openclaw setup
openclaw setup runs the same guided onboarding flow as openclaw onboard
(auth, workspace, Gateway, channels, skills, health). Use --baseline when you
only need to initialize config/workspace folders without the wizard.
setup accepts the same onboarding flags as openclaw onboard, including
auth (--auth-choice, --token, provider key flags), Gateway
(--gateway-port, --gateway-bind, --gateway-auth, --install-daemon),
Tailscale (--tailscale), reset (--reset, --reset-scope), flow
(--flow quickstart|advanced|manual|import), and skip flags
(--skip-channels, --skip-skills, --skip-bootstrap, --skip-search,
--skip-health, --skip-ui, --skip-hooks). See Onboard and
CLI automation for the full flag reference and
non-interactive examples; openclaw onboard --modern (the Crestodian
conversational assistant) has no setup equivalent.
openclaw setup is for mutable config installs. In Nix mode (OPENCLAW_NIX_MODE=1) OpenClaw refuses setup writes because the config file is managed by Nix. Use the first-party nix-openclaw Quick Start or the equivalent source config for another Nix package.Options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--workspace <dir> | Agent workspace directory (default ~/.openclaw/workspace; stored as agents.defaults.workspace). |
--baseline | Create baseline config/workspace/session folders without onboarding. |
--wizard | Accepted for compatibility; setup runs onboarding by default. |
--non-interactive | Run onboarding without prompts. |
--accept-risk | Acknowledge full-system agent access risk; required with --non-interactive. |
--mode <mode> | Onboarding mode: local or remote. |
--flow <flow> | Onboard flow: quickstart, advanced, manual, or import. |
--reset | Reset config + credentials + sessions before onboarding (workspace only with --reset-scope full). |
--reset-scope <scope> | Reset scope: config, config+creds+sessions, or full. |
--import-from <provider> | Migration provider to run during onboarding. |
--import-source <path> | Source agent home for --import-from. |
--import-secrets | Import supported secrets during onboarding migration. |
--remote-url <url> | Remote Gateway WebSocket URL. |
--remote-token <token> | Remote Gateway token (optional). |
--json | Output a JSON summary. |
Baseline mode
openclaw setup --baseline preserves the older baseline-only behavior: it
creates the config, workspace, and session directories, then exits without
running onboarding.
Examples
Notes
- After baseline setup, run
openclaw setuporopenclaw onboardfor the full guided journey,openclaw configurefor targeted changes, oropenclaw channels addto add channel accounts. - If Hermes state is detected, interactive onboarding can offer migration automatically. Import onboarding requires a fresh setup; use Migrate for dry-run plans, backups, and overwrite mode outside onboarding.