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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.

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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.

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Local flow details

1

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)
2

Model and auth

3

Workspace

  • Default ~/.openclaw/workspace (configurable).
  • Seeds workspace files needed for first-run bootstrap.
  • Workspace layout: Agent workspace.
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 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.
5

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.
6

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.
7

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.
8

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.
9

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.
10

Finish

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

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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
1

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.
2

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.
3

Auth

Choose token (recommended), password, or no auth, then optionally store it as a SecretRef instead of plaintext.
If the gateway is loopback-only and not discoverable, use SSH tunneling or a tailnet manually. Plaintext ws:// is accepted for loopback, private IP literals, .local, and Tailnet *.ts.net URLs; other private-DNS names need OPENCLAW_ALLOW_INSECURE_PRIVATE_WS=1.

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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.
Uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY if present or prompts for a key, then saves it for daemon use.
Preferred local path in interactive onboarding/configure; reuses an existing Claude CLI sign-in when available.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Remote-friendly browser sign-in with a short code instead of a localhost callback. Use this from SSH, Docker, or VPS hosts.
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.
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.
Stores the key for you.
Prompts for AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY. More detail: Vercel AI Gateway.
Prompts for account ID, gateway ID, and CLOUDFLARE_AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY. More detail: Cloudflare AI Gateway.
Config is auto-written. Hosted default is MiniMax-M3; API-key setup uses minimax/..., and OAuth setup uses minimax-portal/.... More detail: MiniMax.
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.
Prompts for SYNTHETIC_API_KEY. More detail: Synthetic.
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 (Kimi K2) and Kimi Coding configs are auto-written. More detail: Moonshot AI (Kimi + Kimi Coding).
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)
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 <ENV_VAR>.
  • Existing plaintext setups continue to work unchanged.
Headless and server tip: complete OAuth on a machine with a browser, then copy that agent’s auth-profiles.json (for example ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json, or the matching $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/... path) to the gateway host. credentials/oauth.json is only a legacy import source.

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

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Non-interactive setup

--non-interactive requires --accept-risk (acknowledges that agents are powerful and full system access is risky):
Full flag reference and provider-specific examples: openclaw onboard, CLI automation.

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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.

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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