OpenClaw Config Helper - Secure Configuration Modification Assistant

⚠️ Mandatory Rules

When to use this skill

• User requests to modify OpenClaw configuration (openclaw.json, agents configuration, channels configuration, etc.)
• User requests to add/modify channel configurations such as Telegram, WhatsApp, etc.
• User requests to modify bindings, models, agents.list, etc.
• Any operation involving

  gateway action=config.patch

  or

  gateway action=config.apply

Trigger Words

• "modify configuration"
• "change OpenClaw configuration"
• "add a binding"
• "configure telegram/whatsapp"
• "modify groupPolicy"
• "add an agent"

Mandatory Process (must be executed in order)

Step 1: Consult Schema

# Get full configuration schema
gateway action=config.schema

• Confirm the type of the field to be modified (string/number/array/object)
• Confirm whether the field is required
• Confirm the allowed values of the field (enum)
• Confirm the nested structure

Step 2: Consult official documentation (if schema is not clear enough)

# Use web_fetch to get official documentation
web_fetch: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/telegram
web_fetch: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/whatsapp
web_fetch: https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/configuration-reference

cd ~/clawd/skills/tavily && ./scripts/tavily.sh search "OpenClaw <configuration item> configuration"

Step 3: Present modification plan and get confirmation

1. Current configuration (if applicable)
2. Planned modification (specific JSON snippet)
3. Reason for modification
4. Possible impact

Step 4: Execute modification

# Use config.patch for partial modification (recommended)
gateway action=config.patch raw='{"modified path": "value"}'

# Or use config.apply for full replacement (use with caution)
gateway action=config.apply raw='{"full configuration": "..."}'

Step 5: Verify modification

# Check if the configuration takes effect
gateway action=config.get

# Check Gateway status
openclaw status

Common Configuration Error Cases

Case 1: Telegram groupAllowFrom error (2026-02-22)

groupAllowFrom

// ❌ Wrong
"groupAllowFrom": [-1003531486855, -1003890797239]  // These are group IDs, not user IDs!

// ✅ Correct
"groupAllowFrom": ["8518085684"]  // User ID
"groups": {
  "-1003531486855": {"groupPolicy": "open", "requireMention": true}
}

groupAllowFrom

groups

Case 2: Bot does not respond due to missing binding

// ❌ Missing default → main binding
"bindings": [
  {"agentId": "ops", "match": {"accountId": "xiaoops"}},
  // ... Other bots, but no default
]

// ✅ Must be added
"bindings": [
  {"agentId": "main", "match": {"channel": "telegram", "accountId": "default"}},
  // ... Others
]

Case 3: apiKey in pass: format is not supported

pass:

// ❌ Wrong
"apiKey": "pass:api/xingsuancode"  // Will be sent directly as a string

// ✅ Correct
"apiKey": "sk-f873092ea177b75b..."  // Must hardcode the real key

Quick Reference

allowFrom

groupAllowFrom

groups

bindings

accounts

Checklist

• Have checked

  config.schema

  to confirm the field type
• Have consulted the official documentation to confirm the usage
• Have presented the modification plan to the user and obtained confirmation
• Use

  config.patch

  instead of

  config.apply

  (unless necessary)
• Verify that the configuration takes effect after modification

Remember