OpenClaw Cheat Sheet

Open-source AI agent gateway. Automate workflows with skills, cron jobs, and integrations.

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Installation

# npm
npm install -g openclaw
Docker
docker pull openclaw/openclaw
docker run -p 8080:8080 openclaw/openclaw
From source
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
cd openclaw
npm install
npm run build
npm start

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Core Commands

Gateway Management

Command	Description
`openclaw gateway start`	Start OpenClaw gateway service
`openclaw gateway stop`	Stop gateway service
`openclaw gateway restart`	Restart gateway
`openclaw gateway status`	Check gateway health
`openclaw gateway logs`	View runtime logs

Setup & Configuration

Command	Description
`openclaw onboard`	Guided setup wizard
`openclaw configure`	Configure plugins/channels/models
`openclaw configure plugins`	Manage plugins
`openclaw configure channels`	Configure notification channels
`openclaw configure models`	Set up AI models
`openclaw status`	Check system health

Diagnostics

Command	Description
`openclaw doctor`	Diagnose setup issues
`openclaw logs`	View all logs
`openclaw logs --level error`	Show only errors
`openclaw logs --follow`	Tail logs (live)

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Skills System

Skills are reusable AI workflows/capabilities.

Manage Skills

Command	Description
`openclaw skill create <name>`	Create new skill
`openclaw skill list`	List all skills
`openclaw skill enable <name>`	Enable skill
`openclaw skill disable <name>`	Disable skill
`openclaw skill delete <name>`	Delete skill
`openclaw skill run <name>`	Execute skill manually

Skill Structure

# skills/summarize-pr.yaml
name: summarize-pr
description: Summarize GitHub PRs
triggers:
  - github.pull_request.opened
model: claude-3.5-sonnet
prompt: |
  Summarize this pull request in 3 bullet points:
  {{event.pull_request.title}}
  {{event.pull_request.body}}
actions:
  - type: comment
    target: github
    message: "{{response}}"

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Cron Jobs (Scheduled Tasks)

Manage Cron Jobs

Command	Description
`openclaw cron add <schedule> <command>`	Add cron job
`openclaw cron list`	List all cron jobs
`openclaw cron remove <id>`	Remove cron job
`openclaw cron enable <id>`	Enable cron job
`openclaw cron disable <id>`	Disable cron job

Examples

# Daily standup reminder
openclaw cron add "0 9   1-5" "send-message 'Daily standup in 30 mins!'"
Weekly dependency check
openclaw cron add "0 10   1" "run-skill check-outdated-deps"
Hourly health check
openclaw cron add "0    " "run-skill monitor-api-health"

Cron Schedule Format

    *
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─ Day of week (0-7, Sun=0 or 7)
│ │ │ └─── Month (1-12)
│ │ └───── Day of month (1-31)
│ └─────── Hour (0-23)
└───────── Minute (0-59)

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Events & Triggers

Trigger Event Manually

# Trigger immediate event
openclaw system event --text "Deploy completed" --mode now
Trigger delayed event
openclaw system event --text "Check deploy status" --mode delay --delay 300
Trigger with custom data
openclaw system event --data '{"repo": "myapp", "branch": "main"}' --mode now

Event Types

github.* — GitHub webhooks (PR opened, issue created, etc.)
gitlab.* — GitLab webhooks
slack.* — Slack events (message, reaction, etc.)
cron.* — Scheduled cron jobs
custom.* — Custom user events

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Channels (Notifications)

Configure Channels

# Add Slack channel
openclaw channel add slack \
  --webhook https://hooks.slack.com/... \
  --name engineering
Add Discord
openclaw channel add discord \
  --webhook https://discord.com/api/webhooks/... \
  --name alerts
Add Email
openclaw channel add email \
  --smtp smtp.gmail.com \
  --from bot@example.com \
  --to team@example.com

List Channels

openclaw channel list

Send Message to Channel

openclaw channel send slack-engineering "Build completed! ✅"

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Memory System

OpenClaw agents have persistent memory across conversations.

Manage Memory

Command	Description
`openclaw memory set <key> <value>`	Store key-value pair
`openclaw memory get <key>`	Retrieve value
`openclaw memory delete <key>`	Delete key
`openclaw memory list`	List all memory entries
`openclaw memory clear`	Clear all memory

Examples

# Store project context
openclaw memory set project-status "in-development"
openclaw memory set last-deploy "2026-03-02T10:30:00Z"
Use in skills
openclaw memory get project-status

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Plugins

Manage Plugins

Command	Description
`openclaw plugin install <name>`	Install plugin
`openclaw plugin uninstall <name>`	Uninstall plugin
`openclaw plugin list`	List installed plugins
`openclaw plugin enable <name>`	Enable plugin
`openclaw plugin disable <name>`	Disable plugin

Popular Plugins

github — GitHub integration (webhooks, API)
gitlab — GitLab integration
slack — Slack bot and webhooks
discord — Discord bot
jira — Jira issue tracking
linear — Linear issue tracking
sentry — Error monitoring
datadog — Metrics and monitoring

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Configuration File

Location: ~/.openclaw/config.yaml

Example config.yaml

# Gateway settings
gateway:
  port: 8080
  host: 0.0.0.0
  log_level: info
AI models
models:
  default: claude-3.5-sonnet
  providers:
    anthropic:
      api_key: sk-ant-...
    openai:
      api_key: sk-...
Channels
channels:
  slack-engineering:
    type: slack
    webhook: https://hooks.slack.com/...
  email-alerts:
    type: email
    smtp: smtp.gmail.com
    from: bot@example.com
Plugins
plugins:
  github:
    enabled: true
    token: ghp_...
  slack:
    enabled: true
    bot_token: xoxb-...
Memory
memory:
  backend: sqlite # or redis, postgres
  path: ~/.openclaw/memory.db

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Examples

Auto-Review PRs

# skills/pr-review.yaml
name: pr-review
description: Automatically review pull requests
triggers:
  - github.pull_request.opened
model: claude-3.5-sonnet
prompt: |
  Review this pull request:
  Title: {{event.pull_request.title}}
  Files changed: {{event.pull_request.changed_files}}
  Diff: {{event.pull_request.diff}}
Provide:
  1. Code quality assessment
  2. Potential bugs
  3. Suggestions for improvement
actions:
  - type: comment
    target: github
    message: "{{response}}"

Daily Standup Reminder

# Add cron job
openclaw cron add "0 9   1-5" "run-skill daily-standup-reminder"
Skill: skills/daily-standup-reminder.yaml
name: daily-standup-reminder
description: Send daily standup reminder
model: gpt-4-turbo
prompt: |
  Generate a friendly reminder for daily standup.
  Include:
  - Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/xyz
  - What to prepare: updates, blockers, plans
actions:
  - type: send
    channel: slack-engineering
    message: "{{response}}"

Monitor API Health

# skills/monitor-api-health.yaml
name: monitor-api-health
description: Check API health and alert if down
triggers:
  - cron.hourly
actions:
  - type: http
    url: https://api.example.com/health
    method: GET
  - type: evaluate
    condition: "{{http.status}} != 200"
    actions:
      - type: send
        channel: slack-alerts
        message: "🚨 API is down! Status: {{http.status}}"

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Tips & Best Practices

Skills

Keep skills focused and composable
Use clear, descriptive names
Test skills manually before enabling triggers

Cron Jobs

Use cron for reminders, checks, and reports
Avoid high-frequency cron (< 5 min intervals)
Monitor cron job execution in logs

Integrations

Prefer tool-first integrations (plugins) over custom scripts
Use webhooks for real-time events
Store secrets in env vars or config, not in skill files

Memory

Use memory for cross-conversation context
Clean up old memory entries periodically
Use structured keys (e.g., project:status, deploy:last-timestamp)

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Troubleshooting

Gateway Won't Start

# Check port availability
lsof -i :8080
Check logs
openclaw logs --level error
Run diagnostics
openclaw doctor

Skill Not Triggering

# Check skill is enabled
openclaw skill list
Verify trigger configuration
cat ~/.openclaw/skills/skill-name.yaml
Check event logs
openclaw logs --follow

Plugin Issues

# Reinstall plugin
openclaw plugin uninstall github
openclaw plugin install github
Check plugin config
openclaw configure plugins
View plugin logs
openclaw logs --filter plugin=github

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Resources

Official Docs: https://openclaw.dev/docs
GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
Community: https://discord.gg/openclaw
Examples: https://github.com/openclaw/examples