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This flow lets the macOS app act as a full remote control for an OpenClaw Gateway running on another host (desktop/server). The app connects directly to trusted LAN/Tailnet Gateway URLs, or manages an SSH tunnel when the remote Gateway is loopback-only. Health checks, Voice Wake forwarding, and WebChat reuse the same remote configuration from the native Connection window.

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Connect with your browser

Add a saved Gateway to use its dashboard and native chat with your personal account. This connection stays separate from the primary Gateway that owns Mac node capabilities and Talk Mode.
  1. On first launch, choose Connect to an existing Gateway. In an already configured app, open Connection… → Gateways → Add Gateway.
  2. Enter the Gateway’s address, such as gateway.example.com or https://gateway.example.com/operator/. A hostname defaults to HTTPS; include the full base path when the Gateway is hosted beneath one. Name is optional.
  3. Click Connect. For a Gateway protected by Cloudflare Access, the app opens your default browser. Continue with the account you use for that Gateway and complete any sign-in prompts there. If the browser does not appear, choose Open browser in the pending sign-in. This resumes the same sign-in attempt; it does not start another one. The recovery action launches your default browser normally, allowing the browser to select its profile instead of reusing an invisible automation process. Check the account shown in the browser before approving sign-in.
  4. Return to OpenClaw. The saved Gateway’s dashboard opens; check the account name in its sidebar footer. You can open more windows from File → New Gateway Window… or the Gateways menu. The app reopens your selected Gateway after restart, including when a separate primary Gateway supplies Mac capabilities.
Cloudflare Access issues the personal application session through its browser-to-client sign-in flow. The Mac app stores that session in Keychain and uses it for the saved Gateway’s native connection and embedded dashboard. Its validity follows the session duration configured by the Access administrator. No shared Gateway token needs to be copied from the website. Browser sign-in currently supports Cloudflare Access. For Gateways that use a shared token or password, expand Token or password and provide the credential supplied by the administrator. Other browser sign-in providers are not supported by this flow. Existing private-network ws:// and secure wss:// connections remain available through this editor. A signed-in native operator device may still need a one-time approval on the Gateway. The Gateway’s existing automatic device approval policy determines whether verified proxy identities can enroll automatically. When the browser session expires, opening the saved Gateway shows a sign-in page and starts sign-in in your browser. A window restored at launch waits for you to choose Sign in again. You can also choose Reconnect for that saved Gateway in Connection… → Gateways, then Connect. The session lifetime is the Cloudflare Access application’s session duration configured by the Access administrator. Renewing the same account keeps its native chat cache and queued messages. Signing in with a different account closes the previous account’s native chat windows and uses that account’s own cache and queue. Previously queued messages remain with their original account; sign back into that account to access them. The Open browser action is available only while its sign-in is active. Cancelling, closing the sign-in, or changing the saved Gateway invalidates it. After a timeout, start sign-in again. Command-line sign-in also presents this recovery action in a native window; closing that window cancels the pending command. To sign out of that Gateway in the Mac app, remove it from Connection… → Gateways and confirm Remove. This removes its saved credentials and dashboard browser data. Use your identity provider’s session controls to revoke account access more broadly.

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Open the Mac app from a website

In the browser dashboard, open Get the apps from the account menu, then choose Open in Mac app on the macOS card. The link uses the connected Gateway’s HTTPS address. OpenClaw shows Add Gateway with that address filled in; review it and click Connect to complete the same sign-in flow. Websites can launch this editor with the registered openclaw URL scheme:
url is required and contains the percent-encoded full HTTPS Gateway base URL, including its port and base path when needed. name is an optional display label. The link carries connection intent only: it accepts no token, password, URL user information, query, or fragment in the Gateway address, and it does not authorize access. Credentials are obtained separately during sign-in. The existing openclaw://gateway?host=… setup route retains its primary-Gateway setup behavior. Use openclaw://gateway/add to add a saved Gateway without replacing the primary connection.

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Modes

  • Local (this Mac): everything runs on the laptop; no SSH involved.
  • Remote over SSH (default): OpenClaw commands run on the remote host. The app opens an SSH connection with -o BatchMode, your chosen identity/key, and a local port-forward.
  • Remote direct (ws/wss): no SSH tunnel; the app connects to the Gateway URL directly (LAN, Tailscale, Tailscale Serve, or a public HTTPS reverse proxy).

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Remote transports

  • SSH tunnel: uses ssh -N -L ... to forward the Gateway port to localhost. The Gateway sees the node’s IP as 127.0.0.1 because the tunnel is loopback.
  • Direct (ws/wss): connects straight to the Gateway URL. The Gateway sees the real client IP.
The app disables SSH connection multiplexing and post-authentication backgrounding for its own SSH processes so it can monitor and restart the exact process, even if the selected alias enables ControlMaster or ForkAfterAuthentication. SSH host-key verification is strict by default because Gateway credentials travel through this tunnel. To opt into a managed SSH alias’s own trust behavior, set --ssh-host-key-policy openssh via openclaw-mac primary set, or set gateway.remote.sshHostKeyPolicy to "openssh" directly. Review the alias and any matching Host * or system configuration before opting in. Changing the SSH target (in the app or via openclaw-mac) resets the policy back to strict unless you explicitly opt in again for the new target. In SSH tunnel mode, the SSH target you configure saves as gateway.remote.sshTarget. The app keeps gateway.remote.url on the local tunnel endpoint (for example ws://127.0.0.1:18789) so CLI, WebChat, and the local node-host service all use the same loopback transport. Use a trusted Tailscale MagicDNS or LAN hostname when you want the configured target to follow address changes. Discovery does not replace that target or supply its SSH port or CLI path. The port in gateway.remote.url belongs to the SSH tunnel; gateway.port controls only the Gateway running on this Mac. If the local tunnel port differs from the remote Gateway port, set gateway.remote.remotePort to the port on the remote host. The Mac app’s node combines native capabilities with system, browser, plugin, skill, and MCP commands from its bundled private worker. Connecting the app to a remote Gateway needs no external CLI or separate node-service installation on this Mac. An already-installed headless node service remains separate: the app preserves its start/stop and managed update/recovery behavior. Optional cookie sync still uses an external CLI and reports a feature-specific error when it is missing.

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Run a local Gateway alongside a remote primary

In Connection… → Connection, with Remote selected, turn on Also run a Gateway on this Mac. The app starts and supervises the local Gateway through its usual launchd agent. Launch-agent management for the hosted Gateway always runs on this Mac, even when the primary uses SSH. This Mac appears after the primary in the Gateways menu, dashboard Gateway picker, File → New Gateway Window, and openclaw-mac gateway list. Open dashboard and chat windows on either Gateway. The hosted local entry cannot become primary from the catalog. The primary connection, SSH tunnel, menu bar status, this Mac’s node capabilities, and Talk Mode keep following the remote Gateway. Pausing stops local hosting; the toggle is a device-local preference and adds no openclaw.json keys. openclaw-mac status --json reports the local hosting state, port, and process status. gateway.port is the local Gateway’s bind port. The loopback port in gateway.remote.url is the SSH tunnel’s local port, and gateway.remote.remotePort selects the destination port on the remote host. Older SSH configurations without explicit remote port settings retain their shared-port defaults until hosting is enabled. The hosting repair first records the tunnel and destination ports in the remote settings, then separates a colliding local bind port and clears a colliding legacy port preference. It uses the default local port (18789 or the profile default), or the adjacent port when that default is also the tunnel port. The Connection window reports this one-time repair; the remote connection keeps its existing ports. A named profile that already reserved the old port must restart before hosting can be enabled. If the selected local port is occupied by another listener, resolve the displayed conflict; the app does not select a random local Gateway port. The openclaw CLI, including commands in shells started by the hosted Gateway, continues targeting the remote primary. To reach the local Gateway explicitly, use its own credentials and the port shown in Connection:
Use wss:// when local Gateway TLS is enabled. The app provisions missing local auth through the existing Gateway installer; it does not export that credential into agent shell environments.

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Prereqs on the remote host

  1. Install the packaged OpenClaw CLI with npm install -g openclaw@latest --allow-scripts=openclaw (omit --allow-scripts=openclaw on npm 11.15 and earlier).
  2. Ensure openclaw is on PATH for non-interactive shells (symlink into /usr/local/bin or /opt/homebrew/bin if needed).
  3. For SSH transport: set up key-based SSH auth. Tailscale IPs are recommended for stable reachability off-LAN.

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macOS app setup

Use the bundled openclaw-mac command to inspect or change the running app’s connections from Terminal or over SSH. The app’s CLI installer links it beside its profile-managed openclaw command. You can also call it directly at /Applications/OpenClaw.app/Contents/MacOS/openclaw-mac. Inspect the primary connection, saved Gateways, and app version:
Configure the primary Gateway over SSH:
Or connect directly to a trusted LAN or Tailnet endpoint:
The app applies the change and restarts its primary connection and SSH tunnel as needed. Changing targets clears the previous SSH identity, remote project root, and remote CLI path; supply --identity /path/to/key for an SSH identity on the new target. Host-key verification defaults to strict; use --ssh-host-key-policy openssh only for an alias whose OpenSSH trust policy you accept. Use primary set --local for a Gateway on this Mac, or primary clear to return the primary connection to its unconfigured state. Saved Gateways remain separate from this primary connection.

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Add and manage saved Gateways

For a Gateway protected by Cloudflare Access:
The command prints Complete sign-in in your browser… to stderr and waits while the app runs its bundled browser sign-in helper. Complete authentication in the Mac’s default browser. The request remains open until sign-in succeeds, fails, or reaches the helper’s 300-second limit. On success, the command reports the saved Gateway and its identity subject and expiry. An SSH session can initiate this flow, but browser interaction still happens on the Mac. For a Gateway using a shared token, replace --browser with --token-file /path/to/gateway-token; passwords use --password-file /path/to/gateway-password. The same URL validation as the Gateways tab applies, including secure wss:// for public hosts. Token/password adds wait for a connection attempt within the request timeout; if it fails, the profile remains saved and the command exits with code 0, reporting disconnected with a sanitized error.
Reconnect renews browser authentication for browser profiles and reconnects token/password profiles. Remove signs out and removes the app’s saved credentials and dashboard browser data. Commands accept an exact Gateway ID or a unique case-insensitive name; ambiguous names produce an error listing candidates. Without --yes, removal asks once in an interactive terminal; noninteractive removal requires --yes.

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Secrets, profiles, and app launch

On primary set and gateway add, pass secrets only with --token-file, --token-stdin, --password-file, or --password-stdin. File/stdin input is read once and trailing newlines are removed. Keep credential files private. The new commands reject --token and --password to keep secrets out of process arguments. Status and saved-Gateway output never contain credentials. Every command, including offline configure-remote and legacy connect/wizard, uses --profile <name> first, then OPENCLAW_PROFILE, then the default profile. Use --profile default to override a named environment profile. Profile names follow the app’s validation rules. For example:
The CLI starts its containing app bundle in the background when needed, falling back to /Applications/OpenClaw.app. Use --no-launch to require an already-running app. --timeout <ms> bounds waiting for the app and operation. The default is 15 seconds, or 310 seconds for gateway add and gateway reconnect to allow browser sign-in to finish. Global flags can appear before or after the command; --profile takes precedence over the environment. The control socket follows the app profile: ~/.openclaw/mac-control.sock for the default profile and ~/.openclaw-<name>/mac-control.sock for a named profile. OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR and OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH do not relocate it. With --json, successful commands print the requested result to stdout. Failures print { "ok": false, "error": { "code": "…", "message": "…" } } to stderr. Exit codes are 0 for success, 1 for usage errors, 2 when the app is unreachable, and 3 when an operation fails.

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Offline preconfiguration

Keep configure-remote for preparing a primary connection before the app starts. It writes configuration and app defaults directly; it cannot manage saved Gateways or restart a running app’s connection. Prefer primary set when the app is running.
The legacy connect, wizard, and configure-remote commands resolve config in this order: OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH, then $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/openclaw.json, then the selected profile’s config: ~/.openclaw-<name>/openclaw.json for a named profile or ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json for the default profile. Explicit config/state paths override the profile’s config location but do not change its app defaults suite. With a named profile, configure-remote writes only ai.openclaw.mac.profile.<name>, shared by release and debug app bundles. The default profile keeps the ai.openclaw.mac and ai.openclaw.mac.debug suites. For example, openclaw-mac configure-remote --profile research --direct-url wss://gateway.example.com preconfigures only the research profile unless an explicit config/state path is set. configure-remote supports SSH and --direct-url transports, marks onboarding complete, and leaves the app to use the selected transport on its next start. Its ports default to 18789. Additional options include --identity, --ssh-host-key-policy, --project-root, --cli-path, and --json. Pass credentials with --token-file PATH or --token-stdin, and --password-file PATH or --password-stdin. Input is read once and trailing newlines are removed; standard input can supply only one secret. Keep credential files private. Its legacy --token/--password arguments remain supported with a deprecation warning on stderr because they expose credentials through process arguments. Choose one source per secret; combining its legacy argument with file/stdin input is rejected. Run configure-remote --help for its full reference.

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Configure in the app

To configure from the UI instead:
  1. Choose Connection… from the menu bar and select the Connection tab.
  2. Under OpenClaw runs, pick Remote (another host) to open Connect to a Gateway. If you already use a remote Gateway, choose Change connection…. Selecting a Nearby Gateways row opens the same editor. The listing is only a hint: it does not fill in an advertised address, SSH target, or certificate pin, and it does not change your saved connection.
  3. Choose the connection and supply details from the Gateway owner through a source you trust:
    • Gateway address or setup code: paste a trusted URL, such as wss://gateway.example.ts.net, or a setup code into Address or setup code. Local/LAN ws:// URLs remain supported.
    • SSH tunnel: enter SSH target as user@host (optional :port) and Gateway port on the remote host. Under SSH details, you can set Identity file, Project root, and CLI path. Discovery does not supply these values.
  4. Enter the destination’s Gateway token or Gateway password when required. Changing the destination clears the form’s saved credentials. Leave both fields empty only if that route already has device pairing, does not require a shared credential, or the setup code includes the ordinary Gateway credential.
  5. Choose Save connection to apply the connection. Cancel leaves the saved connection unchanged. A failed save keeps the editor open and shows the error.
  6. Choose Test to check the saved connection. The app checks SSH reachability when applicable, then authenticates and calls the Gateway health RPC. Connection, authentication, and pairing errors appear here; this check does not require a CLI on this Mac. Health checks and WebChat use the saved transport automatically.
A setup code imports its address and any supplied TLS certificate pin automatically; ordinary setup does not require you to type a certificate fingerprint. This editor does not redeem a setup code’s one-time bootstrap token. For token or password authentication, use the ordinary Gateway credential. If an older code lacks the pin needed for a self-signed certificate, ask the owner for a new code with the pin, use a trusted HTTPS endpoint such as Tailscale Serve, or use SSH. A Nearby listing cannot supply the missing trust. Existing configured connections remain in place on upgrade. This setup flow does not require the Mac app and Gateway to have identical release versions; their Gateway protocol and the features you use must still be compatible. Explicit OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD values in the app’s launch environment continue to override the form’s credentials. Update that environment before connecting to a different Gateway. Direct connections no longer use discovered SSH details for silent node-pairing approval; use the existing approval panel. This does not revoke existing pairings. Configured SSH connections and the app’s own local node keep their existing approval policy.

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WebChat

  • SSH tunnel: connects to the Gateway over the forwarded WebSocket control port (default 18789).
  • Direct (ws/wss): connects straight to the configured Gateway URL.
  • There is no separate WebChat HTTP server.

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Debug connection actions

With developer tools enabled, Reset SSH tunnel is available only for a remote primary using SSH. It retires the existing tunnel, resolves the current primary endpoint, and reconnects the control channel. Direct ws/wss connections do not use an SSH tunnel. Changing the primary connection while a reset is in progress cancels the remaining reset steps. Restart Gateway is available only when the primary Gateway runs locally on this Mac. Check gateway ports inspects local listeners: the SSH tunnel when used, and any local Gateway hosted by the app. For a running SSH tunnel, diagnostics inspect its allocated port, including when the preferred port was occupied and SSH uses another local port. With no running tunnel, diagnostics inspect the configured port. A direct remote primary does not require a local listener and does not produce a missing-local-port warning.

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Permissions

  • The remote host needs the same TCC approvals as local (Automation, Accessibility, Screen Recording, Microphone, Speech Recognition, Notifications). Run onboarding on that machine once to grant them.
  • Nodes advertise their permission state via node.list / node.describe so agents know what is available.

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Security notes

  • Prefer loopback binds on the remote host and connect via SSH, Tailscale Serve, or a trusted Tailnet/LAN direct URL.
  • SSH tunneling requires an already-trusted host key by default. Trust the host key first (add it to the configured known-hosts file), or explicitly set gateway.remote.sshHostKeyPolicy: "openssh" for a managed alias whose OpenSSH trust policy you accept.
  • If you bind the Gateway to a non-loopback interface, require valid Gateway auth: token, password, or an identity-aware reverse proxy with gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy".
  • Direct wss:// connections apply one certificate policy to both operator/control traffic and the Mac companion node. Set gateway.remote.tlsFingerprint for an explicit pin. Without one, the app records a first-use pin only after normal macOS trust succeeds.
  • See Security and Tailscale.

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WhatsApp login flow (remote)

  • Run openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp --verbose on the remote host. Scan the QR with WhatsApp on your phone.
  • Re-run login on that host if auth expires. The health check surfaces link problems.

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Troubleshooting

The Dashboard error page shows the attempted address without embedded credentials. Check the host, port, and path when troubleshooting an unavailable Gateway. Choose Connection Settings… there, or Connection… from the menu bar, to repair the connection without loading the Dashboard.

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Notification sounds

Pick sounds per notification from scripts with openclaw nodes notify, for example:
There is no global default-sound toggle in the app; callers choose a sound (or none) per request.