invalid or contains legacy keys, the wizard stops and asks you to run openclaw doctor before continuing.
    • Reset moves state to Trash (never deletes directly) and offers scopes:
      • Config only
      • Config + credentials + sessions
      • Full reset (also removes the workspace)

  • Model and auth

  • Workspace

    • Default ~/.openclaw/workspace (configurable).
    • Seeds workspace files needed for first-run bootstrap.
    • Workspace layout: Agent workspace.

  • Gateway

    • Prompts for port, bind, auth mode, and Tailscale exposure.
    • Recommended: keep token auth enabled even for loopback so local WS clients must authenticate.
    • In token mode, interactive setup offers:
      • Generate/store plaintext token (default)
      • Use SecretRef (opt-in)
    • In password mode, interactive setup also supports plaintext or SecretRef storage.
    • Non-interactive token SecretRef path: --gateway-token-ref-env <ENV_VAR>.
      • Requires a non-empty env var in the onboarding process environment.
      • Cannot be combined with --gateway-token.
    • Disable auth only if you fully trust every local process.
    • Non-loopback binds still require auth.

  • Channels

    • WhatsApp: optional QR login
    • Telegram: bot token
    • Discord: bot token
    • Google Chat: service account JSON + webhook audience
    • Mattermost: bot token + base URL
    • Signal: optional signal-cli install + account config
    • iMessage: imsg CLI path + Messages DB access; use an SSH wrapper when the Gateway runs off-Mac
    • DM security: default is pairing. First DM sends a code; approve via openclaw pairing approve <channel> <code> or use allowlists.

  • Web search

    • Pick a provider (Brave, DuckDuckGo, Exa, Firecrawl, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, MiniMax Search, Ollama Web Search, Perplexity, SearXNG, Tavily) or skip.
    • Skip this step with --skip-search; reconfigure later with openclaw configure --section web.

  • Daemon install

    • macOS: LaunchAgent
      • Requires logged-in user session; for headless, use a custom LaunchDaemon (not shipped).
    • Linux and Windows via WSL2: systemd user unit
      • Wizard attempts loginctl enable-linger <user> so gateway stays up after logout.
      • May prompt for sudo (writes /var/lib/systemd/linger); it tries without sudo first.
    • Native Windows: Scheduled Task first
      • If task creation is denied, OpenClaw falls back to a per-user Startup-folder login item and starts the gateway immediately.
      • Scheduled Tasks remain preferred because they provide better supervisor status.
    • Runtime selection: Node is required because OpenClaw's canonical runtime state store uses node:sqlite.

  • Health check

    • Starts gateway (if needed) and runs openclaw health.
    • openclaw status --deep adds the live gateway health probe to status output, including channel probes when supported.

  • Skills

    • Reads available skills and checks requirements.
    • Lets you choose node manager: npm, pnpm, or bun.
    • Installs optional dependencies for trusted bundled skills when the required installer is available.
    • Skips unavailable Homebrew, uv, and Go installers, then groups the affected skills with manual setup guidance. Run openclaw doctor after installing the missing prerequisites.

  • Finish

    • Summary and next steps, including iOS, Android, and macOS app options.

    • Remote mode details

    Remote mode configures this machine to connect to a Gateway elsewhere. It does not install or modify anything on the remote host.

    What you set:

    • Remote gateway URL (ws://... or wss://...)
    • Token, password, or no auth, matching the remote Gateway's configuration

  • Discovery (optional)

    If dns-sd (macOS) or avahi-browse (Linux) is available, onboarding offers to search for Bonjour/mDNS gateway beacons before falling back to manual URL entry. Wide-area DNS-SD discovery is also attempted when configured. Docs: Gateway discovery, Bonjour.

  • Connection method

    When a beacon is selected, choose direct WebSocket or an SSH tunnel:

    • Direct: connects over wss:// and prompts to trust the discovered TLS fingerprint (trust-on-first-use pinning; only pinned if you accept).
    • SSH tunnel: prints an ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 <user>@<host> command to run first, then connects to the local tunnel endpoint.

  • Auth

    Choose token (recommended), password, or no auth, then optionally store it as a SecretRef instead of plaintext.

    • Auth and model options

    If a provider setup step fails in interactive onboarding (for example a CLI reuse option without a local sign-in), the wizard shows the error and returns to the provider picker instead of exiting. Explicit --auth-choice runs still fail fast for automation.

    Anthropic API key

    Uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY if present or prompts for a key, then saves it for daemon use.

    Anthropic Claude CLI

    Preferred local path in interactive onboarding/configure; reuses an existing Claude CLI sign-in when available.

    OpenAI Code subscription (OAuth)

    Browser flow; paste code#state.

    On a fresh setup with no primary model, sets agents.defaults.model to openai/gpt-5.6-sol through the Codex runtime.

    OpenAI Code subscription (device pairing)

    Browser pairing flow with a short-lived device code.

    On a fresh setup with no primary model, sets agents.defaults.model to openai/gpt-5.6-sol through the Codex runtime.

    OpenAI API key

    Uses OPENAI_API_KEY if present or prompts for a key, then stores the credential in auth profiles.

    On a fresh setup with no primary model, sets agents.defaults.model to openai/gpt-5.6; the bare direct-API model id resolves to the Sol tier.

    Adding or reauthenticating OpenAI preserves an existing explicit primary model, including openai/gpt-5.5. If the account does not expose GPT-5.6, select openai/gpt-5.5 explicitly; OpenClaw does not silently downgrade it.

    xAI (Grok) OAuth

    Browser sign-in for eligible SuperGrok or X Premium accounts. This is the recommended xAI path for most users. OpenClaw stores the resulting auth profile for Grok models, Grok web_search, x_search, and code_execution.

    xAI (Grok) device code

    Remote-friendly browser sign-in with a short code instead of a localhost callback. Use this from SSH, Docker, or VPS hosts.

    xAI (Grok) API key

    Prompts for XAI_API_KEY and configures xAI as a model provider. Use this when you want an xAI Console API key instead of subscription OAuth.

    OpenCode

    Prompts for OPENCODE_API_KEY (or OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY) and lets you choose the Zen or Go catalog (one API key covers both). Setup URL: opencode.ai/auth.

    API key (generic)

    Stores the key for you.

    Vercel AI Gateway

    Prompts for AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY. More detail: Vercel AI Gateway.

    Cloudflare AI Gateway

    Prompts for account ID, gateway ID, and CLOUDFLARE_AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY. More detail: Cloudflare AI Gateway.

    MiniMax

    Config is auto-written. Hosted default is MiniMax-M3; API-key setup uses minimax/..., and OAuth setup uses minimax-portal/.... More detail: MiniMax.

    StepFun

    Config is auto-written for StepFun standard or Step Plan on China or global endpoints. Standard currently includes step-3.5-flash, and Step Plan also includes step-3.5-flash-2603. More detail: StepFun.

    Synthetic (Anthropic-compatible)

    Prompts for SYNTHETIC_API_KEY. More detail: Synthetic.

    Ollama (Cloud and local open models)

    Prompts for Cloud + Local, Cloud only, or Local only first. Cloud only uses OLLAMA_API_KEY with https://ollama.com. The host-backed modes prompt for base URL (default http://127.0.0.1:11434), discover available models, and suggest defaults. Cloud + Local also checks whether that Ollama host is signed in for cloud access. More detail: Ollama.

    Moonshot and Kimi Coding

    Moonshot (Kimi K2) and Kimi Coding configs are auto-written. More detail: Moonshot AI (Kimi + Kimi Coding).

    Custom provider

    Works with OpenAI-compatible, OpenAI Responses-compatible, and Anthropic-compatible endpoints.

    Interactive onboarding supports the same API key storage choices as other provider API key flows:

    • Paste API key now (plaintext)
    • Use secret reference (env ref or configured provider ref, with preflight validation)

    Onboarding infers image support for common vision model IDs (GPT-4o/4.1/5.x, Claude 3/4, Gemini, Qwen-VL, LLaVA, Pixtral, and similar) and only asks when the model name is unknown.

    Non-interactive flags:

    • --auth-choice custom-api-key
    • --custom-base-url
    • --custom-model-id
    • --custom-api-key (optional; falls back to CUSTOM_API_KEY)
    • --custom-provider-id (optional)
    • --custom-compatibility <openai|openai-responses|anthropic> (optional; default openai)
    • --custom-image-input / --custom-text-input (optional; override inferred model input capability)
    Skip

    Leaves auth unconfigured.

    Model behavior:

    • Pick default model from detected options, or enter provider and model manually.
    • When onboarding starts from a provider auth choice, the model picker prefers that provider automatically. For Volcengine and BytePlus, the same preference also matches their coding-plan variants (volcengine-plan/*, byteplus-plan/*).
    • If that preferred-provider filter would be empty, the picker falls back to the full catalog instead of showing no models.
    • Wizard runs a model check and warns if the configured model is unknown or missing auth.

    Credential and profile paths:

    • Auth profiles (API keys + OAuth): ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json
    • Legacy OAuth import: ~/.openclaw/credentials/oauth.json

    Credential storage mode:

    • Default onboarding behavior persists API keys as plaintext values in auth profiles.
    • --secret-input-mode ref enables reference mode instead of plaintext key storage. In interactive setup, you can choose either:
      • environment variable ref (for example keyRef: { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "OPENAI_API_KEY" })
      • configured provider ref (file or exec) with provider alias + id
    • Interactive reference mode runs a fast preflight validation before saving.
      • Env refs: validates variable name + non-empty value in the current onboarding environment.
      • Provider refs: validates provider config and resolves the requested id.
      • If preflight fails, onboarding shows the error and lets you retry.
    • In non-interactive mode, --secret-input-mode ref is env-backed only.
      • Set the provider env var in the onboarding process environment.
      • Inline key flags (for example --openai-api-key) require that env var to be set; otherwise onboarding fails fast.
      • For custom providers, non-interactive ref mode stores models.providers.<id>.apiKey as { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "CUSTOM_API_KEY" }.
      • In that custom-provider case, --custom-api-key requires CUSTOM_API_KEY to be set; otherwise onboarding fails fast.
    • Gateway auth credentials support plaintext and SecretRef choices in interactive setup:
      • Token mode: Generate/store plaintext token (default) or Use SecretRef.
      • Password mode: plaintext or SecretRef.
    • Non-interactive token SecretRef path: --gateway-token-ref-env &lt;ENV_VAR&gt;.
    • Existing plaintext setups continue to work unchanged.

    Outputs and internals

    Typical fields in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

    • agents.defaults.workspace
    • agents.defaults.skipBootstrap when --skip-bootstrap is passed
    • agents.defaults.model / models.providers (if Minimax chosen)
    • tools.profile (local onboarding defaults to "coding" when unset; existing explicit values are preserved)
    • gateway.* (mode, bind, auth, tailscale)
    • session.dmScope (local onboarding defaults this to per-channel-peer when unset; existing explicit values are preserved)
    • channels.telegram.botToken, channels.discord.token, channels.matrix.*, channels.signal.*, channels.imessage.*
    • Channel allowlists (Discord, iMessage, Signal, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp) when you opt in during prompts; Discord and Slack also resolve entered names to IDs
    • skills.install.nodeManager
      • The setup --node-manager flag accepts npm, pnpm, or bun.
      • Manual config can still set skills.install.nodeManager: "yarn" later.
    • wizard.lastRunAt
    • wizard.lastRunVersion
    • wizard.lastRunCommit
    • wizard.lastRunCommand
    • wizard.lastRunMode
    • wizard.securityAcknowledgedAt

    openclaw agents add writes agents.list[] and optional bindings.

    WhatsApp credentials go under ~/.openclaw/credentials/whatsapp/<accountId>/. Active sessions and transcripts are stored in ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/openclaw-agent.sqlite. The ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/ directory is used for legacy migration inputs and archive/support artifacts.

    Non-interactive setup

    --non-interactive requires --accept-risk (acknowledges that agents are powerful and full system access is risky):

    bash
    openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk \  --auth-choice apiKey \  --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"

    Full flag reference and provider-specific examples: openclaw onboard, CLI automation.

    Gateway wizard RPC

    • wizard.start
    • wizard.next
    • wizard.cancel
    • wizard.status

    Clients (macOS app and Control UI) can render steps without re-implementing onboarding logic.

    Signal setup behavior

    • Downloads the appropriate release asset from the official signal-cli GitHub releases (native build, Linux x86-64 only)
    • On other platforms (macOS, non-x64 Linux), installs via Homebrew instead
    • Stores the release-asset install under ~/.openclaw/tools/signal-cli/<version>/
    • Writes channels.signal.cliPath in config
    • Native Windows is not supported yet; run onboarding inside WSL2 to get the Linux install path
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