Environment variables

OpenClaw pulls environment variables from multiple sources. The rule is never override existing values.

Precedence (highest → lowest)

1. Process environment (what the Gateway process already has from the parent shell/daemon).
2. .env in the current working directory (dotenv default; does not override).
3. Global .env at ~/.openclaw/.env (aka $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/.env; does not override).
4. Config env block in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (applied only if missing).
5. Optional login-shell import (env.shellEnv.enabled or OPENCLAW_LOAD_SHELL_ENV=1), applied only for missing expected keys.

On Ubuntu fresh installs that use the default state dir, OpenClaw also treats ~/.config/openclaw/gateway.env as a compatibility fallback after the global .env. If both files exist and disagree, OpenClaw keeps ~/.openclaw/.env and prints a warning.

If the config file is missing entirely, step 4 is skipped; shell import still runs if enabled.

Config env block

Two equivalent ways to set inline env vars (both are non-overriding):

{
  env: {
    OPENROUTER_API_KEY: "sk-or-...",
    vars: {
      GROQ_API_KEY: "gsk-...",
    },
  },
}

Shell env import

env.shellEnv runs your login shell and imports only missing expected keys:

{
  env: {
    shellEnv: {
      enabled: true,
      timeoutMs: 15000,
    },
  },
}

Env var equivalents:

• OPENCLAW_LOAD_SHELL_ENV=1
• OPENCLAW_SHELL_ENV_TIMEOUT_MS=15000

Runtime-injected env vars

OpenClaw also injects context markers into spawned child processes:

• OPENCLAW_SHELL=exec: set for commands run through the exec tool.
• OPENCLAW_SHELL=acp: set for ACP runtime backend process spawns (for example acpx).
• OPENCLAW_SHELL=acp-client: set for openclaw acp client when it spawns the ACP bridge process.
• OPENCLAW_SHELL=tui-local: set for local TUI ! shell commands.

These are runtime markers (not required user config). They can be used in shell/profile logic to apply context-specific rules.

UI env vars

• OPENCLAW_THEME=light: force the light TUI palette when your terminal has a light background.
• OPENCLAW_THEME=dark: force the dark TUI palette.
• COLORFGBG: if your terminal exports it, OpenClaw uses the background color hint to auto-pick the TUI palette.

Env var substitution in config

You can reference env vars directly in config string values using ${VAR_NAME} syntax:

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      "vercel-gateway": {
        apiKey: "${VERCEL_GATEWAY_API_KEY}",
      },
    },
  },
}

See Configuration: Env var substitution for full details.

Secret refs vs ${ENV} strings

OpenClaw supports two env-driven patterns:

• ${VAR} string substitution in config values.
• SecretRef objects ({ source: "env", provider: "default", id: "VAR" }) for fields that support secrets references.

Both resolve from process env at activation time. SecretRef details are documented in Secrets Management.

Path-related env vars

Logging

OPENCLAW_HOME

When set, OPENCLAW_HOME replaces the system home directory ($HOME / os.homedir()) for all internal path resolution. This enables full filesystem isolation for headless service accounts.

Precedence: OPENCLAW_HOME > $HOME > USERPROFILE > os.homedir()

Example (macOS LaunchDaemon):

<key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
<dict>
  <key>OPENCLAW_HOME</key>
  <string>/Users/user</string>
</dict>

OPENCLAW_HOME can also be set to a tilde path (e.g. ~/svc), which gets expanded using $HOME before use.

nvm users: web_fetch TLS failures

If Node.js was installed via nvm (not the system package manager), the built-in fetch() uses nvm's bundled CA store, which may be missing modern root CAs (ISRG Root X1/X2 for Let's Encrypt, DigiCert Global Root G2, etc.). This causes web_fetch to fail with "fetch failed" on most HTTPS sites.

On Linux, OpenClaw automatically detects nvm and applies the fix in the actual startup environment:

• openclaw gateway install writes NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS into the systemd service environment
• the openclaw CLI entrypoint re-execs itself with NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS set before Node startup

Manual fix (for older versions or direct node ... launches):

Export the variable before starting OpenClaw:

export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
openclaw gateway run

Do not rely on writing only to ~/.openclaw/.env for this variable; Node reads NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS at process startup.

Legacy environment variables

OpenClaw only reads OPENCLAW_* environment variables. The legacy CLAWDBOT_* and MOLTBOT_* prefixes from earlier releases are silently ignored.

If any are still set on the Gateway process at startup, OpenClaw emits a single Node deprecation warning (OPENCLAW_LEGACY_ENV_VARS) listing the detected prefixes and the total count. Rename each value by replacing the legacy prefix with OPENCLAW_ (for example CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN → OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN); the old names take no effect.

Related

• Gateway configuration
• FAQ: env vars and .env loading
• Models overview