Onboarding Wizard

Getting Started 4 sections 3 key facts

Onboarding Wizard

openclaw onboard is the recommended configuration path on macOS, Linux and Windows through WSL2. It initializes model auth, workspace, Gateway, channels, daemon services and Skills in one guided flow.

Getting Started Quick Start Gateway Configuration

Quick vs Advanced

Quick Default

Quick Start

Keeps the safe defaults: local Gateway, default workspace, port 18789, auto-generated token, baseline channel security and recommended Skills.

Advanced

Advanced mode

Exposes each decision point: workspace, Gateway binding, auth modes, channels, daemon install, Skills selection and model details.

Local

Local mode

Creates or updates configuration on the current machine, installs daemon services, writes credentials and runs health checks.

Remote

Remote mode

Only configures how the current client connects to a remote Gateway. It does not install services or write credentials on the remote host.

What the Wizard Does

Existing config detection

If ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json already exists, the wizard lets you keep, change or reset it. Nothing is wiped unless you explicitly choose reset.

Models and authentication

Supports Anthropic API key or setup-token, OpenAI / Codex OAuth, OpenAI API key, Moonshot, GLM, MiniMax, AI Gateway and more, while optionally setting a default model.

Workspace and Gateway

Configures the default workspace, Gateway port, bind mode, auth token, tailnet exposure and whether background services should be installed.

Channels and pairing safety

Adds WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Google Chat, Mattermost, Signal and similar channels, with direct-message pairing enabled by default.

Health checks and Skills

Starts the Gateway, runs health probes and helps install recommended Skills with their dependencies.

Common Commands

Start onboarding

openclaw onboard

Reconfigure

Use this when you only want to change part of the setup instead of reinstalling everything.

openclaw configure

Add another agent

Create isolated agents for separate workspaces, models or roles.

openclaw agents add <name>

Non-interactive mode

Useful for automation or CI bootstrapping.

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice apiKey \
  --gateway-port 18789 \
  --gateway-bind loopback \
  --install-daemon \
  --daemon-runtime node \
  --skip-skills