!openclaw status --all 2>&1 | head -20

OpenClaw Admin — Configure, Fix, Tune

You are an OpenClaw administrator. Apply configuration changes with discipline: verify → apply → verify → restart → test. Never skip verification — confident users make typos too.

When to Use This Skill

Config changes (
```
openclaw config set
```
)
Security fixes flagged by
```
openclaw-doctor
```
or
```
openclaw security audit
```
Performance tuning (models, concurrency, pruning, memory)
Troubleshooting stopped messages, channel errors, API issues
```
openclaw doctor --fix
```
for automated repairs

Diagnostic Triage

Always start here before changing anything:

bash

openclaw status --all              # health snapshot
openclaw gateway status            # service running?
openclaw channels status --probe   # channel health

Then target:

Config →
```
openclaw doctor
```
Channels →
```
openclaw channels status --probe
```
Sessions →
```
openclaw sessions --active 120
```
Memory →
```
openclaw memory status --deep
```
Logs →
```
openclaw logs --follow
```

Common error patterns:

Error	Likely Cause	Fix
`permissionDenied`	Full Disk Access (macOS)	System Settings → Privacy
`Cannot find module`	Missing dependency	`npm install -g <pkg>`
`Address already in use`	Port conflict	`openclaw gateway status --force`
`No API key found`	Missing credentials	`openclaw models status --probe`

Change Discipline

Every config change follows this workflow:

1. openclaw config get <path>          # verify current value
2. openclaw config set <path> <value>  # apply change
3. openclaw config get <path>          # verify it applied
4. openclaw gateway restart            # if restart required (see references/restart-matrix.md)
5. openclaw status --all               # test it works

Batching vs Isolation

Batch (apply multiple → verify all → restart → test):

Interdependent settings (memory flush + reserve tokens + compaction)
Low-risk settings (timeouts, concurrency)
User explicitly requests batch

Isolate (apply one → verify → test → next):

First time enabling a feature
High-impact changes (channels, auth, models)
Debugging why a change doesn't work

Default: When in doubt, isolate.

Example batch grouping:

Group 1 — Memory system (interdependent):
  memoryFlush, reserveTokensFloor, memorySearch
  → Apply all → Verify all → Restart → Test

Group 2 — Context optimization (interdependent):
  pruning mode, TTL, keepLastAssistants
  → Apply all → Verify all → Test (no restart needed)

Group 3 — Performance (independent):
  heartbeat, concurrency, logging
  → Apply all → Verify all → Restart → Test

Common Admin Tasks

Enable Memory System

bash

openclaw config set agents.defaults.compaction.memoryFlush.enabled true
openclaw config set agents.defaults.compaction.memoryFlush.softThresholdTokens 6000
openclaw config set agents.defaults.compaction.reserveTokensFloor 24000
openclaw config get agents.defaults.compaction

# Optional: local vector search
openclaw config set agents.defaults.memorySearch.provider "local"
openclaw config set agents.defaults.memorySearch.local.modelPath "hf:ggml-org/embeddinggemma-300M-GGUF/embeddinggemma-300M-Q8_0.gguf"

Enable Context Pruning

bash

openclaw config set agents.defaults.contextPruning.mode "adaptive"
openclaw config set agents.defaults.contextPruning.keepLastAssistants 5
openclaw config get agents.defaults.contextPruning

Security Hardening

bash

openclaw security audit --deep          # find issues
openclaw security audit --fix           # auto-fix what it can
chmod 600 ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json     # if flagged
chmod 600 ~/.openclaw/auth-profiles.json
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/credentials/ 2>/dev/null
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/state/ 2>/dev/null

Automated Repairs

bash

openclaw doctor          # diagnose + suggest
openclaw doctor --fix    # apply safe auto-fixes

Optimization Quick Reference

Goal	Setting	Value
Reduce API costs	`contextPruning.mode`	`adaptive`
	`subagents.model`	`anthropic/claude-haiku-3-5`
Keep cache warm	`heartbeat.interval`	Less than pruning TTL
Preserve context	`memoryFlush.softThresholdTokens`	`6000`
	`reserveTokensFloor`	`24000`
Faster responses	`maxConcurrent`	`4` (default)
	`subagents.maxConcurrent`	`8`

Authority & Time Pressure

When a user says "just apply it" — still verify. Verification catches typos, not intent.

When a user says "ASAP" — batch smartly, verify each batch. 3-4 minutes with discipline beats 2 minutes + 20-minute debug session.

Red Flags — Stop and Verify

If you catch yourself thinking:

"User is confident, skip verification"
"Simple change, no need to test"
"Gateway auto-applies, no restart needed"
"They'll notice if it doesn't work"

Verify anyway. Test the change.

References

```
references/config-paths.md
```
— Full config dot-path catalog
```
references/restart-matrix.md
```
— Which changes need restart

Related Skills

openclaw-doctor
— Run a read-only 10-domain audit to identify issues before fixing
openclaw-maintain
— Daemon ops, updates, log rotation, cron management
openclaw-extend
— Add plugins, channels, nodes, webhooks

Bottom Line

Configuration is code. Test changes like code changes. Verify → Apply → Verify → Restart → Test. Skip nothing.

openclaw-admin

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

OpenClaw Admin — Configure, Fix, Tune

When to Use This Skill

Diagnostic Triage

Change Discipline

Batching vs Isolation

Common Admin Tasks

Enable Memory System

Enable Context Pruning

Security Hardening

Automated Repairs

Optimization Quick Reference

Authority & Time Pressure

Red Flags — Stop and Verify

References

Related Skills

Bottom Line