openclaw
Comprehensive guide for installing, configuring, operating, and troubleshooting OpenClaw — a self-hosted, multi-channel AI agent gateway. Use when the user asks about OpenClaw setup, configuration, channel management (WhatsApp/Telegram/Discord/Slack/iMessage/etc.), model provider setup, Gateway operations, multi-agent routing, security hardening, troubleshooting, or any maintenance task related to their local OpenClaw installation. Also use when encountering errors from `openclaw` CLI commands or the Gateway daemon.
What this skill does
# OpenClaw Maintenance Skill OpenClaw is a self-hosted, open-source (MIT) gateway that routes AI agents across WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, iMessage, Signal, and 15+ other channels simultaneously. It runs on macOS, Linux, or Windows. ## Reference Files | Reference | Coverage | |---|---| | [channels.md](references/channels.md) | Per-channel setup (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, etc.) | | [channel_troubleshooting.md](references/channel_troubleshooting.md) | Per-channel failure signatures and walkthroughs | | [tools.md](references/tools.md) | Tools inventory (profiles, groups, all built-in tools) | | [exec.md](references/exec.md) | Exec tool: parameters, config, PATH, security, process tool | | [exec_approvals.md](references/exec_approvals.md) | Exec approvals: allowlists, safe bins, approval flow | | [browser.md](references/browser.md) | Browser plugin: profiles, CDP, Chrome MCP, snapshots, SSRF, Control API | | [web_tools.md](references/web_tools.md) | Web tools: Brave, Perplexity, Gemini search providers | | [pdf_tool.md](references/pdf_tool.md) | PDF tool: native/fallback modes, config, page filtering | | [elevated.md](references/elevated.md) | Elevated mode: /elevated directives, sandbox breakout | | [lobster.md](references/lobster.md) | Lobster: typed workflow runtime with approvals | | [llm_task.md](references/llm_task.md) | LLM Task: JSON-only LLM step for structured output | | [openprose.md](references/openprose.md) | OpenProse: multi-agent program runtime | | [plugins.md](references/plugins.md) | Plugins: capability model, official list, config, hooks, SDK, authoring | | [skills.md](references/skills.md) | Skills: locations, config, ClawHub, watcher, token impact | | [providers.md](references/providers.md) | Model provider setup | | [multi_agent.md](references/multi_agent.md) | Multi-agent routing | | [nodes.md](references/nodes.md) | Nodes (iOS/Android/macOS/headless) | | [security.md](references/security.md) | Security hardening | | [secrets.md](references/secrets.md) | Secrets management (SecretRef, vault) | | [sandboxing.md](references/sandboxing.md) | Sandboxing (Docker isolation) | | [config_reference.md](references/config_reference.md) | Full config field reference | | [gateway_ops.md](references/gateway_ops.md) | Gateway operations | | [remote_access.md](references/remote_access.md) | Remote access, SSH, Tailscale, web dashboard | | [sessions.md](references/sessions.md) | Session management, DM isolation, lifecycle, compaction | | [hooks.md](references/hooks.md) | Hooks: internal event hooks, HTTP webhooks, authoring, CLI | | [automation.md](references/automation.md) | Cron jobs, webhooks, Gmail Pub/Sub, background tasks, standing orders | | [acp_agents.md](references/acp_agents.md) | ACP agents: spawn external AI runtimes (Codex, Claude, Gemini, 14+ harnesses) | | [install.md](references/install.md) | Installation, updating, rollback, migration, uninstall | | [web_ui.md](references/web_ui.md) | Web surfaces: Dashboard, Control UI, WebChat | | [slash_commands.md](references/slash_commands.md) | Chat slash commands (/new, /model, /acp, etc.) | | [platforms.md](references/platforms.md) | Platform-specific guides (macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Windows) | | [diffs_firecrawl.md](references/diffs_firecrawl.md) | Diffs plugin + Firecrawl anti-bot fallback | | [subagents.md](references/subagents.md) | Sub-agents: nested spawning, thread binding, announce, tool policy | | [memory.md](references/memory.md) | Memory system, vector search, hybrid BM25, compaction, QMD backend | | [architecture.md](references/architecture.md) | Gateway architecture, wire protocol, pairing, invariants | | [agent_runtime.md](references/agent_runtime.md) | Agent runtime, bootstrap files, agent loop, context engine, hooks, timeouts | | [streaming.md](references/streaming.md) | Streaming + chunking: block streaming, coalescing, preview modes | | [queue.md](references/queue.md) | Command queue: modes (steer/followup/collect), concurrency, per-session | | [model_failover.md](references/model_failover.md) | Model failover, OAuth, auth profiles, cooldowns, billing disables | | [clawhub.md](references/clawhub.md) | ClawHub: public skill registry, CLI commands, publish/install | | [thinking.md](references/thinking.md) | Thinking levels, verbose directives, reasoning visibility | | [polls.md](references/polls.md) | Polls: Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, MS Teams | | [voice.md](references/voice.md) | Talk Mode (voice interaction) + Voice Wake (wake words) | | [presence_discovery.md](references/presence_discovery.md) | Presence system, discovery (Bonjour/Tailscale), transports | | [gateway_internals.md](references/gateway_internals.md) | Network model, gateway lock, health checks, doctor, logging, background exec | | [heartbeat.md](references/heartbeat.md) | Heartbeat: config, delivery, visibility, HEARTBEAT.md, per-agent | | [bonjour.md](references/bonjour.md) | Bonjour/mDNS: TXT keys, wide-area DNS-SD, debugging, failure modes | | [pairing.md](references/pairing.md) | Gateway pairing: node approval, CLI, API, auto-approval, storage | | [tui.md](references/tui.md) | TUI: keyboard shortcuts, slash commands, pickers, local shell, delivery | | [media.md](references/media.md) | Media: camera capture, images, audio/voice notes, transcription | | [channel_routing.md](references/channel_routing.md) | Channel routing, session keys, agent selection, Mattermost, BlueBubbles | ## Quick Reference ### Key Paths | Path | Purpose | |---|---| | `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json` | Main config (JSON5) | | `~/.openclaw/.env` | Global env fallback | | `~/.openclaw/workspace` | Default agent workspace | | `~/.openclaw/agents/<id>/` | Per-agent state + sessions | | `~/.openclaw/skills/` | Managed/local skills | | `~/.openclaw/agents/<id>/qmd/` | QMD memory backend state | | `~/.openclaw/agents/<id>/agent/auth-profiles.json` | Auth profiles + OAuth tokens | | `OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH` | Override config location | | `OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR` | Override state directory | | `OPENCLAW_HOME` | Override home directory | ### Essential Commands ``` openclaw status # Overall status openclaw gateway status # Gateway daemon status openclaw gateway status --deep # Deep scan including system services openclaw doctor # Diagnose config/service issues openclaw doctor --fix # Auto-fix safe issues openclaw logs --follow # Tail gateway logs openclaw channels status --probe # Channel health check openclaw security audit # Security posture check openclaw security audit --fix # Auto-fix security issues openclaw update # Self-update openclaw dashboard # Open Control UI in browser openclaw tui # Terminal UI (interactive REPL) openclaw agent # Direct agent interaction via CLI openclaw health # Health check openclaw usage # Usage tracking openclaw config validate # Validate config file openclaw config file # Print active config path openclaw sessions cleanup # Session disk cleanup openclaw agents bindings # Agent-channel bindings openclaw agents bind # Bind agent to account openclaw agents unbind # Unbind agent openclaw update --dry-run # Preview update openclaw system presence # View connected clients/nodes openclaw system heartbeat last # Last heartbeat info openclaw system heartbeat now # Trigger heartbeat immediately openclaw memory search <query> # CLI memory search openclaw docs <query> # Search OpenClaw docs openclaw tasks list # List background/detached task runs openclaw tasks show <id> # Show specific task details openclaw tasks cancel <id> # Cancel a running task openclaw tasks audit # Identify problematic task runs openclaw agent --message "..."
Related in AI Agents
skill-development
IncludedComprehensive meta-skill for creating, managing, validating, auditing, and distributing Claude Code skills and slash commands (unified in v2.1.3+). Provides skill templates, creation workflows, validation patterns, audit checklists, naming conventions, YAML frontmatter guidance, progressive disclosure examples, and best practices lookup. Use when creating new skills, validating existing skills, auditing skill quality, understanding skill architecture, needing skill templates, learning about YAML frontmatter requirements, progressive disclosure patterns, tool restrictions (allowed-tools), skill composition, skill naming conventions, troubleshooting skill activation issues, creating custom slash commands, configuring command frontmatter, using command arguments ($ARGUMENTS, $1, $2), bash execution in commands, file references in commands, command namespacing, plugin commands, MCP slash commands, Skill tool configuration, or deciding between skills vs slash commands. Delegates to docs-management skill for official documentation.
reprompter
IncludedTransform messy prompts into well-structured, effective prompts — single or multi-agent. Use when: "reprompt", "reprompt this", "clean up this prompt", "structure my prompt", rough text needing XML tags and best practices, "reprompter teams", "repromptception", "run with quality", "smart run", "smart agents", multi-agent tasks, audits, parallel work, anything going to agent teams. Don't use when: simple Q&A, pure chat, immediate execution-only tasks. See "Don't Use When" section for details. Outputs: Structured XML/Markdown prompt, quality score (before/after), optional team brief + per-agent sub-prompts, agent team output files. Success criteria: Single mode quality score ≥ 7/10; Repromptception per-agent prompt quality score 8+/10; all required sections present, actionable and specific.
adaptive-compaction
IncludedAdaptive add-on policy and recovery layer that decides WHEN to compact, prune, snapshot, or fork -- replacing fixed-percent auto-compaction across Claude Code, Codex, and MCP-capable hosts. Trigger on auto-compact timing or damage: "when should I compact", "is it safe to compact now or start a fresh session", "auto-compact fires too early/mid-task", "switching to an unrelated task but the window still has space", "context rot", "answers get worse the longer the session runs", "the agent forgot the plan or my decisions after it summarized", "add a layer on top that manages context without changing the agent", raising autoCompactWindow to give the policy room, or installing/tuning a cross-tool compaction policy or PreCompact hook -- even when "compaction" is never said but the problem is context-window pressure or post-summarization memory loss. Do NOT use to summarize a conversation, build RAG, write a summarization prompt (decides WHEN not HOW), or answer max-context-length trivia.
agent-skill-creator
IncludedCreate cross-platform agent skills from workflow descriptions. Activates when users ask to create an agent, automate a repetitive workflow, create a custom skill, or need advanced agent creation. Triggers on phrases like create agent for, automate workflow, create skill for, every day I have to, daily I need to, turn process into agent, need to automate, create a cross-platform skill, validate this skill, export this skill, migrate this skill. Supports single skills, multi-agent suites, transcript processing, template-based creation, interactive configuration, cross-platform export, and spec validation.
llm-wiki
IncludedUse when building or maintaining a persistent personal knowledge base (second brain) in Obsidian where an LLM incrementally ingests sources, updates entity/concept pages, maintains cross-references, and keeps a synthesis current. Triggers include "second brain", "Obsidian wiki", "personal knowledge management", "ingest this paper/article/book", "build a research wiki", "compound knowledge", "Memex", or whenever the user wants knowledge to accumulate across sessions instead of being re-derived by RAG on every query.
skill-master
IncludedAgent Skills authoring, evaluation, and optimization. Create, edit, validate, benchmark, and improve skills following the agentskills.io specification. Use when designing SKILL.md files, structuring skill folders (references, scripts, assets), ingesting external documentation into skills, running trigger evals, benchmarking skill quality, optimizing descriptions, or performing blind A/B comparisons. Keywords: agentskills.io, SKILL.md, skill authoring, eval, benchmark, trigger optimization.