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openclaw approvals

Manage exec approvals for the local host, gateway host, or a node host. With no target flag, commands read/write the local approvals file on disk. Use --gateway to target the gateway, or --node <id|name|ip> to target a specific node. Alias: openclaw exec-approvals Related: Exec approvals, Nodes

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openclaw exec-policy

openclaw exec-policy is the local-only convenience command that keeps requested tools.exec.* config and the local host approvals file in sync in one step: 
openclaw exec-policy show
openclaw exec-policy show --json

openclaw exec-policy preset yolo
openclaw exec-policy preset cautious --json

openclaw exec-policy set --host gateway --security full --ask off --ask-fallback full
Presets (yolo, cautious, deny-all) apply host, security, ask, and askFallback together. set applies only the flags you pass; each accepted value is validated (--host auto|sandbox|gateway|node, --security deny|allowlist|full, --ask off|on-miss|always, --ask-fallback deny|allowlist|full). Scope:
  • Updates the local config file and local approvals file together; does not push policy to the gateway or a node host.
  • --host node is rejected: node exec approvals are fetched from the node at runtime, so local exec-policy cannot synchronize them. Use openclaw approvals set --node <id|name|ip> instead.
  • exec-policy show marks host=node scopes as node-managed at runtime instead of deriving an effective policy from the local approvals file.
For remote host approvals, use openclaw approvals set --gateway or openclaw approvals set --node <id|name|ip> directly.

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Common commands

openclaw approvals get
openclaw approvals get --node <id|name|ip>
openclaw approvals get --gateway
get shows the effective exec policy for the target: the requested tools.exec policy, the host approvals-file policy, and the merged effective result. Precedence:
  • The host approvals file is the enforceable source of truth.
  • Requested tools.exec policy can narrow or broaden intent, but the effective result is derived from host rules.
  • --node combines the node host approvals file with gateway tools.exec policy (both apply at runtime).
  • If gateway config is unavailable, the CLI falls back to the node approvals snapshot and notes that the final runtime policy could not be computed.

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Replace approvals from a file

openclaw approvals set --file ./exec-approvals.json
openclaw approvals set --stdin <<'EOF'
{ version: 1, defaults: { security: "full", ask: "off", askFallback: "full" } }
EOF
openclaw approvals set --node <id|name|ip> --file ./exec-approvals.json
openclaw approvals set --gateway --file ./exec-approvals.json
set accepts JSON5, not only strict JSON. Use either --file or --stdin, not both.

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”Never prompt” / YOLO example

Set the host approvals defaults to full + off for a host that should never stop on exec approvals: 
openclaw approvals set --stdin <<'EOF'
{
  version: 1,
  defaults: {
    security: "full",
    ask: "off",
    askFallback: "full"
  }
}
EOF
Node variant: same body with openclaw approvals set --node <id|name|ip> --stdin. This changes the host approvals file only. To keep the requested OpenClaw policy aligned, also set: 
openclaw config set tools.exec.host gateway
openclaw config set tools.exec.security full
openclaw config set tools.exec.ask off
tools.exec.host=gateway is explicit here because host=auto still means “sandbox when available, otherwise gateway”: YOLO is about approvals, not routing. Use gateway (or /exec host=gateway) when you want host exec even with a sandbox configured. Omitted askFallback defaults to deny. Set askFallback: "full" explicitly when upgrading a no-UI host that should keep never-prompt behavior. Local shortcut for the same intent, on the local machine only: 
openclaw exec-policy preset yolo

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Allowlist helpers

openclaw approvals allowlist add "~/Projects/**/bin/rg"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent main --node <id|name|ip> "/usr/bin/uptime"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent "*" "/usr/bin/uname"

openclaw approvals allowlist remove "~/Projects/**/bin/rg"

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Common options

get, set, and allowlist add|remove all support:
  • --node <id|name|ip> (resolves id, name, IP, or id prefix; same resolver as openclaw nodes)
  • --gateway
  • shared node RPC options: --url, --token, --timeout, --json
No target flag means the local approvals file on disk. allowlist add|remove also supports --agent <id> (defaults to "*", applying to all agents).

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Notes

  • The node host must advertise system.execApprovals.get/set (macOS app or headless node host).
  • Approvals files are stored per host in the OpenClaw state dir: $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/exec-approvals.json, or ~/.openclaw/exec-approvals.json when the variable is unset.