Gateway protocol (WebSocket)

The Gateway WS protocol is the single control plane + node transport for OpenClaw. All clients (CLI, web UI, macOS app, iOS/Android nodes, headless nodes) connect over WebSocket and declare their role + scope at handshake time.

Transport

• WebSocket, text frames with JSON payloads.
• First frame must be a connect request.

Handshake (connect)

Gateway → Client (pre-connect challenge):

{
  "type": "event",
  "event": "connect.challenge",
  "payload": { "nonce": "…", "ts": 1737264000000 }
}

Client → Gateway:

{
  "type": "req",
  "id": "…",
  "method": "connect",
  "params": {
    "minProtocol": 3,
    "maxProtocol": 3,
    "client": {
      "id": "cli",
      "version": "1.2.3",
      "platform": "macos",
      "mode": "operator"
    },
    "role": "operator",
    "scopes": ["operator.read", "operator.write"],
    "caps": [],
    "commands": [],
    "permissions": {},
    "auth": { "token": "…" },
    "locale": "en-US",
    "userAgent": "openclaw-cli/1.2.3",
    "device": {
      "id": "device_fingerprint",
      "publicKey": "…",
      "signature": "…",
      "signedAt": 1737264000000,
      "nonce": "…"
    }
  }
}

Gateway → Client:

{
  "type": "res",
  "id": "…",
  "ok": true,
  "payload": { "type": "hello-ok", "protocol": 3, "policy": { "tickIntervalMs": 15000 } }
}

When a device token is issued, hello-ok also includes:

{
  "auth": {
    "deviceToken": "…",
    "role": "operator",
    "scopes": ["operator.read", "operator.write"]
  }
}

Node example

{
  "type": "req",
  "id": "…",
  "method": "connect",
  "params": {
    "minProtocol": 3,
    "maxProtocol": 3,
    "client": {
      "id": "ios-node",
      "version": "1.2.3",
      "platform": "ios",
      "mode": "node"
    },
    "role": "node",
    "scopes": [],
    "caps": ["camera", "canvas", "screen", "location", "voice"],
    "commands": ["camera.snap", "canvas.navigate", "screen.record", "location.get"],
    "permissions": { "camera.capture": true, "screen.record": false },
    "auth": { "token": "…" },
    "locale": "en-US",
    "userAgent": "openclaw-ios/1.2.3",
    "device": {
      "id": "device_fingerprint",
      "publicKey": "…",
      "signature": "…",
      "signedAt": 1737264000000,
      "nonce": "…"
    }
  }
}

Framing

• Request: {type:"req", id, method, params}
• Response: {type:"res", id, ok, payload|error}
• Event: {type:"event", event, payload, seq?, stateVersion?}

Side-effecting methods require idempotency keys (see schema).

Roles + scopes

Roles

• operator = control plane client (CLI/UI/automation).
• node = capability host (camera/screen/canvas/system.run).

Scopes (operator)

Common scopes:

• operator.read
• operator.write
• operator.admin
• operator.approvals
• operator.pairing

Caps/commands/permissions (node)

Nodes declare capability claims at connect time:

• caps: high-level capability categories.
• commands: command allowlist for invoke.
• permissions: granular toggles (e.g. screen.record, camera.capture).

The Gateway treats these as claims and enforces server-side allowlists.

Presence

• system-presence returns entries keyed by device identity.
• Presence entries include deviceId, roles, and scopes so UIs can show a single row per device even when it connects as both operator and node.

Node helper methods

• Nodes may call skills.bins to fetch the current list of skill executables for auto-allow checks.

Exec approvals

• When an exec request needs approval, the gateway broadcasts exec.approval.requested.
• Operator clients resolve by calling exec.approval.resolve (requires operator.approvals scope).

Versioning

• PROTOCOL_VERSION lives in src/gateway/protocol/schema.ts.
• Clients send minProtocol + maxProtocol; the server rejects mismatches.
• Schemas + models are generated from TypeBox definitions:
  • pnpm protocol:gen
  • pnpm protocol:gen:swift
  • pnpm protocol:check

Auth

• If OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN (or --token) is set, connect.params.auth.token must match or the socket is closed.
• After pairing, the Gateway issues a device token scoped to the connection role + scopes. It is returned in hello-ok.auth.deviceToken and should be persisted by the client for future connects.
• Device tokens can be rotated/revoked via device.token.rotate and device.token.revoke (requires operator.pairing scope).

Device identity + pairing

• Nodes should include a stable device identity (device.id) derived from a keypair fingerprint.
• Gateways issue tokens per device + role.
• Pairing approvals are required for new device IDs unless local auto-approval is enabled.
• Local connects include loopback and the gateway host’s own tailnet address (so same‑host tailnet binds can still auto‑approve).
• All WS clients must include device identity during connect (operator + node). Control UI can omit it only when gateway.controlUi.allowInsecureAuth is enabled (or gateway.controlUi.dangerouslyDisableDeviceAuth for break-glass use).
• Non-local connections must sign the server-provided connect.challenge nonce.

TLS + pinning

• TLS is supported for WS connections.
• Clients may optionally pin the gateway cert fingerprint (see gateway.tls config plus gateway.remote.tlsFingerprint or CLI --tls-fingerprint).

Scope

This protocol exposes the full gateway API (status, channels, models, chat, agent, sessions, nodes, approvals, etc.). The exact surface is defined by the TypeBox schemas in src/gateway/protocol/schema.ts.