---
summary: "Step-by-step behavior for openclaw onboard: what each step does, config it writes, and internals"
read_when:
  - You need detailed behavior for a specific openclaw onboard step
  - You are debugging onboarding results or integrating onboarding clients
title: "CLI setup reference"
sidebarTitle: "CLI reference"
---

This page covers step-by-step onboarding behavior, outputs, and internals.
For a walkthrough, see [Onboarding (CLI)](/start/wizard). For the full CLI flag
reference (every `--flag`, non-interactive examples, provider-specific
commands), see [`openclaw onboard`](/cli/onboard).

## What the wizard does

Local mode (default) walks you through:

- Model and auth setup (Anthropic, OpenAI Code subscription OAuth, xAI, OpenCode, custom endpoints, and more provider-owned auth flows)
- Workspace location and bootstrap files
- Gateway settings (port, bind, auth, Tailscale)
- Channels and providers (Discord, Feishu, Google Chat, iMessage, Mattermost, Microsoft Teams, QQ Bot, Signal, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, and other bundled or plugin channels)
- Web search provider (optional)
- Daemon install (LaunchAgent, systemd user unit, or native Windows Scheduled Task with Startup-folder fallback)
- Health check
- Skills setup

Remote mode configures this machine to connect to a Gateway elsewhere. It does
not install or modify anything on the remote host.

## Local flow details

<Steps>
  <Step title="Existing config detection">
    - If `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json` exists, choose **Keep current values**, **Review and update**, or **Reset before setup**.
    - Re-running the wizard does not wipe anything unless you explicitly choose Reset (or pass `--reset`).
    - CLI `--reset` defaults to `config+creds+sessions`; use `--reset-scope full` to also remove the workspace.
    - If config is invalid or contains legacy keys, the wizard stops and asks you to run `openclaw doctor` before continuing.
    - Reset moves state to Trash (never deletes directly) and offers scopes:
      - Config only
      - Config + credentials + sessions
      - Full reset (also removes the workspace)

  </Step>
  <Step title="Model and auth">
    - Full option matrix is in [Auth and model options](#auth-and-model-options).

  </Step>
  <Step title="Workspace">
    - Default `~/.openclaw/workspace` (configurable).
    - Seeds workspace files needed for first-run bootstrap.
    - Workspace layout: [Agent workspace](/concepts/agent-workspace).

  </Step>
  <Step title="Gateway">
    - Prompts for port, bind, auth mode, and Tailscale exposure.
    - Recommended: keep token auth enabled even for loopback so local WS clients must authenticate.
    - In token mode, interactive setup offers:
      - **Generate/store plaintext token** (default)
      - **Use SecretRef** (opt-in)
    - In password mode, interactive setup also supports plaintext or SecretRef storage.
    - Non-interactive token SecretRef path: `--gateway-token-ref-env <ENV_VAR>`.
      - Requires a non-empty env var in the onboarding process environment.
      - Cannot be combined with `--gateway-token`.
    - Disable auth only if you fully trust every local process.
    - Non-loopback binds still require auth.

  </Step>
  <Step title="Channels">
    - [WhatsApp](/channels/whatsapp): optional QR login
    - [Telegram](/channels/telegram): bot token
    - [Discord](/channels/discord): bot token
    - [Google Chat](/channels/googlechat): service account JSON + webhook audience
    - [Mattermost](/channels/mattermost): bot token + base URL
    - [Signal](/channels/signal): optional `signal-cli` install + account config
    - [iMessage](/channels/imessage): `imsg` CLI path + Messages DB access; use an SSH wrapper when the Gateway runs off-Mac
    - DM security: default is pairing. First DM sends a code; approve via
      `openclaw pairing approve <channel> <code>` or use allowlists.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Web search">
    - Pick a provider (Brave, DuckDuckGo, Exa, Firecrawl, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, MiniMax Search, Ollama Web Search, Perplexity, SearXNG, Tavily) or skip.
    - Skip this step with `--skip-search`; reconfigure later with `openclaw configure --section web`.

  </Step>
  <Step title="Daemon install">
    - macOS: LaunchAgent
      - Requires logged-in user session; for headless, use a custom LaunchDaemon (not shipped).
    - Linux and Windows via WSL2: systemd user unit
      - Wizard attempts `loginctl enable-linger <user>` so gateway stays up after logout.
      - May prompt for sudo (writes `/var/lib/systemd/linger`); it tries without sudo first.
    - Native Windows: Scheduled Task first
      - If task creation is denied, OpenClaw falls back to a per-user Startup-folder login item and starts the gateway immediately.
      - Scheduled Tasks remain preferred because they provide better supervisor status.
    - Runtime selection: Node is required because OpenClaw's canonical runtime state store uses `node:sqlite`.

  </Step>
  <Step title="Health check">
    - Starts gateway (if needed) and runs `openclaw health`.
    - `openclaw status --deep` adds the live gateway health probe to status output, including channel probes when supported.

  </Step>
  <Step title="Skills">
    - Reads available skills and checks requirements.
    - Lets you choose node manager: npm, pnpm, or bun.
    - Installs optional dependencies for trusted bundled skills when the required
      installer is available.
    - Skips unavailable Homebrew, uv, and Go installers, then groups the affected
      skills with manual setup guidance. Run `openclaw doctor` after installing
      the missing prerequisites.

  </Step>
  <Step title="Finish">
    - Summary and next steps, including iOS, Android, and macOS app options.

  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
If no GUI is detected, the wizard prints SSH port-forward instructions for the Control UI instead of opening a browser.
If Control UI assets are missing, the wizard attempts to build them; fallback is `pnpm ui:build` (auto-installs UI deps).
</Note>

## Remote mode details

Remote mode configures this machine to connect to a Gateway elsewhere. It does
not install or modify anything on the remote host.

What you set:

- Remote gateway URL (`ws://...` or `wss://...`)
- Token, password, or no auth, matching the remote Gateway's configuration

<Steps>
  <Step title="Discovery (optional)">
    If `dns-sd` (macOS) or `avahi-browse` (Linux) is available, onboarding
    offers to search for Bonjour/mDNS gateway beacons before falling back to
    manual URL entry. Wide-area DNS-SD discovery is also attempted when
    configured. Docs: [Gateway discovery](/gateway/discovery), [Bonjour](/gateway/bonjour).
  </Step>
  <Step title="Connection method">
    When a beacon is selected, choose direct WebSocket or an SSH tunnel:
    - **Direct**: connects over `wss://` and prompts to trust the discovered
      TLS fingerprint (trust-on-first-use pinning; only pinned if you accept).
    - **SSH tunnel**: prints an `ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 <user>@<host>`
      command to run first, then connects to the local tunnel endpoint.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Auth">
    Choose token (recommended), password, or no auth, then optionally store it
    as a SecretRef instead of plaintext.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
If the gateway is loopback-only and not discoverable, use SSH tunneling or a tailnet manually.
Plaintext `ws://` is accepted for loopback, private IP literals, `.local`, and Tailnet `*.ts.net` URLs; other private-DNS names need `OPENCLAW_ALLOW_INSECURE_PRIVATE_WS=1`.
</Note>

## Auth and model options

If a provider setup step fails in interactive onboarding (for example a CLI reuse option
without a local sign-in), the wizard shows the error and returns to the provider picker
instead of exiting. Explicit `--auth-choice` runs still fail fast for automation.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Anthropic API key">
    Uses `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` if present or prompts for a key, then saves it for daemon use.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Anthropic Claude CLI">
    Preferred local path in interactive onboarding/configure; reuses an existing Claude CLI sign-in when available.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="OpenAI Code subscription (OAuth)">
    Browser flow; paste `code#state`.

    On a fresh setup with no primary model, sets `agents.defaults.model` to
    `openai/gpt-5.6-sol` through the Codex runtime.

  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="OpenAI Code subscription (device pairing)">
    Browser pairing flow with a short-lived device code.

    On a fresh setup with no primary model, sets `agents.defaults.model` to
    `openai/gpt-5.6-sol` through the Codex runtime.

  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="OpenAI API key">
    Uses `OPENAI_API_KEY` if present or prompts for a key, then stores the credential in auth profiles.

    On a fresh setup with no primary model, sets `agents.defaults.model` to
    `openai/gpt-5.6`; the bare direct-API model id resolves to the Sol tier.

    Adding or reauthenticating OpenAI preserves an existing explicit primary
    model, including `openai/gpt-5.5`. If the account does not expose GPT-5.6,
    select `openai/gpt-5.5` explicitly; OpenClaw does not silently downgrade it.

  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="xAI (Grok) OAuth">
    Browser sign-in for eligible SuperGrok or X Premium accounts. This is the
    recommended xAI path for most users. OpenClaw stores the resulting auth
    profile for Grok models, Grok `web_search`, `x_search`, and `code_execution`.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="xAI (Grok) device code">
    Remote-friendly browser sign-in with a short code instead of a localhost
    callback. Use this from SSH, Docker, or VPS hosts.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="xAI (Grok) API key">
    Prompts for `XAI_API_KEY` and configures xAI as a model provider. Use this
    when you want an xAI Console API key instead of subscription OAuth.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="OpenCode">
    Prompts for `OPENCODE_API_KEY` (or `OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY`) and lets you choose the Zen or Go catalog (one API key covers both).
    Setup URL: [opencode.ai/auth](https://opencode.ai/auth).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="API key (generic)">
    Stores the key for you.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Vercel AI Gateway">
    Prompts for `AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY`.
    More detail: [Vercel AI Gateway](/providers/vercel-ai-gateway).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Cloudflare AI Gateway">
    Prompts for account ID, gateway ID, and `CLOUDFLARE_AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY`.
    More detail: [Cloudflare AI Gateway](/providers/cloudflare-ai-gateway).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="MiniMax">
    Config is auto-written. Hosted default is `MiniMax-M3`; API-key setup uses
    `minimax/...`, and OAuth setup uses `minimax-portal/...`.
    More detail: [MiniMax](/providers/minimax).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="StepFun">
    Config is auto-written for StepFun standard or Step Plan on China or global endpoints.
    Standard currently includes `step-3.5-flash`, and Step Plan also includes `step-3.5-flash-2603`.
    More detail: [StepFun](/providers/stepfun).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Synthetic (Anthropic-compatible)">
    Prompts for `SYNTHETIC_API_KEY`.
    More detail: [Synthetic](/providers/synthetic).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Ollama (Cloud and local open models)">
    Prompts for `Cloud + Local`, `Cloud only`, or `Local only` first.
    `Cloud only` uses `OLLAMA_API_KEY` with `https://ollama.com`.
    The host-backed modes prompt for base URL (default `http://127.0.0.1:11434`), discover available models, and suggest defaults.
    `Cloud + Local` also checks whether that Ollama host is signed in for cloud access.
    More detail: [Ollama](/providers/ollama).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Moonshot and Kimi Coding">
    Moonshot (Kimi K2) and Kimi Coding configs are auto-written.
    More detail: [Moonshot AI (Kimi + Kimi Coding)](/providers/moonshot).
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Custom provider">
    Works with OpenAI-compatible, OpenAI Responses-compatible, and Anthropic-compatible endpoints.

    Interactive onboarding supports the same API key storage choices as other provider API key flows:
    - **Paste API key now** (plaintext)
    - **Use secret reference** (env ref or configured provider ref, with preflight validation)

    Onboarding infers image support for common vision model IDs (GPT-4o/4.1/5.x, Claude 3/4, Gemini, Qwen-VL, LLaVA, Pixtral, and similar) and only asks when the model name is unknown.

    Non-interactive flags:
    - `--auth-choice custom-api-key`
    - `--custom-base-url`
    - `--custom-model-id`
    - `--custom-api-key` (optional; falls back to `CUSTOM_API_KEY`)
    - `--custom-provider-id` (optional)
    - `--custom-compatibility <openai|openai-responses|anthropic>` (optional; default `openai`)
    - `--custom-image-input` / `--custom-text-input` (optional; override inferred model input capability)

  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Skip">
    Leaves auth unconfigured.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

Model behavior:

- Pick default model from detected options, or enter provider and model manually.
- When onboarding starts from a provider auth choice, the model picker prefers
  that provider automatically. For Volcengine and BytePlus, the same preference
  also matches their coding-plan variants (`volcengine-plan/*`,
  `byteplus-plan/*`).
- If that preferred-provider filter would be empty, the picker falls back to
  the full catalog instead of showing no models.
- Wizard runs a model check and warns if the configured model is unknown or missing auth.

Credential and profile paths:

- Auth profiles (API keys + OAuth): `~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json`
- Legacy OAuth import: `~/.openclaw/credentials/oauth.json`

Credential storage mode:

- Default onboarding behavior persists API keys as plaintext values in auth profiles.
- `--secret-input-mode ref` enables reference mode instead of plaintext key storage.
  In interactive setup, you can choose either:
  - environment variable ref (for example `keyRef: { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "OPENAI_API_KEY" }`)
  - configured provider ref (`file` or `exec`) with provider alias + id
- Interactive reference mode runs a fast preflight validation before saving.
  - Env refs: validates variable name + non-empty value in the current onboarding environment.
  - Provider refs: validates provider config and resolves the requested id.
  - If preflight fails, onboarding shows the error and lets you retry.
- In non-interactive mode, `--secret-input-mode ref` is env-backed only.
  - Set the provider env var in the onboarding process environment.
  - Inline key flags (for example `--openai-api-key`) require that env var to be set; otherwise onboarding fails fast.
  - For custom providers, non-interactive `ref` mode stores `models.providers.<id>.apiKey` as `{ source: "env", provider: "default", id: "CUSTOM_API_KEY" }`.
  - In that custom-provider case, `--custom-api-key` requires `CUSTOM_API_KEY` to be set; otherwise onboarding fails fast.
- Gateway auth credentials support plaintext and SecretRef choices in interactive setup:
  - Token mode: **Generate/store plaintext token** (default) or **Use SecretRef**.
  - Password mode: plaintext or SecretRef.
- Non-interactive token SecretRef path: `--gateway-token-ref-env <ENV_VAR>`.
- Existing plaintext setups continue to work unchanged.

<Note>
Headless and server tip: complete OAuth on a machine with a browser, then copy
that agent's `auth-profiles.json` (for example
`~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json`, or the matching
`$OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/...` path) to the gateway host. `credentials/oauth.json`
is only a legacy import source.
</Note>

## Outputs and internals

Typical fields in `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json`:

- `agents.defaults.workspace`
- `agents.defaults.skipBootstrap` when `--skip-bootstrap` is passed
- `agents.defaults.model` / `models.providers` (if Minimax chosen)
- `tools.profile` (local onboarding defaults to `"coding"` when unset; existing explicit values are preserved)
- `gateway.*` (mode, bind, auth, tailscale)
- `session.dmScope` (local onboarding defaults this to `per-channel-peer` when unset; existing explicit values are preserved)
- `channels.telegram.botToken`, `channels.discord.token`, `channels.matrix.*`, `channels.signal.*`, `channels.imessage.*`
- Channel allowlists (Discord, iMessage, Signal, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp) when you opt in during prompts; Discord and Slack also resolve entered names to IDs
- `skills.install.nodeManager`
  - The `setup --node-manager` flag accepts `npm`, `pnpm`, or `bun`.
  - Manual config can still set `skills.install.nodeManager: "yarn"` later.
- `wizard.lastRunAt`
- `wizard.lastRunVersion`
- `wizard.lastRunCommit`
- `wizard.lastRunCommand`
- `wizard.lastRunMode`
- `wizard.securityAcknowledgedAt`

`openclaw agents add` writes `agents.list[]` and optional `bindings`.

WhatsApp credentials go under `~/.openclaw/credentials/whatsapp/<accountId>/`.
Sessions are stored under `~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/`.

<Note>
Some channels are delivered as plugins. When selected during setup, the wizard
prompts to install the plugin (npm or local path) before channel configuration.
</Note>

## Non-interactive setup

`--non-interactive` requires `--accept-risk` (acknowledges that agents are
powerful and full system access is risky):

```bash
openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk \
  --auth-choice apiKey \
  --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
```

Full flag reference and provider-specific examples: [`openclaw onboard`](/cli/onboard), [CLI automation](/start/wizard-cli-automation).

## Gateway wizard RPC

- `wizard.start`
- `wizard.next`
- `wizard.cancel`
- `wizard.status`

Clients (macOS app and Control UI) can render steps without re-implementing onboarding logic.

## Signal setup behavior

- Downloads the appropriate release asset from the official `signal-cli` GitHub releases (native build, Linux x86-64 only)
- On other platforms (macOS, non-x64 Linux), installs via Homebrew instead
- Stores the release-asset install under `~/.openclaw/tools/signal-cli/<version>/`
- Writes `channels.signal.cliPath` in config
- Native Windows is not supported yet; run onboarding inside WSL2 to get the Linux install path

## Related docs

- Onboarding hub: [Onboarding (CLI)](/start/wizard)
- Automation and scripts: [CLI Automation](/start/wizard-cli-automation)
- Command reference: [`openclaw onboard`](/cli/onboard)
