CLI Automation
Use --non-interactive to automate openclaw onboard.
--json does not imply non-interactive mode. Use --non-interactive (and --workspace) for scripts.
Baseline non-interactive example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice apiKey \
--anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
--secret-input-mode plaintext \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback \
--install-daemon \
--daemon-runtime node \
--skip-skills
Add --json for a machine-readable summary.
Use --secret-input-mode ref to store env-backed refs in auth profiles instead of plaintext values.
Interactive selection between env refs and configured provider refs (file or exec) is available in the onboarding flow.
In non-interactive ref mode, provider env vars must be set in the process environment.
Passing inline key flags without the matching env var now fails fast.
Example:
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice openai-api-key \
--secret-input-mode ref \
--accept-risk
Provider-specific examples
Anthropic API key example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice apiKey \
--anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Gemini example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice gemini-api-key \
--gemini-api-key "$GEMINI_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Z.AI example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice zai-api-key \
--zai-api-key "$ZAI_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Vercel AI Gateway example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice ai-gateway-api-key \
--ai-gateway-api-key "$AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Cloudflare AI Gateway example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice cloudflare-ai-gateway-api-key \
--cloudflare-ai-gateway-account-id "your-account-id" \
--cloudflare-ai-gateway-gateway-id "your-gateway-id" \
--cloudflare-ai-gateway-api-key "$CLOUDFLARE_AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Moonshot example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice moonshot-api-key \
--moonshot-api-key "$MOONSHOT_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Mistral example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice mistral-api-key \
--mistral-api-key "$MISTRAL_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Synthetic example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice synthetic-api-key \
--synthetic-api-key "$SYNTHETIC_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
OpenCode example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice opencode-zen \
--opencode-zen-api-key "$OPENCODE_API_KEY" \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Swap to --auth-choice opencode-go --opencode-go-api-key "$OPENCODE_API_KEY" for the Go catalog.
Ollama example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice ollama \
--custom-model-id "qwen3.5:27b" \
--accept-risk \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
Custom provider example
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice custom-api-key \
--custom-base-url "https://llm.example.com/v1" \
--custom-model-id "foo-large" \
--custom-api-key "$CUSTOM_API_KEY" \
--custom-provider-id "my-custom" \
--custom-compatibility anthropic \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
--custom-api-key is optional. If omitted, onboarding checks CUSTOM_API_KEY.
Ref-mode variant:
export CUSTOM_API_KEY="your-key"
openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
--mode local \
--auth-choice custom-api-key \
--custom-base-url "https://llm.example.com/v1" \
--custom-model-id "foo-large" \
--secret-input-mode ref \
--custom-provider-id "my-custom" \
--custom-compatibility anthropic \
--gateway-port 18789 \
--gateway-bind loopback
In this mode, onboarding stores apiKey as { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "CUSTOM_API_KEY" }.
Anthropic setup-token remains available as a supported onboarding token path, but OpenClaw now prefers Claude CLI reuse when available. For production, prefer an Anthropic API key.
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 the wizard.
openclaw agents add work \
--workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace-work \
--model openai/gpt-5.4 \
--bind whatsapp:biz \
--non-interactive \
--json
What it sets:
agents.list[].nameagents.list[].workspaceagents.list[].agentDir
Notes:
- Default workspaces follow
~/.openclaw/workspace-<agentId>. - Add
bindingsto route inbound messages (the wizard can do this). - Non-interactive flags:
--model,--agent-dir,--bind,--non-interactive.
Related docs
- Onboarding hub: Onboarding (CLI)
- Full reference: CLI Setup Reference
- Command reference:
openclaw onboard