Logging | OpenClaw

Gateway Ops 3 sections

Logging

OpenClaw exposes two logging surfaces: terminal or Debug UI output on one side, and structured JSONL file logs on disk on the other. One common mistake is to assume --verbose increases the file log level. It does not.

Health Checks Debugging Gateway Troubleshooting

Logging Surfaces

Console output: what you see in the terminal or Debug UI, controlled by logging.consoleLevel and logging.consoleStyle.

File logs: usually stored under /tmp/openclaw/, rotated by day and written as one JSON object per line.

openclaw logs --follow and the Logs tab in Control UI both read from the same file log stream underneath.

Common Settings

Follow logs

openclaw logs --follow

WebSocket log styles

openclaw gateway --verbose --ws-log compact
openclaw gateway --verbose --ws-log full

Common Misunderstandings

Does --verbose raise the file log level

No. --verbose only increases console detail. File log content is controlled by logging.level.

Can sensitive tokens appear in tool summaries

By default OpenClaw enables logging.redactSensitive: "tools" so common secrets are masked inside tool summaries.