Configuration

OpenClaw reads an optional JSON5 config from ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. If the file is missing, OpenClaw uses safe defaults.

The active config path must be a regular file. OpenClaw-owned writes replace it atomically (rename onto the path), so a symlinked openclaw.json gets its target replaced rather than written through - avoid symlinked config layouts. If you keep config outside the default state directory, point OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH directly at the real file.

Common reasons to add a config:

• Connect channels and control who can message the bot
• Set models, tools, sandboxing, or automation (cron, hooks)
• Tune sessions, media, networking, or UI

See the full reference for every available field.

Configuration follows a two-bucket rule: root siblings hold infrastructure and cross-agent defaults, while agents.defaults holds agent-loop behavior. Entries under agents.entries may override either bucket where the schema supports a per-agent override.

Agents and automation should use config.schema.lookup for exact field-level docs before editing config. Use this page for task-oriented guidance and Configuration reference for the broader field map and defaults.

New to configuration? Start with openclaw onboard for interactive setup, or check out the Configuration Examples guide for complete copy-paste configs.

Minimal config

// ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
{
  agents: { defaults: { workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace" } },
  channels: { whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["[phone]"] } },
}

Editing config

Interactive wizard

openclaw onboard       # full onboarding flow
openclaw configure     # config wizard

CLI (one-liners)

openclaw config get agents.defaults.workspace
openclaw config set agents.defaults.heartbeat.every "2h"
openclaw config unset plugins.entries.brave.config.webSearch.apiKey

Control UI

Open http://127.0.0.1:18789 and use the Config tab. The Control UI renders a form from the live config schema, including field title / description docs metadata plus plugin and channel schemas when available, with a Raw JSON editor as an escape hatch. For drill-down UIs and other tooling, the gateway also exposes config.schema.lookup to fetch one path-scoped schema node plus immediate child summaries. Settings show common fields first. Each section keeps its advanced fields in a collapsed Advanced (N) group; use Show advanced to expand all groups. Settings search always includes both tiers and opens the matching advanced group when needed. Per-channel settings under Settings -> Channels use the same split and share the Show advanced preference, with Hide advanced on the divider to collapse them again.

Direct edit

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json directly. The Gateway watches the file and applies changes automatically (see hot reload).

Strict validation

OpenClaw only accepts configurations that fully match the schema. Gateway startup first applies safe legacy-key migrations to eligible single-file configs. Unknown keys, malformed types, or invalid values that remain cause the Gateway to refuse to start. The only root-level exception is $schema (string), so editors can attach JSON Schema metadata.

openclaw config schema prints the canonical JSON Schema used by Control UI and validation. config.schema.lookup fetches a single path-scoped node plus child summaries for drill-down tooling. Field title/description docs metadata carries through nested objects, wildcard (*), array-item ([]), and anyOf/ oneOf/allOf branches. Runtime plugin and channel schemas merge in when the manifest registry is loaded.

Every config leaf has a common or advanced presentation tier in uiHints. advanced: false marks common settings and advanced: true marks advanced settings. A leaf inherits the nearest ancestor tier when it has no direct hint; paths with no declared ancestor default to advanced. This affects presentation only, not validation, defaults, reload behavior, or whether the key can be set.

Startup migration uses the same deterministic, prompt-free transforms as openclaw doctor --fix and writes only when the entire migrated config validates, including plugins. The previous config stays in the .bak ring. Configs using $include, Nix-managed configs, and configs written by a newer OpenClaw version are not automatically migrated. See Legacy config key migrations for the conditions and fallback.

When validation still fails:

• The Gateway does not boot
• Only diagnostic commands work (openclaw doctor, openclaw logs, openclaw health, openclaw status)
• Run openclaw doctor to see exact issues
• Run openclaw doctor --fix (--repair is the same flag; --yes skips prompts) to apply repairs

The Gateway keeps a trusted last-known-good copy after each successful startup, but startup and hot reload do not restore it automatically - only openclaw doctor --fix does. If openclaw.json remains invalid after eligible startup migrations (including plugin-local validation), Gateway startup fails. An invalid hot reload is skipped and the current runtime keeps the last accepted config. A rejected write is also saved as <path>.rejected.<timestamp> for inspection. The Gateway blocks writes that look like accidental clobbers - dropping the effective gateway.mode or shrinking the file by more than half - unless the write explicitly allows destructive changes. Mode checks resolve $include and environment references first. Missing meta is recorded as a write anomaly. Promotion to last-known-good is skipped when a candidate contains a redacted secret placeholder such as *** or [redacted].

Common tasks

Set up a channel (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, etc.)

Each channel has its own config section under channels.<provider>. See the dedicated channel page for setup steps:

• Discord - channels.discord
• Feishu - channels.feishu
• Google Chat - channels.googlechat
• iMessage - channels.imessage
• Mattermost - channels.mattermost
• Microsoft Teams - channels.msteams
• Signal - channels.signal
• Slack - channels.slack
• Telegram - channels.telegram
• WhatsApp - channels.whatsapp

All channels share the same DM policy pattern:

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "123:abc",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",   // pairing | allowlist | open | disabled
      allowFrom: ["tg:123"], // only for allowlist/open
    },
  },
}

Choose and configure models

Set the primary model and optional fallbacks:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
        fallbacks: ["openai/gpt-5.4"],
      },
      models: {
        "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6": { alias: "Sonnet" },
        "openai/gpt-5.4": { alias: "GPT" },
      },
    },
  },
}

• agents.defaults.models stores aliases and per-model settings; adding an entry never restricts /model or --model overrides.
• agents.defaults.modelPolicy.allow is the explicit allowlist for overrides and model pickers. It accepts exact refs and provider/* wildcards; omit it or use [] to allow any model.
• Model refs use provider/model format (e.g. anthropic/claude-opus-4-6).
• agents.defaults.imageMaxDimensionPx controls transcript/tool image downscaling (default 1200); lower values usually reduce vision-token usage on screenshot-heavy runs.
• See Models CLI for switching models in chat and Model Failover for auth rotation and fallback behavior.
• For custom/self-hosted providers, see Custom providers in the reference.

Control who can message the bot

DM access is controlled per channel via dmPolicy (default "pairing"):

• "pairing": unknown senders get a one-time pairing code to approve
• "allowlist": only senders in allowFrom (or the paired allow store)
• "open": allow all inbound DMs (requires allowFrom: ["*"])
• "disabled": ignore all DMs

For groups, use groupPolicy ("allowlist" | "open" | "disabled") plus groupAllowFrom or channel-specific allowlists.

See the full reference for per-channel details.

Set up group chat mention gating

Group messages default to require mention. Configure trigger patterns per agent. Normal group/channel replies post automatically; opt into the message-tool path for shared rooms where the agent should decide when to speak:

{
  messages: {
    visibleReplies: "automatic", // set "message_tool" to require message-tool sends everywhere
    groupChat: {
      visibleReplies: "message_tool", // opt-in; visible output requires message(action=send)
      unmentionedInbound: "room_event", // unmentioned always-on group chatter is quiet context
    },
  },
  agents: {
    entries: {
      main: {
        default: true,
        groupChat: {
          mentionPatterns: ["@openclaw", "openclaw"],
        },
      },
    },
  },
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } },
    },
  },
}

• Metadata mentions: native @-mentions (WhatsApp tap-to-mention, Telegram @bot, etc.)
• Text patterns: safe regex patterns in mentionPatterns
• Visible replies: messages.visibleReplies can require message-tool sends globally; messages.groupChat.visibleReplies overrides that for groups/channels.
• See full reference for visible reply modes, per-channel overrides, and self-chat mode.

Restrict skills per agent

Use agents.defaults.skills for a shared baseline, then override specific agents with agents.entries.*.skills:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      skills: ["github", "weather"],
    },
    entries: {
      writer: { default: true }, // inherits github, weather
      docs: { skills: ["docs-search"] }, // replaces defaults
      "locked-down": { skills: [] }, // no skills
    },
  },
}

• Omit agents.defaults.skills for unrestricted skills by default.
• Omit agents.entries.*.skills to inherit the defaults.
• Set agents.entries.*.skills: [] for no skills.
• See Skills, Skills config, and the Configuration Reference.

Configure per-channel health monitoring

Disable or enable automatic health restarts for a channel or account:

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      healthMonitor: { enabled: false },
      accounts: {
        alerts: {
          healthMonitor: { enabled: true },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

• Use channels.<provider>.healthMonitor.enabled or channels.<provider>.accounts.<id>.healthMonitor.enabled to control auto-restarts for one channel or account.
• See Health Checks for operational debugging and the full reference for all fields.

Configure sessions and resets

Sessions control conversation continuity and isolation:

{
  session: {
    dmScope: "per-channel-peer",  // recommended for multi-user
    threadBindings: {
      enabled: true,
      idleHours: 24,
      maxAgeHours: 0,
    },
    reset: {
      mode: "daily",
      atHour: 4,
      idleMinutes: 120,
    },
  },
}

• dmScope: main (shared) | per-peer | per-channel-peer | per-account-channel-peer
• threadBindings: global defaults for thread-bound session routing. Spawn with sessions_spawn({ thread: true }) or /acp spawn --thread auto. Use /session unbind, /agents, /session idle, and /session max-age to detach, list, and tune bindings (Discord binds threads, Telegram binds topics/conversations).
• See Session Management for scoping, identity links, and send policy.
• See full reference for all fields.

Enable sandboxing

Run agent sessions in isolated sandbox runtimes:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      sandbox: {
        mode: "non-main",  // off | non-main | all
        scope: "agent",    // session | agent | shared
      },
    },
  },
}

Build the image first - from a source checkout run scripts/sandbox-setup.sh, or from an npm install see the inline docker build command in Sandboxing § Images and setup.

See Sandboxing for the full guide and full reference for all options.

Enable relay-backed push for official iOS builds

Relay-backed push for public App Store builds uses the hosted OpenClaw relay: https://ios-push-relay.openclaw.ai.

Custom relay deployments require a deliberately separate iOS build/deployment path whose relay URL matches the gateway relay URL. If you are using a custom relay build, set this in gateway config:

{
  gateway: {
    push: {
      apns: {
        relay: {
          baseUrl: "https://relay.example.com",
          // Optional. Default: 10000
          timeoutMs: 10000,
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

CLI equivalent:

openclaw config set gateway.push.apns.relay.baseUrl https://relay.example.com

What this does:

• Lets the gateway send push.test, wake nudges, and reconnect wakes through the external relay.
• Uses a registration-scoped send grant forwarded by the paired iOS app. The gateway does not need a deployment-wide relay token.
• Binds each relay-backed registration to the gateway identity that the iOS app paired with, so another gateway cannot reuse the stored registration.
• Keeps local/manual iOS builds on direct APNs. Relay-backed sends apply only to official distributed builds that registered through the relay.
• Must match the relay base URL baked into the iOS build, so registration and send traffic reach the same relay deployment.

End-to-end flow:

1. Install the official iOS app.
2. Optional: configure gateway.push.apns.relay.baseUrl on the gateway only when using a deliberately separate custom relay build.
3. Pair the iOS app to the gateway and let both node and operator sessions connect.
4. The iOS app fetches the gateway identity, registers with the relay using App Attest plus the app receipt, and then publishes the relay-backed push.apns.register payload to the paired gateway.
5. The gateway stores the relay handle and send grant, then uses them for push.test, wake nudges, and reconnect wakes.

Operational notes:

• If you switch the iOS app to a different gateway, reconnect the app so it can publish a new relay registration bound to that gateway.
• If you ship a new iOS build that points at a different relay deployment, the app refreshes its cached relay registration instead of reusing the old relay origin.

Compatibility note:

• OPENCLAW_APNS_RELAY_BASE_URL and OPENCLAW_APNS_RELAY_TIMEOUT_MS still work as temporary env overrides.
• Custom gateway relay URLs must match the relay base URL baked into the iOS build; the public App Store release lane rejects custom iOS relay URL overrides.
• OPENCLAW_APNS_RELAY_ALLOW_HTTP=true remains a loopback-only development escape hatch; do not persist HTTP relay URLs in config.

See iOS App for the end-to-end flow and Authentication and trust flow for the relay security model.

Set up heartbeat (periodic check-ins)

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      heartbeat: {
        every: "30m",
        target: "owner",
      },
    },
  },
}

• every: duration string (30m, 2h). Set 0m to disable recurring cadence; targeted event-driven wakes can still run one agent turn. Default: 30m.
• target: owner (default operator DM) | last (latest conversation, including groups) | none (internal only) | <channel-id>
• directPolicy: allow (default) or block for DM-style heartbeat targets
• See Heartbeat for the full guide.

Configure cron jobs

{
  cron: {
    enabled: true,
    sessionRetention: "24h",
  },
}

• sessionRetention: prune completed isolated run sessions from SQLite session rows (default 24h; set false or a zero duration such as "0h" to disable).
• Terminal run history is retained for 7 days (lost rows for 24 hours), with the newest 2000 rows per job and history class enforced as an additional ceiling.
• See Cron jobs for feature overview and CLI examples.

Set up webhooks (hooks)

Enable HTTP webhook endpoints on the Gateway:

{
  hooks: {
    enabled: true,
    token: "shared-secret",
    path: "/hooks",
    defaultSessionKey: "hook:ingress",
    allowRequestSessionKey: false,
    allowedSessionKeyPrefixes: ["hook:"],
    mappings: [
      {
        match: { path: "gmail" },
        action: "agent",
        agentId: "main",
        sessionKey: "hook:gmail",
        sessionMode: "persistent",
        deliver: true,
      },
    ],
  },
}

Security note:

• Treat all hook/webhook payload content as untrusted input.
• Use a dedicated hooks.token; do not reuse active Gateway auth secrets (gateway.auth.token / OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN or gateway.auth.password / OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD).
• Hook auth is header-only (Authorization: Bearer ... or x-openclaw-token); query-string tokens are rejected.
• hooks.path cannot be /; keep webhook ingress on a dedicated subpath such as /hooks.
• Keep unsafe-content bypass flags disabled (hooks.gmail.allowUnsafeExternalContent, hooks.mappings[].allowUnsafeExternalContent) unless doing tightly scoped debugging.
• If you enable hooks.allowRequestSessionKey, also set hooks.allowedSessionKeyPrefixes to bound caller-selected session keys.
• Keep hook sessions isolated unless durable context is intentional. Direct persistent hooks require an explicit, prefix-bounded request sessionKey; mapped persistent hooks require a stable mapping key or hooks.defaultSessionKey.
• For hook-driven agents, prefer strong modern model tiers and strict tool policy (for example messaging-only plus sandboxing where possible).

See full reference for all mapping options and Gmail integration.

Configure multi-agent routing

Run multiple isolated agents with separate workspaces and sessions:

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

See Multi-Agent and full reference for binding rules and per-agent access profiles.

Split config into multiple files ($include)

Use $include to organize large configs:

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

• Single file: replaces the containing object
• Array of files: deep-merged in order (later wins), up to 10 nested levels deep
• Sibling keys: merged after includes (override included values)
• Relative paths: resolved relative to the including file
• Path format: include paths must not contain null bytes and must be strictly shorter than 4096 characters before and after resolution
• OpenClaw-owned writes: when a write changes only one top-level section backed by a single-file include such as plugins: { $include: "./plugins.json5" }, OpenClaw updates that included file and leaves openclaw.json intact
• Unsupported write-through: root includes, include arrays, and includes with sibling overrides fail closed for OpenClaw-owned writes instead of flattening the config
• Confinement: $include paths must resolve under the directory holding openclaw.json. To share a tree across machines or users, set OPENCLAW_INCLUDE_ROOTS to a path-list (: on POSIX, ; on Windows) of additional directories that includes may reference. Symlinks are resolved and re-checked, so a path that lexically lives in a config dir but whose real target escapes every allowed root is still rejected.
• Error handling: clear errors for missing files, parse errors, circular includes, invalid path format, and excessive length

Config hot reload

The Gateway watches ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and applies changes automatically - no manual restart needed for most settings.

Direct file edits are treated as untrusted until they validate. The watcher waits for editor temp-write/rename churn to settle, reads the final file, and rejects invalid external edits without rewriting openclaw.json. OpenClaw-owned config writes use the same schema gate before writing (see Strict validation for the clobber/rollback rules that apply to every write).

If you see config reload skipped (invalid config) or startup reports Invalid config, inspect the config, run openclaw config validate, then run openclaw doctor --fix for repair. See Gateway troubleshooting for the checklist.

A live change that selects a workspace with retired setup state is also rejected, with an openclaw doctor --fix hint. The Gateway keeps its last-good runtime. Gateway-managed writes, including config.set, reject the candidate before persistence; hand edits and writes from a separate CLI process can remain on disk even though the watcher refuses to activate them. Stop the Gateway and, if the write was rejected before persistence, save the intended workspace path while it is stopped. Then run openclaw doctor --fix and restart. Reload never migrates workspace state.

Reload modes

Mode	Behavior
hybrid (default)	Applies hot-reloadable settings. Automatically restarts when required.
off	Disables file watching. Changes take effect on the next manual restart.

{
  gateway: {
    reload: { mode: "hybrid" },
  },
}

The earlier hot and restart modes are retired; openclaw doctor --fix maps both to hybrid. Reload debounce is no longer configurable and runs behind a built-in default.

What hot-applies vs what needs a restart

Most fields hot-apply without downtime; some hot-applied sections restart just that subsystem (channel, cron, heartbeat) rather than the whole Gateway. In hybrid mode, Gateway-restart-required changes are handled automatically.

By default, changing agents.defaults.mediaMaxMb restarts channel runtimes so their inherited attachment limits take effect together. Automatic reloads preserve manually stopped accounts; use an explicit channel start to resume those accounts.

Model runtime selection keeps your authored settings separate from catalog defaults. Hot reload and secrets reload preserve that distinction: catalog compatibility metadata does not become a custom request override that switches a native runtime back to OpenClaw.

Category	Fields	Gateway restart needed?
Channels	channels.*, web (WhatsApp) - all built-in and plugin channels	No (restarts that channel)
Agent & models	agents, models, auth.order, auth.profiles, broadcast, worktreeRoot, cloudWorkers.projectProfiles	No
Automation	hooks, cron, agents.defaults.heartbeat	No (reloads the owning subsystem)
Sessions & messages	session, messages	No
Tools & media	tools, skills, mcp except Apps listener settings, audio, talk, tts, memory.citations, attachments.ttlHours	No
Plugin config	plugins.entries.*, plugins.allow, plugins.deny, plugins.enabled	No (reloads plugin runtime)
UI & misc	ui, logging, identity, bindings, surfaces	No
Approval & install policy	approvals.exec, approvals.plugin, security.installPolicy, security.audit.suppressions	No (subsequent operations)
Diagnostics & ACP	diagnostics.flags, diagnostics.cacheTrace.enabled, acp.stream, acp.runtime.installCommand	No (subsequent operations)
Updates & telemetry	update.checkOnStart, update.channel, update.auto.enabled, telemetry.enabled, telemetry.consentedAt	No (next check)
Hosted URLs	gateway.publicOrigin, mcp.apps.sandboxOrigin	No (new URLs and hosted apps)
Gateway HTTP APIs	gateway.http.endpoints, gateway.http.securityHeaders.strictTransportSecurity	No (next request)
Gateway tools & nodes	gateway.tools, gateway.nodes.browser, gateway.nodes.pairing, gateway.nodes.commands, gateway.nodes.pluginTools.enabled, gateway.nodes.allowSkills	No
Gateway client features	gateway.cliAgents, selected gateway.controlUi settings below	No
Gateway push	gateway.push.apns.relay	No (next push)
Gateway terminal	gateway.terminal	No
Gateway credentials	gateway.auth.token, gateway.auth.password, with the same effective auth mode	No (old shared-auth clients reconnect)
Gateway auth limits	gateway.auth.rateLimit	No (retains limiter state)
Discovery visibility	discovery.mdns.mode	No (replaces discovery advertisements)
Browser defaults	browser.profiles, browser.defaultProfile, browser.headless, browser.executablePath, browser.attachOnly, browser.cdpUrl, browser.noSandbox, browser.extraArgs, browser.snapshotDefaults, browser.tabCleanup, browser.allowSystemProfileImport	No
Gateway server	Other gateway.* settings (port, bind, auth mode, roles, tailscale, TLS)	Yes
Infrastructure	Other discovery and browser settings, MCP Apps listener settings, secrets.egressProxy, plugins.load, plugins.installs	Yes

Changes to channels.defaults, channels.modelByChannel, commands, accessGroups, tts, surfaces, acp.stream, and diagnostics.flags refresh loaded channel runtimes that capture those policies. Manually stopped accounts stay stopped, and the Gateway keeps running.

Inbound debounce settings apply at the next inbound admission without reconnecting supported channels. messages.ackReactionScope applies to subsequent turns without reconnecting Discord, Matrix, Signal, Slack, Telegram, or WhatsApp. Other channel plugins refresh unless they declare that they read the policy live. Per-channel and per-account overrides still take precedence; admitted turns retain their policy.

diagnostics.enabled updates diagnostic dispatch and heartbeat ownership live. With diagnostics-otel loaded, diagnostics.otel restarts only its exporter service, flushing the old generation before starting the new one. Externally preloaded OpenTelemetry providers retain their transport and shutdown ownership.

Operation settings apply at their next use; they do not restart in-flight runs or recreate provisioned workers. Approval expiry changes affect newly issued grants. Attachment retention changes apply on the next cleanup sweep, including files already older than the new limit.

Update and telemetry settings apply at the next scheduled check. A pending automatic-update countdown rechecks enablement and channel selection before starting; an update already applying keeps its admitted target. Changing these settings does not force an update. Telemetry consent is read again before the next update-check request.

Internal-hook changes prepare a complete replacement before publishing it. A load failure keeps the previous handlers; events already running finish with their original handlers. Workspace changes reload directory hooks from the newly selected workspace. Reload does not replay gateway:startup.

Under gateway.controlUi, the enabled, environment, github, sessionObserver, embedSandbox, allowExternalEmbedUrls, and automaticallyFetchFavicons settings hot-apply. Reload open Control UI pages to pick up the environment label, CLI agent picker, embed preferences, and favicon display preference; the Gateway process keeps running. allowedOrigins and dangerouslyAllowHostHeaderOriginFallback also hot-apply: pending handshakes recheck the new policy, and browser connections it no longer allows close. Disabling the Control UI stops serving dashboard pages and assets and cancels pending asset preparation. Existing Gateway connections and agent runs continue. Re-enabling prepares missing dashboard assets in the background; requests return 503 until they are ready. Control UI serving paths still require a Gateway restart.

Node command policy updates connected nodes immediately. Disabling node-published tools or skills withdraws them; re-enabling restores the last publication within the node’s existing pairing approval. Reload never grants an unapproved command. Revoking a command cancels its active invocations and rejects later input and results. Revoking desktop streaming also closes its observer transports. Browser node routing applies to subsequent operations. Node pairing policy (gateway.nodes.pairing) also hot-applies: pending automatic approvals recheck the current policy before granting access, including after SSH probes. Existing paired devices remain paired. Terminal shell changes apply to newly opened terminals; active terminals keep their original shell. Detached-session timeout changes recalculate deadlines from each terminal’s original disconnect time. Already-expired sessions close immediately; attached terminals keep running. Terminal enablement also hot-applies. Disabling terminals closes attached, detached, and conversation-owned sessions and cancels pending opens. Re-enabling allows fresh sessions; closed sessions do not return. Reload open Control UI pages to pick up the terminal’s content security policy. An unrelated deferred restart does not delay a committed terminal enable or shell change. A pending restart can still keep earlier terminal or sandbox restrictions in force until that restart completes or its rejected changes are reverted.

Browser default-profile changes apply on the next request. Launch-setting changes replace affected managed browser processes when next used; externally attached browsers stay running. Browser enablement, evaluation, SSRF policy, and extension relay remain restart-owned. Snapshot defaults apply to the next snapshot, and tab-cleanup settings apply on the next sweep.

Authentication rate-limit changes retain recorded failures, earned lockout deadlines, and pending loopback delays. New limits and loopback exemptions apply to subsequent attempts; tightening the attempt limit can lock a client based on its retained failures. Removing gateway.auth.rateLimit restores the defaults. Browser-origin and node-reapproval budgets remain nonexempt.

Discovery mode changes replace the current advertisements without interrupting Gateway connections. Switching from full to minimal removes extra TXT hints from LAN advertisements and any configured wide-area DNS-SD zone. off stops LAN advertisements while configured wide-area discovery remains enabled. The Bonjour plugin must already be enabled, and environment overrides still apply.

Token and password rotation hot-applies only when the effective auth mode stays the same. Existing clients using the old shared credential must reconnect with the new credential; independently paired device-token clients remain connected. Browser device tokens derived from the old shared credential are revoked too. For SecretRef credentials, set gateway.auth.mode explicitly to make rotation eligible for hot reload. Auth-mode changes still restart the Gateway.

Changing gateway.reload or gateway.remote also does not trigger a restart. Individual plugins can declare their own restart-triggering config prefixes.

Canvas enablement uses plugin hot reload. Current-protocol nodes whose hosted capabilities change reconnect to receive fresh capability URLs; other current-protocol nodes and operator connections stay open. Legacy nodes reconnect when hosted surface descriptors change so their protocol limits are recalculated. Pending node handshakes also recheck those capabilities before admission.

Plugin hot reload uses the package metadata discovered at Gateway startup. Enablement, plugin config, and account changes do not rescan plugin files. Install, update, uninstall, and explicit plugin metadata refresh require a Gateway restart; hybrid schedules that restart, while off leaves it to you. Changing an agent’s workspace also does not discover plugins in the new directory until restart. See Plugin metadata snapshots.

During channel or plugin hot reload, Gateway-hosted channel webhook routes return 503 with Retry-After: 1 until replacement ingress registers. Senders must honor retry responses; this does not acknowledge delivery. Disabled or removed accounts, manual stops, and cancelled replacement lifetimes release those temporary routes. When replacement ingress reports ready, old paths it did not reclaim are removed.

Reload planning

When you edit a source file that is referenced through $include, OpenClaw plans the reload from the source-authored layout, not the flattened in-memory view. That keeps hot-reload decisions (hot-apply vs restart) predictable even when a single top-level section lives in its own included file such as plugins: { $include: "./plugins.json5" }. Reload planning fails closed if the source layout is ambiguous.

Config RPC (programmatic updates)

For tooling that writes config over the gateway API, prefer this flow:

• config.schema.lookup to inspect one subtree (shallow schema node + child summaries)
• config.get to fetch the current snapshot plus hash
• config.patch for partial updates (JSON merge patch: objects merge, null deletes, arrays replace when explicitly confirmed with replacePaths if entries would be removed)
• config.apply only when you intend to replace the entire config
• update.run for explicit self-update plus restart; include continuationMessage when the post-restart session should run one follow-up turn
• update.status to inspect the latest update restart sentinel and verify the running version after a restart

Agents should treat config.schema.lookup as the first stop for exact field-level docs and constraints. Use Configuration reference when they need the broader config map, defaults, or links to dedicated subsystem references.

Control-plane writes (config.apply, config.patch, update.run) are rate-limited to 30 requests per 60 seconds, per method, per deviceId+clientIp; see Rate limiting. Restart requests coalesce and then enforce a 30-second cooldown between restart cycles. update.status is read-only but admin-scoped because the restart sentinel can include update step summaries and command output tails.

Example partial patch:

openclaw gateway call config.get --params '{}'  # capture payload.hash
openclaw gateway call config.patch --params '{
  "raw": "{ channels: { telegram: { groups: { \"*\": { requireMention: false } } } } }",
  "baseHash": "<hash>"
}'

Both config.apply and config.patch accept raw, baseHash, sessionKey, note, and restartDelayMs. baseHash is required for both methods once a config file already exists (a first write with no existing config skips the check).

For hot-applied changes, these RPCs wait until the active Gateway applies the exact write. Channel or plugin reloads may defer for unrelated active work. If the file watcher takes over the same unapplied write during that wait, the RPC stays pending through replay; persistence alone is not an application acknowledgment. Shutdown, supersession by different content, or failed application returns UNAVAILABLE with recovery guidance. config.set acknowledges persistence only.

Once a reload has committed, it finishes its model and channel work before a newer config is applied. If that work needs restart recovery, the RPC returns UNAVAILABLE; wait for the Gateway to restart, then use config.get to verify the active revision.

config.patch also accepts replacePaths, an array of config paths whose array replacement or deletion is intentional. If a patch removes existing array entries or deletes an array, the Gateway rejects the write unless that exact array path appears in replacePaths. Deleting a containing object requires its contained array paths, including empty arrays. Deleting a whole array requires only its own path, not paths to arrays nested inside its entries. Use exact record keys, such as agents.entries.main.skills. For ID-merged entry updates, nested array paths use [], such as models.providers.custom.models[].input. Parent paths and * wildcards do not authorize descendant arrays. This prevents truncated config.get snapshots from silently clobbering routing or allowlist arrays. Use config.apply when you intend to replace the full config.

Arrays of objects with stable id fields merge by ID unless their path appears in replacePaths. These updates preserve authored fields in untouched entries; runtime defaults, such as model catalog compatibility and context budgets, are not saved into sibling entries. Explicitly configured values remain authoritative.

Environment variables

OpenClaw reads env vars from the parent process plus:

• .env from the current working directory (if present)
• ~/.openclaw/.env (global fallback)

Neither file overrides existing env vars. You can also set inline env vars in config:

{
  env: {
    vars: {
      OPENROUTER_API_KEY: "sk-or-...",
      GROQ_API_KEY: "gsk-...",
    },
  },
}

Shell env import (optional)

If enabled and expected keys aren’t set, OpenClaw runs your login shell and imports only the missing keys:

{
  env: {
    shellEnv: { enabled: true, timeoutMs: 15000 },
  },
}

Env var equivalent: OPENCLAW_LOAD_SHELL_ENV=1. Default timeoutMs: 15000.

Env var substitution in config values

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

{
  gateway: { auth: { token: "${OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN}" } },
  models: { providers: { custom: { apiKey: "${CUSTOM_API_KEY}" } } },
}

Rules:

• Only uppercase names matched: [A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*
• Missing/empty vars stay visibly unresolved, emit a warning, and are unavailable to consumers that require the value
• Escape with $${VAR} to produce a literal ${VAR} value
• Works inside $include files
• Inline substitution: "${BASE}/v1" → "https://api.example.com/v1"

Secret refs (env, file, exec, store)

For fields that support SecretRef objects, you can use:

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      openai: { apiKey: { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "OPENAI_API_KEY" } },
    },
  },
  skills: {
    entries: {
      "image-lab": {
        apiKey: {
          source: "file",
          provider: "filemain",
          id: "/skills/entries/image-lab/apiKey",
        },
      },
    },
  },
  channels: {
    googlechat: {
      serviceAccount: {
        source: "exec",
        provider: "vault",
        id: "channels/googlechat/serviceAccount",
      },
    },
  },
}

The env ref above uses the built-in default provider and needs no secrets.providers.default entry unless secrets.defaults.env selects another alias. The same rule applies to store refs and secrets.defaults.store. See Secrets Management for provider precedence and the required file/exec provider configuration. Supported credential paths are listed in SecretRef Credential Surface.

See Environment for full precedence and sources.

Full reference

For the complete field-by-field reference, see Configuration Reference.

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Related: Configuration Examples · Configuration Reference · Doctor

Related

• Configuration reference
• Configuration examples
• Gateway runbook