Configuration Examples
Examples below are aligned with the current config schema. For the exhaustive reference and per-field notes, see Configuration.
Quick start
Absolute minimum
{
agent: { workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace" },
channels: { whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["+15555550123"] } },
}
Save to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and you can DM the bot from that number.
Recommended starter
{
identity: {
name: "Clawd",
theme: "helpful assistant",
emoji: "🦞",
},
agent: {
workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5" },
},
channels: {
whatsapp: {
allowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } },
},
},
}
Expanded example (major options)
JSON5 lets you use comments and trailing commas. Regular JSON works too.
{
// Environment + shell
env: {
OPENROUTER_API_KEY: "sk-or-...",
vars: {
GROQ_API_KEY: "gsk-...",
},
shellEnv: {
enabled: true,
timeoutMs: 15000,
},
},
// Auth profile metadata (secrets live in auth-profiles.json)
auth: {
profiles: {
"anthropic:[email protected]": {
provider: "anthropic",
mode: "oauth",
email: "[email protected]",
},
"anthropic:work": { provider: "anthropic", mode: "api_key" },
"openai:default": { provider: "openai", mode: "api_key" },
"openai-codex:default": { provider: "openai-codex", mode: "oauth" },
},
order: {
anthropic: ["anthropic:[email protected]", "anthropic:work"],
openai: ["openai:default"],
"openai-codex": ["openai-codex:default"],
},
},
// Identity
identity: {
name: "Samantha",
theme: "helpful sloth",
emoji: "🦥",
},
// Logging
logging: {
level: "info",
file: "/tmp/openclaw/openclaw.log",
consoleLevel: "info",
consoleStyle: "pretty",
redactSensitive: "tools",
},
// Message formatting
messages: {
messagePrefix: "[openclaw]",
responsePrefix: ">",
ackReaction: "👀",
ackReactionScope: "group-mentions",
},
// Routing + queue
routing: {
groupChat: {
mentionPatterns: ["@openclaw", "openclaw"],
historyLimit: 50,
},
queue: {
mode: "collect",
debounceMs: 1000,
cap: 20,
drop: "summarize",
byChannel: {
whatsapp: "collect",
telegram: "collect",
discord: "collect",
slack: "collect",
signal: "collect",
imessage: "collect",
webchat: "collect",
},
},
},
// Tooling
tools: {
media: {
audio: {
enabled: true,
maxBytes: 20971520,
models: [
{ provider: "openai", model: "gpt-4o-mini-transcribe" },
// Optional CLI fallback (Whisper binary):
// { type: "cli", command: "whisper", args: ["--model", "base", "{{MediaPath}}"] }
],
timeoutSeconds: 120,
},
video: {
enabled: true,
maxBytes: 52428800,
models: [{ provider: "google", model: "gemini-3-flash-preview" }],
},
},
},
// Session behavior
session: {
scope: "per-sender",
reset: {
mode: "daily",
atHour: 4,
idleMinutes: 60,
},
resetByChannel: {
discord: { mode: "idle", idleMinutes: 10080 },
},
resetTriggers: ["/new", "/reset"],
store: "~/.openclaw/agents/default/sessions/sessions.json",
maintenance: {
mode: "warn",
pruneAfter: "30d",
maxEntries: 500,
rotateBytes: "10mb",
},
typingIntervalSeconds: 5,
sendPolicy: {
default: "allow",
rules: [{ action: "deny", match: { channel: "discord", chatType: "group" } }],
},
},
// Channels
channels: {
whatsapp: {
dmPolicy: "pairing",
allowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
groupPolicy: "allowlist",
groupAllowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } },
},
telegram: {
enabled: true,
botToken: "YOUR_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN",
allowFrom: ["123456789"],
groupPolicy: "allowlist",
groupAllowFrom: ["123456789"],
groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } },
},
discord: {
enabled: true,
token: "YOUR_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN",
dm: { enabled: true, allowFrom: ["steipete"] },
guilds: {
"123456789012345678": {
slug: "friends-of-openclaw",
requireMention: false,
channels: {
general: { allow: true },
help: { allow: true, requireMention: true },
},
},
},
},
slack: {
enabled: true,
botToken: "xoxb-REPLACE_ME",
appToken: "xapp-REPLACE_ME",
channels: {
"#general": { allow: true, requireMention: true },
},
dm: { enabled: true, allowFrom: ["U123"] },
slashCommand: {
enabled: true,
name: "openclaw",
sessionPrefix: "slack:slash",
ephemeral: true,
},
},
},
// Agent runtime
agents: {
defaults: {
workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
userTimezone: "America/Chicago",
model: {
primary: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
fallbacks: ["anthropic/claude-opus-4-6", "openai/gpt-5.2"],
},
imageModel: {
primary: "openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
},
models: {
"anthropic/claude-opus-4-6": { alias: "opus" },
"anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5": { alias: "sonnet" },
"openai/gpt-5.2": { alias: "gpt" },
},
thinkingDefault: "low",
verboseDefault: "off",
elevatedDefault: "on",
blockStreamingDefault: "off",
blockStreamingBreak: "text_end",
blockStreamingChunk: {
minChars: 800,
maxChars: 1200,
breakPreference: "paragraph",
},
blockStreamingCoalesce: {
idleMs: 1000,
},
humanDelay: {
mode: "natural",
},
timeoutSeconds: 600,
mediaMaxMb: 5,
typingIntervalSeconds: 5,
maxConcurrent: 3,
heartbeat: {
every: "30m",
model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
target: "last",
to: "+15555550123",
prompt: "HEARTBEAT",
ackMaxChars: 300,
},
memorySearch: {
provider: "gemini",
model: "gemini-embedding-001",
remote: {
apiKey: "${GEMINI_API_KEY}",
},
extraPaths: ["../team-docs", "/srv/shared-notes"],
},
sandbox: {
mode: "non-main",
perSession: true,
workspaceRoot: "~/.openclaw/sandboxes",
docker: {
image: "openclaw-sandbox:bookworm-slim",
workdir: "/workspace",
readOnlyRoot: true,
tmpfs: ["/tmp", "/var/tmp", "/run"],
network: "none",
user: "1000:1000",
},
browser: {
enabled: false,
},
},
},
},
tools: {
allow: ["exec", "process", "read", "write", "edit", "apply_patch"],
deny: ["browser", "canvas"],
exec: {
backgroundMs: 10000,
timeoutSec: 1800,
cleanupMs: 1800000,
},
elevated: {
enabled: true,
allowFrom: {
whatsapp: ["+15555550123"],
telegram: ["123456789"],
discord: ["steipete"],
slack: ["U123"],
signal: ["+15555550123"],
imessage: ["[email protected]"],
webchat: ["session:demo"],
},
},
},
// Custom model providers
models: {
mode: "merge",
providers: {
"custom-proxy": {
baseUrl: "http://localhost:4000/v1",
apiKey: "LITELLM_KEY",
api: "openai-responses",
authHeader: true,
headers: { "X-Proxy-Region": "us-west" },
models: [
{
id: "llama-3.1-8b",
name: "Llama 3.1 8B",
api: "openai-responses",
reasoning: false,
input: ["text"],
cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
contextWindow: 128000,
maxTokens: 32000,
},
],
},
},
},
// Cron jobs
cron: {
enabled: true,
store: "~/.openclaw/cron/cron.json",
maxConcurrentRuns: 2,
sessionRetention: "24h",
},
// Webhooks
hooks: {
enabled: true,
path: "/hooks",
token: "shared-secret",
presets: ["gmail"],
transformsDir: "~/.openclaw/hooks/transforms",
mappings: [
{
id: "gmail-hook",
match: { path: "gmail" },
action: "agent",
wakeMode: "now",
name: "Gmail",
sessionKey: "hook:gmail:{{messages[0].id}}",
messageTemplate: "From: {{messages[0].from}}\nSubject: {{messages[0].subject}}",
textTemplate: "{{messages[0].snippet}}",
deliver: true,
channel: "last",
to: "+15555550123",
thinking: "low",
timeoutSeconds: 300,
transform: {
module: "gmail.js",
export: "transformGmail",
},
},
],
gmail: {
account: "[email protected]",
label: "INBOX",
topic: "projects/<project-id>/topics/gog-gmail-watch",
subscription: "gog-gmail-watch-push",
pushToken: "shared-push-token",
hookUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:18789/hooks/gmail",
includeBody: true,
maxBytes: 20000,
renewEveryMinutes: 720,
serve: { bind: "127.0.0.1", port: 8788, path: "/" },
tailscale: { mode: "funnel", path: "/gmail-pubsub" },
},
},
// Gateway + networking
gateway: {
mode: "local",
port: 18789,
bind: "loopback",
controlUi: { enabled: true, basePath: "/openclaw" },
auth: {
mode: "token",
token: "gateway-token",
allowTailscale: true,
},
tailscale: { mode: "serve", resetOnExit: false },
remote: { url: "ws://gateway.tailnet:18789", token: "remote-token" },
reload: { mode: "hybrid", debounceMs: 300 },
},
skills: {
allowBundled: ["gemini", "peekaboo"],
load: {
extraDirs: ["~/Projects/agent-scripts/skills"],
},
install: {
preferBrew: true,
nodeManager: "npm",
},
entries: {
"nano-banana-pro": {
enabled: true,
apiKey: "GEMINI_KEY_HERE",
env: { GEMINI_API_KEY: "GEMINI_KEY_HERE" },
},
peekaboo: { enabled: true },
},
},
}
Common patterns
Multi-platform setup
{
agent: { workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace" },
channels: {
whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["+15555550123"] },
telegram: {
enabled: true,
botToken: "YOUR_TOKEN",
allowFrom: ["123456789"],
},
discord: {
enabled: true,
token: "YOUR_TOKEN",
dm: { allowFrom: ["yourname"] },
},
},
}
Secure DM mode (shared inbox / multi-user DMs)
If more than one person can DM your bot (multiple entries in allowFrom, pairing approvals for multiple people, or dmPolicy: "open"), enable secure DM mode so DMs from different senders don’t share one context by default:
{
// Secure DM mode (recommended for multi-user or sensitive DM agents)
session: { dmScope: "per-channel-peer" },
channels: {
// Example: WhatsApp multi-user inbox
whatsapp: {
dmPolicy: "allowlist",
allowFrom: ["+15555550123", "+15555550124"],
},
// Example: Discord multi-user inbox
discord: {
enabled: true,
token: "YOUR_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN",
dm: { enabled: true, allowFrom: ["alice", "bob"] },
},
},
}
OAuth with API key failover
{
auth: {
profiles: {
"anthropic:subscription": {
provider: "anthropic",
mode: "oauth",
email: "[email protected]",
},
"anthropic:api": {
provider: "anthropic",
mode: "api_key",
},
},
order: {
anthropic: ["anthropic:subscription", "anthropic:api"],
},
},
agent: {
workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
model: {
primary: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
fallbacks: ["anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"],
},
},
}
Anthropic subscription + API key, MiniMax fallback
{
auth: {
profiles: {
"anthropic:subscription": {
provider: "anthropic",
mode: "oauth",
email: "[email protected]",
},
"anthropic:api": {
provider: "anthropic",
mode: "api_key",
},
},
order: {
anthropic: ["anthropic:subscription", "anthropic:api"],
},
},
models: {
providers: {
minimax: {
baseUrl: "https://api.minimax.io/anthropic",
api: "anthropic-messages",
apiKey: "${MINIMAX_API_KEY}",
},
},
},
agent: {
workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
model: {
primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6",
fallbacks: ["minimax/MiniMax-M2.1"],
},
},
}
Work bot (restricted access)
{
identity: {
name: "WorkBot",
theme: "professional assistant",
},
agent: {
workspace: "~/work-openclaw",
elevated: { enabled: false },
},
channels: {
slack: {
enabled: true,
botToken: "xoxb-...",
channels: {
"#engineering": { allow: true, requireMention: true },
"#general": { allow: true, requireMention: true },
},
},
},
}
Local models only
{
agent: {
workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",
model: { primary: "lmstudio/minimax-m2.1-gs32" },
},
models: {
mode: "merge",
providers: {
lmstudio: {
baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1",
apiKey: "lmstudio",
api: "openai-responses",
models: [
{
id: "minimax-m2.1-gs32",
name: "MiniMax M2.1 GS32",
reasoning: false,
input: ["text"],
cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
contextWindow: 196608,
maxTokens: 8192,
},
],
},
},
},
}
Tips
- If you set
dmPolicy: "open", the matchingallowFromlist must include"*". - Provider IDs differ (phone numbers, user IDs, channel IDs). Use the provider docs to confirm the format.
- Optional sections to add later:
web,browser,ui,discovery,canvasHost,talk,signal,imessage. - See Providers and Troubleshooting for deeper setup notes.