`openclaw tui`

Open the terminal UI connected to the Gateway, or run it in local embedded mode.

Related guide: TUI

Options

Flag	Default	Description
`--local`	`false`	Run against the local embedded agent runtime instead of a Gateway.
`--url <url>`	`gateway.remote.url` from config	Gateway WebSocket URL.
`--token <token>`	(none)	Gateway token if required.
`--password <pass>`	(none)	Gateway password if required.
`--session <key>`	`main` (or `global` when scope is global)	Session key. Inside an agent workspace it auto-selects that agent unless prefixed.
`--deliver`	`false`	Deliver assistant replies through configured channels.
`--thinking <level>`	(model default)	Thinking level override.
`--message <text>`	(none)	Send an initial message after connecting.
`--timeout-ms <ms>`	`agents.defaults.timeoutSeconds`	Agent timeout. Invalid values log a warning and are ignored.
`--history-limit <n>`	`200`	History entries to load on attach.

Aliases: openclaw chat and openclaw terminal invoke this command with --local implied.

Notes

--local cannot combine with --url, --token, or --password.
tui resolves configured Gateway auth SecretRefs for token/password auth when possible (env/file/exec providers).
With no explicit URL or port, tui follows the active local Gateway port recorded by the running Gateway. Explicit --url, OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL, OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT, and remote Gateway config keep precedence.
Launched from inside a configured agent workspace directory, TUI auto-selects that agent for the session key default (unless --session is explicitly agent:<id>:...).
To show the Gateway hostname in the footer for non-local URL-backed connections, run openclaw config set tui.footer.showRemoteHost true. Off by default; never shown for loopback or embedded local connections.
Local mode uses the embedded agent runtime directly. Most local tools work, but Gateway-only features are unavailable.
Local mode adds /auth [provider] to the TUI command surface.
Plugin approval gates still apply in local mode: tools that require approval prompt for a decision in the terminal, nothing is silently auto-approved.
Session goals appear in the footer and can be managed with /goal.

Examples

bash

openclaw chat
openclaw tui --local
openclaw tui
openclaw tui --url ws://127.0.0.1:18789 --token <token>
openclaw tui --session main --deliver
openclaw chat --message "Compare my config to the docs and tell me what to fix"
# when run inside an agent workspace, infers that agent automatically
openclaw tui --session bugfix

Config repair loop

Use local mode to have the embedded agent inspect the current config, compare it against the docs, and help repair it from the same terminal.

If openclaw config validate is already failing, run openclaw configure or openclaw doctor --fix first; openclaw chat does not bypass the invalid-config guard.

bash

openclaw chat

Then inside the TUI:

text

!openclaw config file
!openclaw docs gateway auth token secretref
!openclaw config validate
!openclaw doctor

Apply targeted fixes with openclaw config set or openclaw configure, then rerun openclaw config validate. See TUI and Config.