`openclaw pairing`

Approve or inspect DM pairing requests for channels that support pairing (chat DMs only - node/device pairing uses openclaw devices).

Related: Pairing flow

Commands

bash

openclaw pairing list telegram
openclaw pairing list --channel telegram --account work
openclaw pairing list telegram --json

openclaw pairing approve <code>
openclaw pairing approve telegram <code>
openclaw pairing approve --channel telegram --account work <code> --notify

`pairing list`

List pending pairing requests for one channel.

Option	Description
`[channel]`	positional channel id
`--channel <channel>`	explicit channel id
`--account <accountId>`	account id for multi-account channels
`--json`	machine-readable output

If multiple pairing-capable channels are configured, pass a channel positionally or with --channel. Extension channels work as long as the channel id is valid.

`pairing approve`

Approve a pending pairing code and allow that sender.

Usage:

openclaw pairing approve <channel> <code>
openclaw pairing approve --channel <channel> <code>
openclaw pairing approve <code> when exactly one pairing-capable channel is configured

Options: --channel <channel>, --account <accountId>, --notify (send a confirmation back to the requester on the same channel).

Owner bootstrap

If commands.ownerAllowFrom is empty when you approve a pairing code, OpenClaw also records the approved sender as the command owner, using a channel-scoped entry such as telegram:123456789. This only bootstraps the first owner - later pairing approvals never replace or expand commands.ownerAllowFrom.

The command owner is the human operator account allowed to run owner-only commands and approve dangerous actions such as /diagnostics, /export-trajectory, /config, and exec approvals. Pairing only lets a sender talk to the agent; it does not by itself grant owner privileges beyond this one-time bootstrap.

If you approved a sender before this bootstrap existed, run openclaw doctor; it warns when no command owner is configured and shows the exact openclaw config set commands.ownerAllowFrom ... command to fix it.