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| summary | read_when | title | sidebarTitle | ||
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| CLI onboarding: guided setup for gateway, workspace, channels, and skills |
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Onboarding (CLI) | Onboarding: CLI |
Onboarding (CLI)
CLI onboarding is the recommended way to set up OpenClaw on macOS, Linux, or Windows (via WSL2; strongly recommended). It configures a local Gateway or a remote Gateway connection, plus channels, skills, and workspace defaults in one guided flow.
openclaw onboard
Fastest first chat: open the Control UI (no channel setup needed). Run
`openclaw dashboard` and chat in the browser. Docs: [Dashboard](/web/dashboard).
To reconfigure later:
openclaw configure
openclaw agents add <name>
`--json` does not imply non-interactive mode. For scripts, use `--non-interactive`.
CLI onboarding includes a web search step where you can pick a provider
such as Brave, Firecrawl, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, Ollama Web Search, Perplexity,
or Tavily. Some providers require an API key, while others are key-free. You
can also configure this later with
`openclaw configure --section web`. Docs: [Web tools](/tools/web).
QuickStart vs Advanced
Onboarding starts with QuickStart (defaults) vs Advanced (full control).
- Local gateway (loopback) - Workspace default (or existing workspace) - Gateway port **18789** - Gateway auth **Token** (auto‑generated, even on loopback) - Tool policy default for new local setups: `tools.profile: "coding"` (existing explicit profile is preserved) - DM isolation default: local onboarding writes `session.dmScope: "per-channel-peer"` when unset. Details: [CLI Setup Reference](/start/wizard-cli-reference#outputs-and-internals) - Tailscale exposure **Off** - Telegram + WhatsApp DMs default to **allowlist** (you'll be prompted for your phone number) - Exposes every step (mode, workspace, gateway, channels, daemon, skills).What onboarding configures
Local mode (default) walks you through these steps:
- Model/Auth — choose any supported provider/auth flow (API key, OAuth, or provider-specific manual auth), including Custom Provider
(OpenAI-compatible, Anthropic-compatible, or Unknown auto-detect). Pick a default model.
Security note: if this agent will run tools or process webhook/hooks content, prefer the strongest latest-generation model available and keep tool policy strict. Weaker/older tiers are easier to prompt-inject.
For non-interactive runs,
--secret-input-mode refstores env-backed refs in auth profiles instead of plaintext API key values. In non-interactiverefmode, the provider env var must be set; passing inline key flags without that env var fails fast. In interactive runs, choosing secret reference mode lets you point at either an environment variable or a configured provider ref (fileorexec), with a fast preflight validation before saving. For Anthropic, interactive onboarding/configure prefers Anthropic Claude CLI first, then Anthropic API key. Existing legacy Anthropic token profiles still run if already configured, but new setup is no longer offered through onboarding or auth commands. - Workspace — Location for agent files (default
~/.openclaw/workspace). Seeds bootstrap files. - Gateway — Port, bind address, auth mode, Tailscale exposure.
In interactive token mode, choose default plaintext token storage or opt into SecretRef.
Non-interactive token SecretRef path:
--gateway-token-ref-env <ENV_VAR>. - Channels — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Google Chat, Mattermost, Signal, BlueBubbles, or iMessage.
- Daemon — Installs a LaunchAgent (macOS), systemd user unit (Linux/WSL2), or native Windows Scheduled Task with per-user Startup-folder fallback.
If token auth requires a token and
gateway.auth.tokenis SecretRef-managed, daemon install validates it but does not persist the resolved token into supervisor service environment metadata. If token auth requires a token and the configured token SecretRef is unresolved, daemon install is blocked with actionable guidance. If bothgateway.auth.tokenandgateway.auth.passwordare configured andgateway.auth.modeis unset, daemon install is blocked until mode is set explicitly. - Health check — Starts the Gateway and verifies it's running.
- Skills — Installs recommended skills and optional dependencies.
Remote mode only configures the local client to connect to a Gateway elsewhere. It does not install or change anything on the remote host.
Add another agent
Use openclaw agents add <name> to create a separate agent with its own workspace,
sessions, and auth profiles. Running without --workspace launches onboarding.
What it sets:
agents.list[].nameagents.list[].workspaceagents.list[].agentDir
Notes:
- Default workspaces follow
~/.openclaw/workspace-<agentId>. - Add
bindingsto route inbound messages (onboarding can do this). - Non-interactive flags:
--model,--agent-dir,--bind,--non-interactive.
Full reference
For detailed step-by-step breakdowns and config outputs, see CLI Setup Reference. For non-interactive examples, see CLI Automation. For the deeper technical reference, including RPC details, see Onboarding Reference.
Related docs
- CLI command reference:
openclaw onboard - Onboarding overview: Onboarding Overview
- macOS app onboarding: Onboarding
- Agent first-run ritual: Agent Bootstrapping