openclaw-manage

name	openclaw-manage
description	Covers starting, stopping, restarting, and monitoring the OpenClaw gateway and daemon. Also covers updating, diagnosing, and checking service health. Activate when the user says: "start OpenClaw", "stop OpenClaw", "restart OpenClaw", "openclaw daemon", "openclaw status", "openclaw doctor", "openclaw not running", "openclaw update", "openclaw logs", "openclaw dashboard", "is OpenClaw running".
version	1.0.0

OpenClaw Service Management

OpenClaw runs as a Gateway daemon registered with the system service manager (launchd on macOS, systemd on Linux). Use the CLI to manage it.

Checking Status

openclaw status        # Show gateway running state and connection info
openclaw doctor        # Full diagnostic: config, security, migrations, warnings
openclaw dashboard     # Open browser-based UI at http://localhost:18789

Use openclaw doctor as the first step when troubleshooting any issue.

Starting the Gateway

Via daemon (recommended): The daemon starts automatically on login after install. To start it manually:

openclaw gateway --install-daemon   # Install and start daemon

Foreground mode (for debugging):

openclaw gateway --port 18789 --verbose

Press Ctrl+C to stop foreground mode.

Stopping the Gateway

openclaw gateway --uninstall-daemon   # Stop and remove daemon

To temporarily stop without uninstalling:

• On macOS (launchd): launchctl stop com.openclaw.gateway
• On Linux (systemd): systemctl --user stop openclaw-gateway

Restarting the Gateway

openclaw gateway --restart   # Restart the running daemon

Or from within a messaging channel (owner only in groups):

/restart

Sending Test Messages

Send a message directly from the CLI to test the gateway:

openclaw message send --to [phone] --message "hello"

Chat with the agent directly:

openclaw agent --message "what can you do?" --thinking high

Updating OpenClaw

openclaw update                    # Update to latest on current channel
openclaw update --channel stable   # Switch to stable channel and update
openclaw update --channel beta     # Switch to beta
openclaw update --channel dev      # Switch to dev (latest main)

After updating, run openclaw doctor to apply any pending config migrations.

Node Management

OpenClaw supports remote device nodes (macOS app, iOS, Android):

openclaw nodes list       # List active connected nodes
openclaw nodes describe   # Show node capabilities and permissions

Diagnostics & Troubleshooting

Common issues

Symptom	Fix
Gateway not starting	Run openclaw doctor — check for config errors
Bot not responding in chat	Check openclaw status — verify daemon is running
DM from unknown sender ignored	Expected — run openclaw pairing approve <channel> <code>
Port conflict	Change gateway.port in config and restart
High memory/CPU	Check skills and automations; disable unused channels

Logging

Logs location varies by platform. Check openclaw doctor output for the log file path.

Start with verbose logging for debugging:

openclaw gateway --verbose

Automations

OpenClaw supports scheduled and event-driven automations:

• Cron — Scheduled tasks
• Webhooks — Trigger on external HTTP events
• Gmail Pub/Sub hooks — React to incoming email

See https://docs.openclaw.ai/automation/ for setup.

References

• Updating: https://docs.openclaw.ai/install/updating
• Logging: https://docs.openclaw.ai/logging
• Automation: https://docs.openclaw.ai/automation