Guides

CLI Automation

Use --non-interactive to automate openclaw onboard.

ℹī¸ --json does not imply non-interactive mode. Use --non-interactive (and --workspace) for scripts.

Baseline non-interactive example

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice apiKey \
  --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  --secret-input-mode plaintext \
  --gateway-port 18789 \
  --gateway-bind loopback \
  --install-daemon \
  --daemon-runtime node \
  --skip-skills

Add --json for a machine-readable summary. Use --secret-input-mode ref to store env-backed refs in auth profiles instead of plaintext values. Interactive selection between env refs and configured provider refs (file or exec) is available in the onboarding wizard flow. In non-interactive ref mode, provider env vars must be set in the process environment. Passing inline key flags without the matching env var now fails fast. Example:

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice openai-api-key \
  --secret-input-mode ref \
  --accept-risk

Provider-specific examples

Add another agent

Use openclaw agents add <name> to create a separate agent with its own workspace, sessions, and auth profiles. Running without --workspace launches the wizard.

openclaw agents add work \
  --workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace-work \
  --model openai/gpt-5.2 \
  --bind whatsapp:biz \
  --non-interactive \
  --json

What it sets:

  • agents.list[].name
  • agents.list[].workspace
  • agents.list[].agentDir

Notes:

  • Default workspaces follow ~/.openclaw/workspace-<agentId>.
  • Add bindings to route inbound messages (the wizard can do this).
  • Non-interactive flags: --model, --agent-dir, --bind, --non-interactive.

CLI reference