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Web (Gateway)

The Gateway serves a small browser Control UI (Vite + Lit) from the same port as the Gateway WebSocket:
  • default: http://<host>:18789/
  • optional prefix: set gateway.controlUi.basePath (e.g. /openclaw)
Capabilities live in Control UI. This page focuses on bind modes, security, and web-facing surfaces.

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Webhooks

When hooks.enabled=true, the Gateway also exposes a small webhook endpoint on the same HTTP server. See Gateway configuration → hooks for auth + payloads.

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Config (default-on)

The Control UI is enabled by default when assets are present (dist/control-ui). You can control it via config: 
{
  gateway: {
    controlUi: { enabled: true, basePath: "/openclaw" }, // basePath optional
  },
}

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Tailscale access

Keep the Gateway on loopback and let Tailscale Serve proxy it: 
{
  gateway: {
    bind: "loopback",
    tailscale: { mode: "serve" },
  },
}
Then start the gateway: 
openclaw gateway
Open:
  • https://<magicdns>/ (or your configured gateway.controlUi.basePath)

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Tailnet bind + token

{
  gateway: {
    bind: "tailnet",
    controlUi: { enabled: true },
    auth: { mode: "token", token: "your-token" },
  },
}
Then start the gateway (this non-loopback example uses shared-secret token auth): 
openclaw gateway
Open:
  • http://<tailscale-ip>:18789/ (or your configured gateway.controlUi.basePath)

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Public internet (Funnel)

{
  gateway: {
    bind: "loopback",
    tailscale: { mode: "funnel" },
    auth: { mode: "password" }, // or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD
  },
}

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Security notes

  • Gateway auth is required by default (token, password, trusted-proxy, or Tailscale Serve identity headers when enabled).
  • Non-loopback binds still require gateway auth. In practice that means token/password auth or an identity-aware reverse proxy with gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy".
  • The wizard creates shared-secret auth by default and usually generates a gateway token (even on loopback).
  • In shared-secret mode, the UI sends connect.params.auth.token or connect.params.auth.password.
  • In identity-bearing modes such as Tailscale Serve or trusted-proxy, the WebSocket auth check is satisfied from request headers instead.
  • For non-loopback Control UI deployments, set gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins explicitly (full origins). Without it, gateway startup is refused by default.
  • gateway.controlUi.dangerouslyAllowHostHeaderOriginFallback=true enables Host-header origin fallback mode, but is a dangerous security downgrade.
  • With Serve, Tailscale identity headers can satisfy Control UI/WebSocket auth when gateway.auth.allowTailscale is true (no token/password required). HTTP API endpoints do not use those Tailscale identity headers; they follow the gateway’s normal HTTP auth mode instead. Set gateway.auth.allowTailscale: false to require explicit credentials. See Tailscale and Security. This tokenless flow assumes the gateway host is trusted.
  • gateway.tailscale.mode: "funnel" requires gateway.auth.mode: "password" (shared password).

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Building the UI

The Gateway serves static files from dist/control-ui. Build them with: 
pnpm ui:build # auto-installs UI deps on first run