openclaw onboard

openclaw onboard --flow quickstart

openclaw onboard --flow manual

openclaw onboard --skip-bootstrap

openclaw onboard --mode remote --remote-url wss://gateway-host:18789

```

- Unless you pass `--skip-health`, onboarding waits for a reachable local gateway before it exits successfully.

- `--install-daemon` starts the managed gateway install path first. Without it, you must already have a local gateway running, for example `openclaw gateway run`.

- If you only want config/workspace/bootstrap writes in automation, use `--skip-health`.

- If you manage workspace files yourself, pass `--skip-bootstrap` to set `agents.defaults.skipBootstrap: true` and skip creating `AGENTS.md`, `SOUL.md`, `TOOLS.md`, `IDENTITY.md`, `USER.md`, `HEARTBEAT.md`, and `BOOTSTRAP.md`.

- On native Windows, `--install-daemon` tries Scheduled Tasks first and falls back to a per-user Startup-folder login item if task creation is denied.

Interactive onboarding behavior with reference mode:

```json5

{

agent: {

workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",

agents: {

defaults: {

workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",

},

},

}

```

file creation:

```json5

{ agent: { skipBootstrap: true } }

{ agents: { defaults: { skipBootstrap: true } } }

```

## Extra workspace folders

To disable bootstrap file creation entirely (for pre-seeded workspaces), set:

```json5

{ agent: { skipBootstrap: true } }

{ agents: { defaults: { skipBootstrap: true } } }

```

## Built-in tools

- Writes identity + preferences to `IDENTITY.md`, `USER.md`, `SOUL.md`.

- Removes `BOOTSTRAP.md` when finished so it only runs once.

## Skipping bootstrapping

To skip this for a pre-seeded workspace, run `openclaw onboard --skip-bootstrap`.

## Where it runs

Bootstrapping always runs on the **gateway host**. If the macOS app connects to

```json5

{

agent: {

workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",

agents: {

defaults: {

workspace: "~/.openclaw/workspace",

},

},

}

```

```json5

{

agent: {

skipBootstrap: true,

agents: {

defaults: {

skipBootstrap: true,

},

},

}

```

--gateway-bind loopback \

--install-daemon \

--daemon-runtime node \

--skip-bootstrap \

--skip-skills

```

Add `--json` for a machine-readable summary.

Use `--skip-bootstrap` when your automation pre-seeds workspace files and does not want onboarding to create the default bootstrap files.

Use `--secret-input-mode ref` to store env-backed refs in auth profiles instead of plaintext values.

Interactive selection between env refs and configured provider refs (`file` or `exec`) is available in the onboarding flow.

Typical fields in `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json`:

- `agents.defaults.workspace`

- `agents.defaults.skipBootstrap` when `--skip-bootstrap` is passed

- `agents.defaults.model` / `models.providers` (if Minimax chosen)

- `tools.profile` (local onboarding defaults to `"coding"` when unset; existing explicit values are preserved)

- `gateway.*` (mode, bind, auth, tailscale)

);

});

it("forwards --skip-bootstrap to setup wizard options", async () => {

await runCli(["onboard", "--skip-bootstrap"]);

expect(setupWizardCommandMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(

expect.objectContaining({

skipBootstrap: true,

}),

runtime,

);

});

it("parses --mistral-api-key and forwards mistralApiKey", async () => {

await runCli(["onboard", "--mistral-api-key", "sk-mistral-test"]);

expect(setupWizardCommandMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(

.option("--daemon-runtime <runtime>", "Daemon runtime: node|bun")

.option("--skip-channels", "Skip channel setup")

.option("--skip-skills", "Skip skills setup")

.option("--skip-bootstrap", "Skip creating default agent workspace files")

.option("--skip-search", "Skip search provider setup")

.option("--skip-health", "Skip health check")

.option("--skip-ui", "Skip Control UI/TUI prompts")

daemonRuntime: opts.daemonRuntime as GatewayDaemonRuntime | undefined,

skipChannels: Boolean(opts.skipChannels),

skipSkills: Boolean(opts.skipSkills),

skipBootstrap: Boolean(opts.skipBootstrap),

skipSearch: Boolean(opts.skipSearch),

skipHealth: Boolean(opts.skipHealth),

skipUi: Boolean(opts.skipUi),

import { setConfigValueAtPath } from "../config/config-paths.js";

import type { DmScope } from "../config/types.base.js";

import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";

import type { ToolProfileId } from "../config/types.tools.js";

},

};

}

export function applySkipBootstrapConfig(cfg: OpenClawConfig): OpenClawConfig {

const next = structuredClone(cfg);

setConfigValueAtPath(

next as Record<string, unknown>,

["agents", "defaults", "skipBootstrap"],

true,

);

return next;

}