Getting Started with openclaw onboard

I hate spending hours on configuration before I even see a “Hello World.” Setting up a new environment usually involves digging through environment variables and port settings. It is much better when a tool just asks what I need and does the heavy lifting for me.

Setting up your Gateway shouldn’t be a chore. The openclaw onboard command is an interactive wizard that handles the initial setup so you can get to work faster.

What You’ll Need

• The OpenClaw CLI installed
• A remote Gateway URL (if you are not running locally)

Quick Start

If you want the fastest path to a working setup, I recommend the quickstart flow. It uses minimal prompts and automatically generates your gateway token.

openclaw onboard --flow quickstart

If you need control over specific settings like ports, binding, or authentication, use the manual flow instead. This is an alias for the advanced setup.

openclaw onboard --flow manual

Remote Setup

To connect to a Gateway hosted elsewhere, use the remote mode. You will need to provide the WebSocket URL for your host.

openclaw onboard --mode remote --remote-url ws://gateway-host:18789

The Fastest Path to Chat

If you don’t need to set up a channel right now and just want to see the Control UI, you can skip the onboarding wizard and run the dashboard directly.

openclaw dashboard

Troubleshooting

Scripting and Automation

A common mistake is assuming that the --json flag makes the command script-friendly. It does not. If you are running this in a CI/CD environment or a shell script, you must use the --non-interactive flag.

• Problem: The command hangs or asks for input in a script even with --json.
• Solution: Add the --non-interactive flag to bypass the interactive prompts.

What’s Next

Once you have finished the onboarding, you can start adding agents or fine-tuning your configuration:

• openclaw agents add <name>
• openclaw configure
• CLI Onboarding Reference
• CLI Automation

If you run into any other issues, check out the AI Setup Assistant.