Configuration Reference

OpenClaw is configured via ~/.openclaw/config.yml. This page documents every available setting.

Full Example

~/.openclaw/config.yml

# LLM Configuration
brain:
  provider: "anthropic"           # anthropic, openai, xai, local
  model: "claude-opus-4-6"
  api_key: "${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}"
  temperature: 0.7
  max_tokens: 4096
  fallback:
    provider: "openai"
    model: "gpt-4o"
  heartbeat_override:
    provider: "anthropic"
    model: "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001"

# Gateway Configuration
gateway:
  host: "127.0.0.1"
  port: 18789
  max_connections: 10
  log_level: "info"
  pid_file: "~/.openclaw/gateway.pid"

# Execution Environment
hands:
  shell:
    enabled: true
    timeout: 30000
    blocked_commands: []
  browser:
    enabled: true
    headless: true
    timeout: 60000
    allowed_domains: []
  filesystem:
    writable_paths: []
    blocked_paths:
      - "~/.ssh"
      - "~/.gnupg"
  sandbox:
    enabled: false
    type: "docker"

# Heartbeat
heartbeat:
  enabled: true
  interval: 1800
  quiet_hours:
    start: "23:00"
    end: "07:00"
    timezone: "America/Los_Angeles"

# Memory
memory:
  enabled: true
  path: "~/.openclaw/memory"
  max_context_tokens: 2000
  auto_save: true

# Skills
skills:
  path: "~/.openclaw/skills"
  allow_install: true
  allow_clawhub: true
  auto_install_deps: false

# Channels (configured individually)
channels: {}

# Logging
logging:
  level: "info"
  path: "~/.openclaw/logs"
  max_size: "10m"
  max_files: 5
  audit:
    enabled: false

Section Reference

brain

Key	Type	Default	Description
provider	string	"anthropic"	LLM provider
model	string	"claude-opus-4-6"	Model identifier
api_key	string	—	API key (supports ${ENV_VAR} syntax)
temperature	float	0.7	Response randomness (0.0–1.0)
max_tokens	int	4096	Max response tokens
fallback	object	—	Fallback provider config
heartbeat_override	object	—	Override model for heartbeat only

gateway

Key	Type	Default	Description
host	string	"127.0.0.1"	Bind address
port	int	18789	WebSocket port
max_connections	int	10	Max concurrent connections
log_level	string	"info"	Log verbosity

hands

See sub-sections: shell, browser, filesystem, sandbox.

heartbeat

Key	Type	Default	Description
enabled	bool	true	Enable heartbeat
interval	int	1800	Seconds between heartbeats
quiet_hours.start	string	—	Quiet hours start (HH:MM)
quiet_hours.end	string	—	Quiet hours end (HH:MM)
quiet_hours.timezone	string	"UTC"	Timezone for quiet hours

memory

Key	Type	Default	Description
enabled	bool	true	Enable persistent memory
path	string	"~/.openclaw/memory"	Memory directory
max_context_tokens	int	2000	Max tokens loaded per conversation
auto_save	bool	true	Save after each conversation

Environment Variable Substitution

Any config value can reference environment variables:

brain:
  api_key: "${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}"

See Also

• Environment Variables — All supported env vars
• CLI Reference — openclaw config commands
• Security Hardening — Security-focused config