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The Gateway dashboard is the browser Control UI served at / by default (override with gateway.controlUi.basePath). Quick open (local Gateway): Key references: Auth is enforced at the WebSocket handshake via the configured gateway auth path:
  • connect.params.auth.token
  • connect.params.auth.password
  • Tailscale Serve identity headers when gateway.auth.allowTailscale: true
  • trusted-proxy identity headers when gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy"
See gateway.auth in Gateway configuration.
The Control UI is an admin surface (chat, config, exec approvals). Do not expose it publicly. The UI keeps dashboard URL tokens in sessionStorage for the current browser tab and selected gateway URL, and strips them from the URL after load. Prefer localhost, Tailscale Serve, or an SSH tunnel.
  • After onboarding, the CLI auto-opens the dashboard and prints a clean (non-tokenized) link.
  • Re-open anytime: openclaw dashboard (copies the link, opens a browser if possible, prints an SSH hint if headless).
  • If clipboard and browser delivery both fail, openclaw dashboard still prints the clean URL and tells you to append your token (from OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN or gateway.auth.token) as the URL fragment key token; it never prints the token value in logs.
  • If the UI prompts for shared-secret auth, paste the configured token or password into Control UI settings.

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Auth basics (local vs remote)

  • Localhost: open http://127.0.0.1:18789/.
  • Gateway TLS: when gateway.tls.enabled: true, dashboard/status links use https:// and Control UI WebSocket links use wss://.
  • Shared-secret token source: gateway.auth.token (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN). openclaw dashboard can pass it via URL fragment for one-time bootstrap; the Control UI keeps it in sessionStorage for the current tab and selected gateway URL, not localStorage.
  • If gateway.auth.token is SecretRef-managed, openclaw dashboard prints/copies/opens a non-tokenized URL by design, to avoid exposing externally managed tokens in shell logs, clipboard history, or browser-launch arguments. If the ref is unresolved in your current shell, it still prints the non-tokenized URL plus actionable auth setup guidance.
  • Shared-secret password: use the configured gateway.auth.password (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD). The dashboard does not persist passwords across reloads.
  • Identity-bearing modes: Tailscale Serve satisfies Control UI/WebSocket auth via identity headers when gateway.auth.allowTailscale: true; a non-loopback identity-aware reverse proxy satisfies gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy". Neither needs a pasted shared secret for the WebSocket.
  • Not localhost: use Tailscale Serve, a non-loopback shared-secret bind, a non-loopback identity-aware reverse proxy with gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy", or an SSH tunnel. HTTP APIs still use shared-secret auth unless you intentionally run private-ingress gateway.auth.mode: "none" or trusted-proxy HTTP auth. See Web surfaces.

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If you see “unauthorized” / 1008

  • Confirm the gateway is reachable: local openclaw status; remote, SSH tunnel ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@gateway-host then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/.
  • For AUTH_TOKEN_MISMATCH, clients may do one trusted retry with a cached device token when the gateway returns retry hints; that retry reuses the token’s cached approved scopes (explicit deviceToken/scopes callers keep their requested scope set). If auth still fails after that retry, resolve token drift manually.
  • For AUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH, the device token was recognized but does not carry the requested scopes; re-pair or approve the new scope set instead of rotating the shared gateway token.
  • Outside that retry path, connect auth precedence is: explicit shared token/password, then explicit deviceToken, then stored device token, then bootstrap token.
  • On the async Tailscale Serve path, failed attempts for the same {scope, ip} are serialized before the failed-auth limiter records them, so a second concurrent bad retry can already show retry later.
  • For token drift repair steps, see Token drift recovery checklist.
  • Retrieve or supply the shared secret from the gateway host:
    • Token: openclaw config get gateway.auth.token
    • Password: resolve the configured gateway.auth.password or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD
    • SecretRef-managed token: resolve the external secret provider, or export OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN in this shell and rerun openclaw dashboard
    • No shared secret configured: openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token
  • In the dashboard settings, paste the token or password into the auth field, then connect.
  • The UI language picker lives in Overview -> Gateway Access -> Language, not under Appearance.