Guides

CLI Onboarding Reference

This page is the full reference for openclaw onboard. For the short guide, see Onboarding Wizard (CLI).

What the wizard does

Local mode (default) walks you through:

  • Model and auth setup (OpenAI Code subscription OAuth, Anthropic API key or setup token, plus MiniMax, GLM, Moonshot, and AI Gateway options)
  • Workspace location and bootstrap files
  • Gateway settings (port, bind, auth, tailscale)
  • Channels and providers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, Google Chat, Mattermost plugin, Signal)
  • Daemon install (LaunchAgent or systemd user unit)
  • 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

Step 1: Existing config detection

  • If ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json exists, choose Keep, Modify, or Reset.
  • 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 workspace.
  • If config is invalid or contains legacy keys, the wizard stops and asks you to run openclaw doctor before continuing.
  • Reset uses trash and offers scopes:
    • Config only
    • Config + credentials + sessions
    • Full reset (also removes workspace)

Step 2: Model and auth

Step 3: Workspace

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

Step 4: 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 onboarding offers:
    • Generate/store plaintext token (default)
    • Use SecretRef (opt-in)
  • In password mode, interactive onboarding 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.

Step 5: Channels

  • WhatsApp: optional QR login
  • Telegram: bot token
  • Discord: bot token
  • Google Chat: service account JSON + webhook audience
  • Mattermost plugin: bot token + base URL
  • Signal: optional signal-cli install + account config
  • BlueBubbles: recommended for iMessage; server URL + password + webhook
  • iMessage: legacy imsg CLI path + DB access
  • DM security: default is pairing. First DM sends a code; approve via openclaw pairing approve <channel> <code> or use allowlists.

Step 6: 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.
  • Runtime selection: Node (recommended; required for WhatsApp and Telegram). Bun is not recommended.

Step 7: Health check

  • Starts gateway (if needed) and runs openclaw health.
  • openclaw status --deep adds gateway health probes to status output.

Step 8: Skills

  • Reads available skills and checks requirements.
  • Lets you choose node manager: npm or pnpm (bun not recommended).
  • Installs optional dependencies (some use Homebrew on macOS).

Step 9: Finish

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

ℹ️ If no GUI is detected, the wizard prints SSH port-forward instructions for the Control UI instead of opening a browser. If Control UI assets are missing, the wizard attempts to build them; fallback is pnpm ui:build (auto-installs UI deps).

Remote mode details

Remote mode configures this machine to connect to a gateway elsewhere.

ℹ️ Remote mode does not install or modify anything on the remote host.

What you set:

  • Remote gateway URL (ws://...)
  • Token if remote gateway auth is required (recommended)

ℹ️ - If gateway is loopback-only, use SSH tunneling or a tailnet.

  • Discovery hints:
    • macOS: Bonjour (dns-sd)
    • Linux: Avahi (avahi-browse)

Auth and model options

Model behavior:

  • Pick default model from detected options, or enter provider and model manually.
  • Wizard runs a model check and warns if the configured model is unknown or missing auth.

Credential and profile paths:

  • OAuth credentials: ~/.openclaw/credentials/oauth.json
  • Auth profiles (API keys + OAuth): ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.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 onboarding, 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 onboarding:
    • Token mode: Generate/store plaintext token (default) or Use SecretRef.
    • Password mode: plaintext or SecretRef.
  • Non-interactive token SecretRef path: --gateway-token-ref-env <ENV_VAR>.
  • Existing plaintext setups continue to work unchanged.

ℹ️ Headless and server tip: complete OAuth on a machine with a browser, then copy ~/.openclaw/credentials/oauth.json (or $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/credentials/oauth.json) to the gateway host.

Outputs and internals

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

  • agents.defaults.workspace
  • 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.signal.*, channels.imessage.*
  • Channel allowlists (Slack, Discord, Matrix, Microsoft Teams) when you opt in during prompts (names resolve to IDs when possible)
  • skills.install.nodeManager
  • wizard.lastRunAt
  • wizard.lastRunVersion
  • wizard.lastRunCommit
  • wizard.lastRunCommand
  • wizard.lastRunMode

openclaw agents add writes agents.list[] and optional bindings. WhatsApp credentials go under ~/.openclaw/credentials/whatsapp/<accountId>/. Sessions are stored under ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/.

ℹ️ Some channels are delivered as plugins. When selected during onboarding, the wizard prompts to install the plugin (npm or local path) before channel configuration.

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
  • Stores it under ~/.openclaw/tools/signal-cli/<version>/
  • Writes channels.signal.cliPath in config
  • JVM builds require Java 21
  • Native builds are used when available
  • Windows uses WSL2 and follows Linux signal-cli flow inside WSL

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