OpenClaw CLI

Overview

OpenClaw is a multi-channel messaging and agent platform. The CLI provides commands for gateway management, agent orchestration, channel operations (WhatsApp, Telegram), device pairing, and automated messaging workflows.

Quick Reference

# Check CLI version and help
openclaw --version
openclaw --help
openclaw --log-level <level>  # Override log level (silent|fatal|error|warn|info|debug|trace)
openclaw --no-color           # Disable ANSI colors

# Setup and configuration
openclaw setup          # Initialize config and workspace
openclaw onboard        # Interactive setup wizard
openclaw configure      # Interactive setup wizard for credentials, channels, gateway, and agent defaults
openclaw doctor         # Health checks and diagnostics

# Gateway operations
openclaw gateway        # Start the WebSocket gateway
openclaw gateway --port 18789  # Custom port
openclaw --dev gateway  # Dev mode (isolated state, port 19001)
openclaw health         # Check gateway health
openclaw status         # Channel health and sessions

# Agent operations
openclaw agent --to +15555550123 --message "Hello"
openclaw agents         # Manage agent workspaces

# Messaging
openclaw message send --target +15555550123 --message "Hi"
openclaw message send --channel telegram --target @mychat --message "Hi"

# Channel management
openclaw channels login --verbose  # Link Telegram, Discord, etc.
openclaw channels       # Manage channels

# Device and session management
openclaw devices        # Device pairing and tokens
openclaw sessions       # List conversation sessions

# Cron jobs
openclaw cron           # Manage cron jobs via the Gateway scheduler

Common Workflows

Initial Setup

openclaw setup
openclaw onboard
openclaw channels login --verbose

Start Gateway and Send Message

openclaw gateway &
openclaw message send --target +15555550123 --message "Test"

Run Agent Turn

openclaw agent --to +15555550123 --message "Run summary" --deliver

Profile Isolation

Use --dev or --profile <name> to isolate state:

openclaw --dev gateway           # Uses ~/.openclaw-dev
openclaw --profile test gateway  # Uses ~/.openclaw-test

Documentation

Run openclaw --help for the latest available commands and options.

Full documentation: https://docs.openclaw.ai/cli