openclaw/docs/cli/agents.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
CLI reference for `openclaw agents` (list/add/delete/bindings/bind/unbind/set identity)	You want multiple isolated agents (workspaces + routing + auth)	Agents

openclaw agents

Manage isolated agents (workspaces + auth + routing).

Related:

• Multi-agent routing
• Agent workspace
• Skills config: skill visibility configuration.

Examples

openclaw agents list
openclaw agents list --bindings
openclaw agents add work --workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace-work
openclaw agents add ops --workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace-ops --bind telegram:ops --non-interactive
openclaw agents bindings
openclaw agents bind --agent work --bind telegram:ops
openclaw agents unbind --agent work --bind telegram:ops
openclaw agents set-identity --workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace --from-identity
openclaw agents set-identity --agent main --avatar avatars/openclaw.png
openclaw agents delete work

Routing bindings

Use routing bindings to pin inbound channel traffic to a specific agent.

If you also want different visible skills per agent, configure agents.defaults.skills and agents.list[].skills in openclaw.json. See Skills config and Configuration reference.

List bindings:

openclaw agents bindings
openclaw agents bindings --agent work
openclaw agents bindings --json

Add bindings:

openclaw agents bind --agent work --bind telegram:ops --bind discord:guild-a

If you omit accountId (--bind <channel>), OpenClaw resolves it from channel defaults and plugin setup hooks when available.

If you omit --agent for bind or unbind, OpenClaw targets the current default agent.

Binding scope behavior

• A binding without accountId matches the channel default account only.
• accountId: "*" is the channel-wide fallback (all accounts) and is less specific than an explicit account binding.
• If the same agent already has a matching channel binding without accountId, and you later bind with an explicit or resolved accountId, OpenClaw upgrades that existing binding in place instead of adding a duplicate.

Example:

# initial channel-only binding
openclaw agents bind --agent work --bind telegram

# later upgrade to account-scoped binding
openclaw agents bind --agent work --bind telegram:ops

After the upgrade, routing for that binding is scoped to telegram:ops. If you also want default-account routing, add it explicitly (for example --bind telegram:default).

Remove bindings:

openclaw agents unbind --agent work --bind telegram:ops
openclaw agents unbind --agent work --all

unbind accepts either --all or one or more --bind values, not both.

Command surface

agents

Running openclaw agents with no subcommand is equivalent to openclaw agents list.

agents list

Options:

• --json
• --bindings: include full routing rules, not only per-agent counts/summaries

agents add [name]

Options:

• --workspace <dir>
• --model <id>
• --agent-dir <dir>
• --bind <channel[:accountId]> (repeatable)
• --non-interactive
• --json

Notes:

• Passing any explicit add flags switches the command into the non-interactive path.
• Non-interactive mode requires both an agent name and --workspace.
• main is reserved and cannot be used as the new agent id.
• In interactive mode, auth seeding copies only portable static profiles (api_key and static token by default). OAuth refresh-token profiles remain available only by read-through inheritance from the real main agent store. If the configured default agent is not main, sign in separately for OAuth profiles on the new agent.

agents bindings

Options:

• --agent <id>
• --json

agents bind

Options:

• --agent <id> (defaults to the current default agent)
• --bind <channel[:accountId]> (repeatable)
• --json

agents unbind

Options:

• --agent <id> (defaults to the current default agent)
• --bind <channel[:accountId]> (repeatable)
• --all
• --json

agents delete <id>

Options:

• --force
• --json

Notes:

• main cannot be deleted.
• Without --force, interactive confirmation is required.
• Workspace and per-agent state directories are moved to Trash, not hard-deleted.
• Session rows for the deleted agent are purged from SQLite.
• When the Gateway is reachable, deletion is sent through the Gateway so config and session-store cleanup share the same writer as runtime traffic. If the Gateway cannot be reached, the CLI falls back to the offline local path.
• If another agent's workspace is the same path, inside this workspace, or contains this workspace, the workspace is retained and --json reports workspaceRetained, workspaceRetainedReason, and workspaceSharedWith.

Identity files

Each agent workspace can include an IDENTITY.md at the workspace root:

• Example path: ~/.openclaw/workspace/IDENTITY.md
• set-identity --from-identity reads from the workspace root (or an explicit --identity-file)

Avatar paths resolve relative to the workspace root.

Set identity

set-identity writes fields into agents.list[].identity:

• name
• theme
• emoji
• avatar (workspace-relative path, http(s) URL, or data URI)

Options:

• --agent <id>
• --workspace <dir>
• --identity-file <path>
• --from-identity
• --name <name>
• --theme <theme>
• --emoji <emoji>
• --avatar <value>
• --json

Notes:

• --agent or --workspace can be used to select the target agent.
• If you rely on --workspace and multiple agents share that workspace, the command fails and asks you to pass --agent.
• When no explicit identity fields are provided, the command reads identity data from IDENTITY.md.

Load from IDENTITY.md:

openclaw agents set-identity --workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace --from-identity

Override fields explicitly:

openclaw agents set-identity --agent main --name "OpenClaw" --emoji "🦞" --avatar avatars/openclaw.png

Config sample:

{
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "main",
        identity: {
          name: "OpenClaw",
          theme: "space lobster",
          emoji: "🦞",
          avatar: "avatars/openclaw.png",
        },
      },
    ],
  },
}

Related

• CLI reference
• Multi-agent routing
• Agent workspace