openclaw/docs/help/environment.md

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Where OpenClaw loads environment variables and the precedence order	You need to know which env vars are loaded, and in what order You are debugging missing API keys in the Gateway You are documenting provider auth or deployment environments	Environment variables

OpenClaw pulls environment variables from multiple sources. The rule is never override existing values. Workspace .env files are a lower-trust source: OpenClaw ignores provider credentials and protected runtime controls from workspace .env before applying precedence.

Precedence (highest to 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; provider credentials and protected runtime controls are ignored).
3. Global .env at ~/.openclaw/.env (aka $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/.env; recommended for provider API keys; 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 fresh Ubuntu 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.

Supported operator-facing variables

The variables below are the supported environment contract for operators. Undocumented OPENCLAW_* variables are internal implementation details and may disappear without notice.

Paths and instances

Variable	Purpose
OPENCLAW_HOME	Override the home directory used for OpenClaw path defaults.
OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR	Override the mutable state directory.
OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH	Override the active config file path.
OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR	Override the default agent workspace.
OPENCLAW_PROFILE	Select a named profile and its isolated defaults.
OPENCLAW_GIT_DIR	Override the source checkout used by development-channel updates.
OPENCLAW_INCLUDE_ROOTS	Allow $include to resolve from additional roots.

Gateway and authentication

Variable	Purpose
OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL	Override the remote Gateway URL used by clients.
OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT	Override the local Gateway port.
OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN	Supply token authentication for Gateway servers and clients.
OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD	Supply password authentication for Gateway servers and clients.

Provider credentials

Core and bundled provider plugins recognize the following credential and provider-selection variables. Prefer each provider's config or SecretRef fields when you need scoped credentials rather than one process-wide value.

AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_ADMIN_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_ADMIN_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_OAUTH_TOKEN, ARCEEAI_API_KEY, AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY, AZURE_SPEECH_API_KEY, AZURE_SPEECH_KEY, AZURE_SPEECH_REGION, BASETEN_API_KEY, BRAVE_API_KEY, BYTEPLUS_API_KEY, BYTEPLUS_SEED_SPEECH_API_KEY, CEREBRAS_API_KEY, CHUTES_API_KEY, CHUTES_OAUTH_TOKEN, CLAWROUTER_API_KEY, CLOUDFLARE_AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY, CODEX_API_KEY, COHERE_API_KEY, COMFY_API_KEY, COMFY_CLOUD_API_KEY, COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN, DASHSCOPE_API_KEY, DEEPGRAM_API_KEY, DEEPINFRA_API_KEY, DEEPSEEK_API_KEY, ELEVENLABS_API_KEY, EXA_API_KEY, FAL_API_KEY, FAL_KEY, FEATHERLESS_API_KEY, FIRECRAWL_API_KEY, FIREWORKS_API_KEY, GCLOUD_PROJECT, GEMINI_API_KEY, GH_TOKEN, GITHUB_TOKEN, GMI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY, GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS, GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY, GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION, GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT, GRADIUM_API_KEY, GROQ_API_KEY, HF_TOKEN, HUGGINGFACE_HUB_TOKEN, INWORLD_API_KEY, KILOCODE_API_KEY, KIMICODE_API_KEY, KIMI_API_KEY, LITELLM_API_KEY, LM_API_TOKEN, LONGCAT_API_KEY, MINIMAX_API_KEY, MINIMAX_CODE_PLAN_KEY, MINIMAX_CODING_API_KEY, MINIMAX_OAUTH_TOKEN, MISTRAL_API_KEY, MODELSTUDIO_API_KEY, MODEL_API_KEY, MOONSHOT_API_KEY, NOVITA_API_KEY, NVIDIA_API_KEY, OLLAMA_API_KEY, OPENAI_ADMIN_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, OPENCODE_API_KEY, OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, PARALLEL_API_KEY, PERPLEXITY_API_KEY, PIXVERSE_API_KEY, QIANFAN_API_KEY, QWEN_API_KEY, QWEN_TOKEN_PLAN_API_KEY, RUNWAYML_API_SECRET, RUNWAY_API_KEY, SENSEAUDIO_API_KEY, SGLANG_API_KEY, SPEECH_KEY, SPEECH_REGION, STEPFUN_API_KEY, SYNTHETIC_API_KEY, TAVILY_API_KEY, TOGETHER_API_KEY, TOKENHUB_API_KEY, TOKENPLAN_API_KEY, VENICE_API_KEY, VLLM_API_KEY, VOLCANO_ENGINE_API_KEY, VOLCENGINE_TTS_API_KEY, VOLCENGINE_TTS_APPID, VOLCENGINE_TTS_TOKEN, VOYAGE_API_KEY, VYDRA_API_KEY, XAI_API_KEY, XIAOMI_API_KEY, XIAOMI_TOKEN_PLAN_API_KEY, XI_API_KEY, ZAI_API_KEY, and Z_AI_API_KEY.

Installed third-party plugins may declare additional credential variables in their plugin manifests; those variables are contracts of the plugin that declares them, not core OpenClaw variables.

Logging and diagnostics

Variable	Purpose
OPENCLAW_LOG_LEVEL	Override file and console log levels.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_MODEL_TRANSPORT	Enable model transport timing diagnostics.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_MODEL_PAYLOAD	Select redacted model payload diagnostics.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_SSE	Select SSE timing or event-peek diagnostics.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_CODE_MODE	Enable code-mode surface diagnostics.
OPENCLAW_DIAGNOSTICS	Enable named diagnostic flags, or disable all flags with 0.
OPENCLAW_DIAGNOSTICS_TIMELINE_PATH	Select the JSONL path for timeline diagnostics.
OPENCLAW_DIAGNOSTICS_EVENT_LOOP	Add event-loop samples to timeline diagnostics.

Feature and runtime toggles

Variable	Purpose
OPENCLAW_LOAD_SHELL_ENV	Import missing expected variables from the login shell.
OPENCLAW_SHELL_ENV_TIMEOUT_MS	Set the login-shell import timeout.
OPENCLAW_EXEC_SHELL_SNAPSHOT	Disable exec shell snapshots with 0.
OPENCLAW_OFFLINE	Prevent downloads of pinned agent helper binaries.
OPENCLAW_BROWSER_HEADLESS	Force managed browser launches headed (0) or headless (1).
OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR	Force Bonjour advertising on (0) or off (1).
OPENCLAW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE	Disable automatic update applies.
OPENCLAW_ALLOW_INSECURE_PRIVATE_WS	Allow trusted private-DNS ws:// connections as a break-glass override.
OPENCLAW_ALLOW_MULTI_GATEWAY	Allow multiple Gateway processes while preserving per-state ownership locks.
OPENCLAW_SKIP_CHANNELS	Start the Gateway without channel transports for troubleshooting.
OPENCLAW_THEME	Force the TUI palette to light or dark.

Provider credentials and workspace .env

Do not keep provider API keys only in a workspace .env. OpenClaw blocks a large set of provider credential and endpoint-redirect keys from workspace .env files, including every known provider auth env var (for example GEMINI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY, XAI_API_KEY, MISTRAL_API_KEY, GROQ_API_KEY, DEEPSEEK_API_KEY, PERPLEXITY_API_KEY, BRAVE_API_KEY, TAVILY_API_KEY, EXA_API_KEY, FIRECRAWL_API_KEY), plus any key ending in _API_HOST, _BASE_URL, _ENDPOINT, or _HOMESERVER, and the entire OPENCLAW_*, CLAWHUB_*, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_*, and OPENAI_API_KEY_* namespaces.

Use one of these trusted sources for provider credentials instead:

• The Gateway process environment, such as a shell, launchd/systemd unit, container secret, or CI secret.
• The global runtime dotenv file at ~/.openclaw/.env or $OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/.env.
• The config env block in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.
• Optional login-shell import when env.shellEnv.enabled or OPENCLAW_LOAD_SHELL_ENV=1 is enabled.

If you previously stored provider keys or endpoint routing values only in a workspace .env, move them to one of the trusted sources above. Workspace .env can still provide ordinary project variables that are not credentials, endpoint redirects, host overrides, or OPENCLAW_* runtime controls.

See Workspace .env files for the security rationale.

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-...",
    },
  },
}

The config env block accepts literal string values only. It does not expand file:... values; for example, XAI_API_KEY: "file:secrets/xai-api-key.txt" is passed to providers as that exact string.

For file-backed provider keys, use a SecretRef on the credential field that supports it:

{
  secrets: {
    providers: {
      xai_key_file: {
        source: "file",
        path: "~/.openclaw/secrets/xai-api-key.txt",
        mode: "singleValue",
      },
    },
  },
  models: {
    providers: {
      xai: {
        apiKey: { source: "file", provider: "xai_key_file", id: "value" },
      },
    },
  },
}

See Secrets Management and the SecretRef credential surface for supported fields.

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 (default 15000)

Exec shell snapshots

On non-Windows Gateway hosts, bash and zsh exec commands use a startup snapshot by default. Set OPENCLAW_EXEC_SHELL_SNAPSHOT=0 in the Gateway process environment to disable this path. Values false, no, and off also disable it. Per-call exec.env values cannot toggle snapshots or redirect the snapshot cache.

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-client: set for openclaw acp client when it spawns the ACP bridge process.
• OPENCLAW_SHELL=tui-local: set for local TUI ! shell commands.
• OPENCLAW_CLI=1: set for child processes spawned by the CLI entry point.

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. The config env block itself does not resolve SecretRefs or file:... shorthand values.

Path-related env vars

Variable	Purpose
OPENCLAW_HOME	Override the home directory used for internal OpenClaw path defaults (~/.openclaw/, agent dirs, sessions, credentials, installer onboarding, and the default dev checkout). Useful when running OpenClaw as a dedicated service user.
OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR	Override the state directory (default ~/.openclaw).
OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH	Override the config file path (default ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json).
OPENCLAW_INCLUDE_ROOTS	Path-list of directories where $include directives may resolve files outside the config directory (default: none - $include is confined to the config dir). Tilde-expanded.

Agent helper tool downloads

Set OPENCLAW_OFFLINE=1 to prevent OpenClaw from downloading its pinned fd and ripgrep helper binaries. Existing helpers under the OpenClaw tools directory and working system binaries remain eligible; a missing helper stays unavailable instead of triggering a network request.

Logging

Variable	Purpose
OPENCLAW_LOG_LEVEL	Override log level for both file and console (e.g. debug, trace). Takes precedence over logging.level and logging.consoleLevel in config. Invalid values are ignored with a warning.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_MODEL_TRANSPORT	Emit targeted model request/response timing diagnostics at info level without enabling global debug logs.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_MODEL_PAYLOAD	Model payload diagnostics: summary, tools, or full-redacted. full-redacted is capped and redacted but may include prompt/message text.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_SSE	Streaming diagnostics: events for first/done timing, peek to include the first five redacted SSE events.
OPENCLAW_DEBUG_CODE_MODE	Code-mode model-surface diagnostics, including provider-tool hiding and compact control/direct enforcement.

OPENCLAW_HOME

When set, OPENCLAW_HOME replaces the system home directory ($HOME / os.homedir()) for internal OpenClaw path defaults. This includes the default state directory, config path, agent directories, credentials, installer onboarding workspace, and the default dev checkout used by openclaw update --channel dev.

OPENCLAW_HOME does not grant ownership of the OS account's native Gateway service. Gateway service-management commands treat a relocated home as isolated state; use the OS account home and a named profile when a separate native service identity is required.

Precedence: OPENCLAW_HOME > $HOME > USERPROFILE > Termux PREFIX home fallback on Android > 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 the same OS home fallback chain before use.

Explicit path variables such as OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH, and OPENCLAW_GIT_DIR still take precedence. OS-account tasks such as shell startup file detection, package-manager setup, and host ~ expansion may still use the real system home.

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 to OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN); the old names take no effect.

Related

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