OpenClaw — Development Notes

Current State (2026-02-16)

Platform: WSL Ubuntu (native install) — migrated from Docker to solve browser dashboard pairing issue.

Component	Status	Details
OpenClaw	v2026.2.15	npm install -g openclaw in WSL
Node.js	v22.22.0	via nodesource
gogcli	v0.11.0	/usr/local/bin/gog
LLM	anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5	API key via env var
Gateway	Running (systemd)	port 18789, loopback, auto-starts on WSL boot
Dashboard	Working	http://localhost:18789/#token=<token>
TUI	Working	openclaw tui
Gmail (gogcli)	Working via agent	richard@salesfield.net, keyring password persisted in systemd
Web fetch	Working	Tested: HN headline scrape via dashboard
Brave Search	NOT configured	Only set in old Docker image
Messaging channels	None connected	Telegram/WhatsApp pending
Agent identity	Not personalized	SOUL.md / IDENTITY.md exist but uncustomized

Resume Checklist (Pick Up Here)

The gateway runs as a systemd service and auto-starts. No manual startup needed.

To verify it's running:

systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway.service

To open the dashboard:

http://localhost:18789/#token=be91558ddb97799b89cbf67db3199f14f97efc704140675e

Or run openclaw dashboard --no-open for a fresh tokenized URL.

TUI (optional): openclaw tui in any WSL terminal.

If gateway is stopped for any reason:

systemctl --user start openclaw-gateway.service

What's Done

• [x] Gateway running as systemd service (auto-starts, survives terminal close)
• [x] GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD persisted in systemd override (~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service.d/override.conf)
• [x] Gmail working through agent — agent knows to use gog commands (configured in TOOLS.md)
• [x] User lingering enabled (loginctl enable-linger ic0s) — services persist without login session
• [x] WSL set as default distro
• [x] Dashboard, TUI, web fetch all confirmed working

TODO (Next Session)

• [ ] Personalize agent identity — edit SOUL.md / IDENTITY.md in ~/.openclaw/workspace/
• [ ] Set Brave Search API key in WSL OpenClaw config
• [ ] Connect a messaging channel (Telegram or WhatsApp)
• [ ] Persist ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — currently in systemd service, verify it survives updates
• [ ] Set up persistent volume / backup for ~/.openclaw/ data

Key Gotchas

Docker NAT breaks device pairing (why we moved to WSL)

Docker Desktop on Windows routes through NAT (172.17.0.x). OpenClaw rejects non-loopback WebSocket connections. Config bypasses are broken in v2026.2.14. WSL native install fixes this — browser connects via true 127.0.0.1.

gogcli keyring passphrase

gogcli encrypts tokens with a keyring passphrase. For the agent to use gogcli non-interactively, GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD must be set in the gateway's environment. This is now handled via systemd override.

gogcli is not on npm

OpenClaw docs say npm install -g gog-cli — that package doesn't exist. Install binary from GitHub releases: https://github.com/steipete/gogcli. Binary name is gog.

gogcli auth requires --manual in WSL

gog auth add email@domain.com --manual --services gmail — gives URL to visit, paste back the FULL redirect URL (not just the auth code).

gogcli credentials setup

Must run gog auth credentials set <path-to-client_secret.json> before gog auth add. Credentials stored at ~/.config/gogcli/credentials.json.

OpenClaw command names

• Gateway: openclaw gateway (not openclaw run)
• Chat: openclaw tui (no chat command)
• Plugins: openclaw plugins install (not add), openclaw plugins list (not search)

Browser token caching

Browser caches device tokens in localStorage per origin. When switching installs or regenerating tokens, use the tokenized URL (#token=...) or clear localStorage.

WSL sudo password

If forgotten: wsl -d Ubuntu -u root passwd <username> from Windows cmd.

Systemd service management

systemctl --user start openclaw-gateway.service
systemctl --user stop openclaw-gateway.service
systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service
systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway.service

Editing systemd overrides without nano

# Create/edit override (avoids nano):
mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service.d
echo -e '[Service]\nEnvironment="KEY=value"' > ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service.d/override.conf
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service

Architecture

WSL Ubuntu (native)
├── OpenClaw Gateway (:18789, loopback, systemd managed)
│   ├── LLM: Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5
│   ├── gogcli (Gmail for richard@salesfield.net) — keyring password via systemd env
│   ├── Skills (configurable via clawhub)
│   └── Channels (none connected yet)
├── Browser dashboard: http://localhost:18789
└── TUI: openclaw tui

Key Files

File	Location	Purpose
OpenClaw config	~/.openclaw/openclaw.json	Main config
Workspace files	~/.openclaw/workspace/	SOUL.md, IDENTITY.md, TOOLS.md, etc.
TOOLS.md	~/.openclaw/workspace/TOOLS.md	Agent tool config (gogcli setup is here)
Systemd service	~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service	Auto-start service
Systemd override	~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service.d/override.conf	GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD env var
gogcli credentials	~/.config/gogcli/credentials.json	Google OAuth client
gogcli keyring	~/.config/gogcli/keyring	Encrypted tokens
Google OAuth creds	d:\_open-claw\client_secret_*.json	Source file — DO NOT commit
This file	d:\_open-claw\_TEMP\CLAUDE.md	Dev session notes
Project CLAUDE.md	d:\_open-claw\CLAUDE.md	Repo-level instructions
Cheat sheet	d:\_open-claw\_TEMP\cheat_sheet.png	Community reference

Docker Reference (archived — fallback only)

# Image: my-openclaw-agent:configured (has gogcli Gmail auth + Brave Search)
docker run -it -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..." -p 8080:8080 --name openclaw my-openclaw-agent:configured sh
docker exec -it openclaw /app/openclaw.mjs tui
docker commit openclaw my-openclaw-agent:configured

Security

• WSL is less sandboxed than Docker — OpenClaw has full WSL filesystem access
• Never expose gateway port to the internet (bind stays loopback)
• Google OAuth: revoke at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions
• Community skills: check VirusTotal on ClawHub before installing
• GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD is in systemd override — don't share that file

Links

• Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/cli
• GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
• gogcli: https://github.com/steipete/gogcli
• Google Cloud Console: https://console.cloud.google.com (project: hardy-order-487602-n6)
• Revoke Google access: https://myaccount.google.com/permissions