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The Gateway is OpenClaw’s WebSocket server (channels, nodes, sessions, hooks). All subcommands below live under openclaw gateway ....

Bonjour discovery

Local mDNS + wide-area DNS-SD setup.

Discovery overview

How OpenClaw advertises and finds gateways.

Configuration

Top-level gateway config keys.

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Run the Gateway

  • Refuses to start unless gateway.mode=local is set in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Use --allow-unconfigured for ad-hoc/dev runs; it bypasses the guard without writing or repairing config.
  • When startup finds a repairable invalid config, an interactive terminal offers to run openclaw doctor --fix and retries startup once after consent. Non-interactive runs never repair automatically; they print the command instead. If the repaired config is still invalid, startup remains stopped.
  • openclaw onboard --mode local and openclaw setup write gateway.mode=local. If the config file exists but gateway.mode is missing, that is treated as damaged/clobbered config and the Gateway refuses to guess local for you — re-run onboarding, set the key manually, or pass --allow-unconfigured.
  • Binding beyond loopback without auth is blocked.
  • --bind values lan, tailnet, and custom resolve over IPv4-only paths today; IPv6-only bring-your-own-host setups need an IPv4 sidecar or proxy in front of the Gateway.
  • SIGUSR1 triggers an in-process restart when authorized. commands.restart (default: enabled) gates externally-sent SIGUSR1; set it to false to block manual OS-signal restarts. The agent-facing gateway tool is read-only; agents request restart through the human-approved openclaw delegation tool.
  • SIGINT/SIGTERM stop the process but do not restore custom terminal state — if you wrap the CLI in a TUI or raw-mode input, restore the terminal yourself before exit.

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Options

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number
WebSocket port (default from config/env; usually 18789).
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string
Bind mode: loopback (default), lan, tailnet, auto, custom.
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string
Shared token for connect.params.auth.token. Defaults to OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN when set.
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string
Auth mode: none, token, password, trusted-proxy.
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string
Password for --auth password.
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string
Read the Gateway password from a file.
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string
Tailscale exposure: off, serve, funnel.
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boolean
Reset Tailscale serve/funnel config on shutdown.
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boolean
Start without enforcing gateway.mode=local. Ad-hoc/dev bootstrap only; does not persist or repair config.
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boolean
Create a dev config + workspace if missing (skips BOOTSTRAP.md).
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boolean
Allow a dev Gateway to auto-configure channels from ambient environment variables. Requires --dev.
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boolean
Reset dev config, credentials, sessions, and workspace. Requires --dev.
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boolean
Kill any existing listener on the target port before starting. In a non-interactive shell, this refuses to kill a verified Gateway listener; use --dev or an isolated --profile with a free port instead.
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boolean
Verbose logging to stdout/stderr.
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boolean
Only show CLI backend logs in the console (also enables stdout/stderr).
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string
default:"auto"
WebSocket log style: auto, full, compact.
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boolean
Alias for --ws-log compact.
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boolean
Log raw model stream events to JSONL.
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string
Raw stream JSONL path.
--claude-cli-logs is a deprecated alias for --cli-backend-logs. For --bind custom, set gateway.customBindHost to an IPv4 address. Any address other than 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0 also requires 127.0.0.1 on the same port for same-host clients; startup fails if either listener cannot bind. Wildcard 0.0.0.0 does not add a separate required alias. IPv6-only bring-your-own-host setups need an IPv4 sidecar or proxy in front of the Gateway.

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Restart the Gateway

--safe asks the running Gateway to preflight active work and schedule one coalesced restart after that work drains. The wait is bounded to 5 minutes; when the budget expires the restart is forced. --safe cannot combine with --force or --wait. --skip-deferral bypasses the active-work deferral gate on a safe restart, so the Gateway restarts immediately even with reported blockers. It requires --safe — use it when a deferral is stuck on a runaway task. --wait <duration> overrides the drain budget for a plain (non-safe) restart. Accepts bare milliseconds or unit suffixes ms, s, m, h, d (e.g. 30s, 5m, 1h30m); --wait 0 waits indefinitely. Not compatible with --force or --safe. --force skips the active-work drain and restarts immediately. Plain restart (no flags) keeps the existing service-manager restart behavior.
Inline --password can be exposed in local process listings. Prefer --password-file, env, or a SecretRef-backed gateway.auth.password.

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External supervisors

Set OPENCLAW_SUPERVISOR_MODE=external only when another process manager owns the Gateway lifecycle. In this mode:
  • openclaw gateway restart preserves the existing safe, forced, and bounded-wait behavior while targeting the verified running Gateway instead of launchd, systemd, or Task Scheduler.
  • Native service install, start, stop, and uninstall operations are refused with guidance to use the external supervisor.
  • OpenClaw self-update is refused so the supervisor can stop the Gateway, replace and finalize the runtime, and restart it safely.
  • A fresh-process restart writes a bounded SQLite handoff before clean exit. If persistence fails, the Gateway falls back to an in-process restart instead of exiting without a consumable handoff.
OPENCLAW_SERVICE_REPAIR_POLICY=external remains a separate Doctor repair policy. It does not declare runtime ownership; supervisors that need both behaviors should set both variables. External supervisors can negotiate and consume restart handoffs through the hidden machine contract:
Protocol version 1 supports the consume operation. Consumption validates the expected PID and bounded handoff fields inside one immediate SQLite transaction. An accepted handoff is deleted before success is returned, so concurrent or replayed consumers cannot both accept it. A PID mismatch is retained for the matching owner; missing, expired, and invalid rows do not authorize a restart. Valid machine requests return JSON with exit code 0, including non-restart results. Invalid arguments return reason: "invalid-expected-pid" with exit code 2; state-store failures return reason: "store-unavailable" with exit code 1. Supervisors should probe capabilities on the exact runtime or launcher they will use rather than infer support from an OpenClaw version string or read the private SQLite schema directly.

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Gateway profiling

  • OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_STARTUP_TRACE=1 logs phase timings during startup, including per-phase eventLoopMax delay and plugin lookup-table timings (installed-index, manifest registry, startup planning, owner-map work).
  • OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_RESTART_TRACE=1 logs restart-scoped restart trace: lines: signal handling, active-work drain, shutdown phases, next start, ready timing, and memory metrics.
  • OPENCLAW_DIAGNOSTICS=timeline with OPENCLAW_DIAGNOSTICS_TIMELINE_PATH=<path> writes a best-effort JSONL startup diagnostics timeline for external QA harnesses (equivalent to config diagnostics.flags: ["timeline"]; the path is still env-only). Add OPENCLAW_DIAGNOSTICS_EVENT_LOOP=1 to include event-loop samples.
  • pnpm build then pnpm test:startup:gateway -- --runs 5 --warmup 1 benchmarks Gateway startup against the built CLI entry: first process output, /healthz, /readyz, startup trace timings, event-loop delay, and plugin lookup-table timing.
  • pnpm build then pnpm test:restart:gateway -- --case skipChannels --runs 1 --restarts 5 benchmarks in-process restart on macOS or Linux (not supported on Windows; restart requires SIGUSR1). Uses SIGUSR1, enables both traces in the child process, and records next /healthz, next /readyz, downtime, ready timing, CPU, RSS, and restart trace metrics.
  • /healthz is liveness; /readyz is usable readiness. Treat trace lines and benchmark output as owner-attribution signal, not a complete performance conclusion from one span or sample.

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Query a running Gateway

All query commands use WebSocket RPC.
  • Default: human-readable (colored in TTY).
  • --json: machine-readable JSON (no styling/spinner).
  • --no-color (or NO_COLOR=1): disable ANSI while keeping human layout.
When you set --url, the CLI does not fall back to config or environment credentials. Pass --token or --password explicitly. Missing explicit credentials is an error.

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gateway health

/healthz is a liveness probe: it returns as soon as the server can answer HTTP. /readyz is stricter and stays red while startup plugin sidecars, channels, or configured hooks are still settling. Local or authenticated detailed /readyz responses include an eventLoop diagnostic block (delay, utilization, CPU-core ratio, degraded flag).
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number
Target a local loopback Gateway on this port. Overrides OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL and OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT for this call.

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gateway usage-cost

Fetch usage-cost summaries from session logs.
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number
default:"30"
Number of days to include.
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string
Scope the summary to one configured agent id.
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boolean
Aggregate across all configured agents. Cannot combine with --agent.

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gateway stability

Fetch the recent diagnostic stability recorder from a running Gateway.
​
number
default:"25"
Maximum recent events to include (max 1000).
​
string
Filter by diagnostic event type, e.g. payload.large or diagnostic.memory.pressure.
​
number
Include only events after a diagnostic sequence number.
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string
Read a persisted stability bundle instead of calling the running Gateway. --bundle latest (or bare --bundle) picks the newest bundle under the state directory; you can also pass a bundle JSON path directly.
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boolean
Write a shareable support diagnostics zip instead of printing stability details.
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string
Output path for --export.
  • Records keep operational metadata: event names, counts, byte sizes, memory readings, queue/session state, approval ids, channel/plugin names, and redacted session summaries. They exclude chat text, webhook bodies, tool outputs, raw request/response bodies, tokens, cookies, secret values, hostnames, and raw session ids. Set diagnostics.enabled: false to disable the recorder entirely.
  • Fatal Gateway exits, shutdown timeouts, and restart startup failures write the same diagnostic snapshot to ~/.openclaw/logs/stability/openclaw-stability-*.json when the recorder has events. Inspect the newest bundle with openclaw gateway stability --bundle latest; --limit, --type, and --since-seq apply to bundle output too.

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gateway diagnostics export

Write a local diagnostics zip designed for bug reports. For the privacy model and bundle contents, see Diagnostics Export.
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string
Output zip path. Defaults to a support export under the state directory.
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number
default:"5000"
Maximum sanitized log lines to include.
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number
default:"1000000"
Maximum log bytes to inspect.
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string
Gateway WebSocket URL for the health snapshot.
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string
Gateway token for the health snapshot.
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string
Gateway password for the health snapshot.
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number
default:"3000"
Status/health snapshot timeout.
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boolean
Skip persisted stability bundle lookup.
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boolean
Print the written path, size, and manifest as JSON.
The export bundles: manifest.json (file inventory), summary.md (Markdown summary), diagnostics.json (top-level config/logs/discovery/stability/status/health summary), config/sanitized.json, status/gateway-status.json, health/gateway-health.json, logs/openclaw-sanitized.jsonl, and stability/latest.json when a bundle exists. It is designed to be shared. It keeps operational details useful for debugging — safe log fields, subsystem names, status codes, durations, configured modes, ports, plugin/provider ids, non-secret feature settings, and redacted operational log messages — and omits or redacts chat text, webhook bodies, tool outputs, credentials, cookies, account/message identifiers, prompt/instruction text, hostnames, and secret values. When a log message looks like user/chat/tool payload text (e.g. “user said”, “chat text”, “tool output”, “webhook body”), the export keeps only the fact that a message was omitted plus its byte count.

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gateway status

Shows the Gateway service (launchd/systemd/schtasks) plus an optional connectivity/auth probe.
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string
Add an explicit probe target. Configured remote + localhost are still probed.
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string
Token auth for the probe.
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string
Password auth for the probe.
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number
default:"10000"
Probe timeout.
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boolean
Skip the connectivity probe (service-only view).
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boolean
Scan system-level services too.
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boolean
Upgrade the connectivity probe to a read probe and exit non-zero if it fails. Cannot combine with --no-probe.
  • Stays available for diagnostics even when the local CLI config is missing or invalid.
  • Default output proves service state, WebSocket connect, and the auth capability visible at handshake time — not read/write/admin operations.
  • Probes are non-mutating for first-time device auth: they reuse an existing cached device token when one exists, but never create a new CLI device identity or read-only pairing record just to check status.
  • Resolves configured auth SecretRefs for probe auth when possible. If a required SecretRef is unresolved, --json reports rpc.authWarning when probe connectivity/auth fails; pass --token/--password explicitly or fix the secret source. Unresolved-auth warnings are suppressed once the probe succeeds.
  • JSON output includes gateway.version when the running Gateway reports it; --require-rpc can fall back to the status.runtimeVersion RPC payload if the handshake probe cannot supply version metadata.
  • Use --require-rpc in scripts/automation when a listening service is not enough and you need read-scope RPC to be healthy too.
  • --deep scans for extra launchd/systemd/schtasks installs; when multiple gateway-like services are found, human output prints cleanup hints (usually run one gateway per machine) and reports a recent supervisor restart handoff when relevant.
  • --deep also runs config validation in plugin-aware mode (pluginValidation: "full") and surfaces plugin manifest warnings (e.g. missing channel config metadata). Default gateway status keeps the fast read-only path that skips plugin validation.
  • Human output includes the resolved file log path plus CLI-vs-service config paths/validity to help diagnose profile or state-dir drift.
  • Human output includes Gateway heap: with the applied limit and its adaptive derivation. JSON output exposes the same report as service.gatewayHeap.
  • Service auth drift checks read both Environment= and EnvironmentFile= from the unit (including %h, quoted paths, multiple files, and optional - files).
  • Resolves gateway.auth.token SecretRefs using merged runtime env (service command env first, then process env fallback).
  • Token-drift checks skip config token resolution when token auth is not effectively active (gateway.auth.mode explicitly password/none/trusted-proxy, or mode unset where password can win and no token candidate can win).

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gateway probe

The “debug everything” command. It always probes:
  • your configured remote gateway (if set), and
  • localhost (loopback), even if remote is configured.
Passing --url adds that explicit target ahead of both. Human output labels targets URL (explicit), Remote (configured) / Remote (configured, inactive), and Local loopback.
If multiple probe targets are reachable, all are printed. An SSH tunnel, TLS/proxy URL, and configured remote URL can point at the same gateway even with different transport ports; multiple_gateways is reserved for distinct or identity-ambiguous reachable gateways. Running multiple gateways is supported for isolated profiles (e.g. a rescue bot), but most installs run a single gateway.
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number
Use this port for the local loopback probe target and SSH tunnel remote port. Without --url, this selects only the local loopback target instead of configured gateway environment URL, environment port, or remote targets.
  • Reachable: yes means at least one target accepted a WebSocket connect.
  • Capability: read-only|write-capable|admin-capable|pairing-pending|connect-only reports what the probe could prove about auth, separate from reachability.
  • Read probe: ok means read-scope detail RPC calls (health/status/system-presence/config.get) also succeeded.
  • Read probe: limited - missing scope: operator.read means connect succeeded but read-scope RPC is limited. Reported as degraded reachability, not full failure.
  • Read probe: failed after Connect: ok means the WebSocket connected but follow-up read diagnostics timed out or failed — also degraded, not unreachable.
  • Like gateway status, probe reuses existing cached device auth but does not create first-time device identity or pairing state.
  • Exit code is non-zero only when no probed target is reachable.
Top level:
  • ok: at least one target is reachable.
  • degraded: at least one target accepted a connection but did not complete full detail RPC diagnostics.
  • capability: best capability seen across reachable targets (read_only, write_capable, admin_capable, pairing_pending, connected_no_operator_scope, or unknown).
  • primaryTargetId: best target to treat as the active winner, in order: explicit URL, SSH tunnel, configured remote, local loopback.
  • warnings[]: best-effort warning records with code, message, optional targetIds.
  • network: local loopback/tailnet URL hints derived from current config and host networking.
  • discovery.timeoutMs / discovery.count: the actual discovery budget/result count used for this probe pass.
Per target (targets[].connect): ok (reachability + degraded classification), rpcOk (full detail RPC success), scopeLimited (detail RPC failed on missing operator scope).Per target (targets[].auth): role and scopes reported in hello-ok when available, plus the surfaced capability classification.
  • ssh_tunnel_failed: SSH tunnel setup failed; the command fell back to direct probes.
  • multiple_gateways: distinct gateway identities were reachable, or OpenClaw could not prove reachable targets are the same gateway. An SSH tunnel, proxy URL, or configured remote URL to the same gateway does not trigger this.
  • auth_secretref_unresolved: a configured auth SecretRef could not be resolved for a failed target.
  • probe_scope_limited: WebSocket connect succeeded, but the read probe was limited by missing operator.read.
  • local_tls_runtime_unavailable: local Gateway TLS is enabled but OpenClaw could not load the local certificate fingerprint.

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Remote over SSH (Mac app parity)

The macOS app “Remote over SSH” mode uses a local port-forward so a loopback-only remote gateway becomes reachable at ws://127.0.0.1:<port>. CLI equivalent:
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string
user@host or user@host:port (port defaults to 22).
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string
Identity file.
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boolean
Pick the first discovered gateway host as SSH target from the resolved discovery endpoint (local. plus the configured wide-area domain, if any). TXT-only hints are ignored.
Config defaults (optional): gateway.remote.sshTarget, gateway.remote.sshIdentity.

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gateway call <method>

Low-level RPC helper.
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string
default:"{}"
JSON object string for params.
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string
Gateway WebSocket URL.
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string
Gateway token.
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string
Gateway password.
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number
default:"10000"
Timeout budget.
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boolean
Mainly for agent-style RPCs that stream intermediate events before a final payload.
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boolean
Machine-readable JSON output.
--params must be valid JSON, and each method validates its own param shape (extra/misnamed fields are rejected).

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Manage the Gateway service

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Install with a wrapper

Use --wrapper when the managed service must start through another executable, for example a secrets manager shim or a run-as helper. The wrapper receives the normal Gateway args and is responsible for eventually exec’ing openclaw or Node with those args.
You can also set the wrapper through the environment. gateway install validates that the path is an executable file, writes the wrapper into the service ProgramArguments, and persists OPENCLAW_WRAPPER in the service environment for later forced reinstalls, updates, and doctor repairs.
To remove a persisted wrapper, clear OPENCLAW_WRAPPER while reinstalling:
  • gateway status: --url, --token, --password, --timeout, --no-probe, --require-rpc, --deep, --json
  • gateway install: --port, --runtime <node> (default: node), --token, --wrapper <path>, --force, --json
  • gateway restart: --safe, --skip-deferral, --force, --wait <duration>, --json
  • gateway uninstall|start: --json
  • gateway stop: --disable, --force, --json
  • gateway start is idempotent: when the managed service is already running, it reports the running process and leaves it untouched. A loaded but stopped service is started as before.
  • Use gateway restart to restart a managed service. Do not chain gateway stop and gateway start as a restart substitute.
  • In a non-interactive shell, gateway stop requires --force. Interactive terminals keep the existing prompt-free behavior. For automation and tests, prefer gateway run --dev or an isolated --profile with a free port.
  • On macOS, gateway stop uses launchctl bootout by default, which removes the LaunchAgent from the current boot session without persisting a disable — KeepAlive auto-recovery stays active for future crashes and gateway start re-enables cleanly without a manual launchctl enable. Pass --disable to persistently suppress KeepAlive and RunAtLoad so the gateway does not respawn until the next explicit gateway start; use this when a manual stop should survive reboots.
  • Gateway lifecycle mutations append best-effort key-value audit records to <state-dir>/logs/gateway-restart.log, including CLI start, stop, and restart operations, safe restart requests, supervisor restarts, and detached handoffs.
  • Lifecycle commands accept --json for scripting.
  • gateway install writes a heap-only NODE_OPTIONS value for the managed Gateway service. It targets 50% of constrained memory when Node reports a container or service limit, otherwise 50% of physical memory.
  • The nominal target range is 2048–8192 MiB, with an additional 75% native-headroom cap. On small hosts, that headroom cap can put the applied limit below the nominal 2048 MiB floor.
  • A valid explicit --max-old-space-size already stored in the installed service is preserved across forced reinstalls and doctor repairs. Other NODE_OPTIONS flags are not carried into the managed service.
  • Ambient shell NODE_OPTIONS does not override this policy. Use gateway status or doctor to inspect the installed value; run openclaw gateway install --force to regenerate older service metadata that has no managed heap setting.
  • The policy applies only to the managed Gateway service. Foreground gateway run, node services, and hand-written supervisor units retain their own runtime configuration.
  • When token auth requires a token and gateway.auth.token is SecretRef-managed, gateway install validates that the SecretRef is resolvable but does not persist the resolved token into service environment metadata.
  • If token auth requires a token and the configured token SecretRef is unresolved, install fails closed instead of persisting fallback plaintext.
  • For password auth on gateway run, prefer OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD, --password-file, or a SecretRef-backed gateway.auth.password over inline --password.
  • In inferred auth mode, shell-only OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD does not relax install token requirements; use durable config (gateway.auth.password or config env) when installing a managed service.
  • If both gateway.auth.token and gateway.auth.password are configured and gateway.auth.mode is unset, install is blocked until mode is set explicitly.

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Discover gateways (Bonjour)

gateway discover scans for Gateway beacons (_openclaw-gw._tcp).
  • Multicast DNS-SD: local.
  • Unicast DNS-SD (wide-area Bonjour): choose a domain (example: openclaw.internal.) and set up split DNS + a DNS server; see Bonjour.
Only gateways with Bonjour discovery enabled (default) advertise the beacon. TXT hints on every beacon: role (gateway role hint), transport (transport hint, e.g. gateway), gatewayPort (WebSocket port, usually 18789), tailnetDns (MagicDNS hostname, when available), gatewayTls / gatewayTlsSha256 (TLS enabled + cert fingerprint). sshPort and cliPath are published only in full discovery mode (discovery.mdns.mode: "full"; default is "minimal", which omits them — clients then default SSH targets to port 22).

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gateway discover

​
number
default:"2000"
Per-command timeout (browse/resolve).
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boolean
Machine-readable output (also disables styling/spinner).
Examples:
  • Scans local. plus the configured wide-area domain when one is enabled.
  • wsUrl in JSON output is derived from the resolved service endpoint, not from TXT-only hints such as lanHost or tailnetDns.
  • discovery.mdns.mode controls sshPort/cliPath publication on both local. mDNS and wide-area DNS-SD (see above).