Agent send

openclaw agent runs a single agent turn from the command line without needing an inbound chat message. Use it for scripted workflows, testing, and programmatic delivery.

Quick start

<Steps> <Step title="Run a simple agent turn"> ```bash openclaw agent --message "What is the weather today?" ```

This sends the message through the Gateway and prints the reply.

</Step> <Step title="Target a specific agent or session"> ```bash # Target a specific agent openclaw agent --agent ops --message "Summarize logs"

# Target a phone number (derives session key)
openclaw agent --to +15555550123 --message "Status update"

# Reuse an existing session
openclaw agent --session-id abc123 --message "Continue the task"
```

</Step> <Step title="Deliver the reply to a channel"> ```bash # Deliver to WhatsApp (default channel) openclaw agent --to +15555550123 --message "Report ready" --deliver

# Deliver to Slack
openclaw agent --agent ops --message "Generate report" \
  --deliver --reply-channel slack --reply-to "#reports"
```

</Step> </Steps>

Flags

Flag	Description
`--message \<text\>`	Message to send (required)
`--to \<dest\>`	Derive session key from a target (phone, chat id)
`--agent \<id\>`	Target a configured agent (uses its `main` session)
`--session-id \<id\>`	Reuse an existing session by id
`--local`	Force local embedded runtime (skip Gateway)
`--deliver`	Send the reply to a chat channel
`--channel \<name\>`	Delivery channel (whatsapp, telegram, discord, slack, etc.)
`--reply-to \<target\>`	Delivery target override
`--reply-channel \<name\>`	Delivery channel override
`--reply-account \<id\>`	Delivery account id override
`--thinking \<level\>`	Set thinking level for the selected model profile
`--verbose \<on\|full\|off\>`	Set verbose level
`--timeout \<seconds\>`	Override agent timeout
`--json`	Output structured JSON

Behavior

By default, the CLI goes through the Gateway. Add --local to force the embedded runtime on the current machine.
If the Gateway is unreachable, the CLI falls back to the local embedded run.
Session selection: --to derives the session key (group/channel targets preserve isolation; direct chats collapse to main).
Thinking and verbose flags persist into the session store.
Output: plain text by default, or --json for structured payload + metadata.
With --json --deliver, the JSON includes delivery status for sent, suppressed, partial, and failed sends. See JSON delivery status.

Examples

bash

# Simple turn with JSON output
openclaw agent --to +15555550123 --message "Trace logs" --verbose on --json

# Turn with thinking level
openclaw agent --session-id 1234 --message "Summarize inbox" --thinking medium

# Deliver to a different channel than the session
openclaw agent --agent ops --message "Alert" --deliver --reply-channel telegram --reply-to "@admin"

<CardGroup cols={2}> <Card title="Agent CLI reference" href="/cli/agent" icon="terminal"> Full `openclaw agent` flag and option reference. </Card> <Card title="Sub-agents" href="/tools/subagents" icon="users"> Background sub-agent spawning. </Card> <Card title="Sessions" href="/concepts/session" icon="comments"> How session keys work and how `--to`, `--agent`, and `--session-id` resolve them. </Card> <Card title="Slash commands" href="/tools/slash-commands" icon="slash"> Native command catalog used inside agent sessions. </Card> </CardGroup>

Quick start

Flags

Behavior

Examples

Related