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CLI Setup Reference

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

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What the wizard does

Local mode (default) walks you through:
  • Model and auth setup (OpenAI Code subscription OAuth, Anthropic Claude CLI or API key, plus MiniMax, GLM, Ollama, Moonshot, StepFun, and AI Gateway options)
  • Workspace location and bootstrap files
  • Gateway settings (port, bind, auth, tailscale)
  • Channels and providers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, Google Chat, Mattermost, Signal, BlueBubbles, and other bundled channel plugins)
  • 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, 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)
2

Model and auth

3

Workspace

  • Default ~/.openclaw/workspace (configurable).
  • Seeds workspace files needed for first-run bootstrap ritual.
  • 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
  • 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.
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.
  • 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 (recommended; required for WhatsApp and Telegram). Bun is not recommended.
7

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.
8

Skills

  • Reads available skills and checks requirements.
  • Lets you choose node manager: npm, pnpm, or bun.
  • Installs optional dependencies (some use Homebrew on macOS).
9

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.
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)
  • If gateway is loopback-only, use SSH tunneling or a tailnet.
  • Discovery hints:
    • macOS: Bonjour (dns-sd)
    • Linux: Avahi (avahi-browse)

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Auth and model options

Uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY if present or prompts for a key, then saves it for daemon use.
Reuses a local Claude CLI login on the gateway host and switches model selection to a canonical claude-cli/claude-* ref.This is an available local fallback path in openclaw onboard and openclaw configure. For production, prefer an Anthropic API key.
  • macOS: checks Keychain item “Claude Code-credentials”
  • Linux and Windows: reuses ~/.claude/.credentials.json if present
On macOS, choose “Always Allow” so launchd starts do not block.
If ~/.codex/auth.json exists, the wizard can reuse it. Reused Codex CLI credentials stay managed by Codex CLI; on expiry OpenClaw re-reads that source first and, when the provider can refresh it, writes the refreshed credential back to Codex storage instead of taking ownership itself.
Browser flow; paste code#state.Sets agents.defaults.model to openai-codex/gpt-5.4 when model is unset or openai/*.
Uses OPENAI_API_KEY if present or prompts for a key, then stores the credential in auth profiles.Sets agents.defaults.model to openai/gpt-5.4 when model is unset, openai/*, or openai-codex/*.
Prompts for XAI_API_KEY and configures xAI as a model provider.
Prompts for OPENCODE_API_KEY (or OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY) and lets you choose the Zen or Go catalog. 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-M2.7; 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 base URL (default http://127.0.0.1:11434), then offers Cloud + Local or Local mode. Discovers available models and suggests defaults. More detail: Ollama.
Moonshot (Kimi K2) and Kimi Coding configs are auto-written. More detail: Moonshot AI (Kimi + Kimi Coding).
Works with OpenAI-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)
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|anthropic> (optional; default openai)
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.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 (Slack, Discord, Matrix, Microsoft Teams) when you opt in during prompts (names resolve to IDs when possible)
  • 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
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/.
Some channels are delivered as plugins. When selected during setup, 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