openclaw/docs/gateway/security/secure-file-operations.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
How OpenClaw handles local file access safely, and why the optional fs-safe Python helper is off by default	Changing file access, archive extraction, workspace storage, or plugin filesystem helpers	Secure file operations

OpenClaw uses @openclaw/fs-safe for security-sensitive local file operations: root-bounded reads/writes, atomic replacement, archive extraction, temp workspaces, JSON state, and secret-file handling.

It is a library guardrail for trusted OpenClaw code that receives untrusted path names, not a sandbox. Host filesystem permissions, OS users, containers, and the agent/tool policy still define the real blast radius.

Default: no Python helper

OpenClaw sets the fs-safe POSIX Python helper to off by default:

• the gateway should not spawn a persistent Python sidecar unless an operator opts in;
• most installs do not need the extra parent-directory mutation hardening;
• disabling Python keeps runtime behavior predictable across desktop, Docker, CI, and bundled-app environments.

OpenClaw only changes the default. An explicit setting always wins:

# Default OpenClaw behavior: Node-only fs-safe fallbacks.
OPENCLAW_FS_SAFE_PYTHON_MODE=off

# Opt into the helper when available, falling back if unavailable.
OPENCLAW_FS_SAFE_PYTHON_MODE=auto

# Fail closed if the helper cannot start.
OPENCLAW_FS_SAFE_PYTHON_MODE=require

# Optional explicit interpreter path.
OPENCLAW_FS_SAFE_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python3

The generic fs-safe env names also work: FS_SAFE_PYTHON_MODE and FS_SAFE_PYTHON.

Use require (not auto) when the helper is part of your security posture; auto silently falls back to Node-only behavior if the helper cannot start.

What stays protected without Python

With the helper off, OpenClaw still gets fs-safe's Node-only guardrails:

• rejects relative-path escapes (..), absolute paths, and path separators where only bare names are allowed;
• resolves operations through a trusted root handle instead of ad-hoc path.resolve(...).startsWith(...) checks;
• refuses symlink and hardlink patterns on APIs that require that policy;
• opens files with identity checks where the API returns or consumes file contents;
• writes state/config files via atomic sibling-temp + rename;
• enforces byte limits for reads and archive extraction;
• applies private file modes for secrets and state files where the API requires them.

This covers OpenClaw's normal threat model: trusted gateway code handling untrusted model/plugin/channel path input inside a single trusted operator boundary.

What Python adds

On POSIX, the optional helper keeps one persistent Python process and uses fd-relative filesystem operations for parent-directory mutations: rename, remove, mkdir, stat/list, and some write paths.

That narrows same-UID race windows where another process swaps a parent directory between validation and mutation — defense in depth on hosts where untrusted local processes can modify the same directories OpenClaw operates in.

If your deployment has that risk and Python is guaranteed to exist, set:

OPENCLAW_FS_SAFE_PYTHON_MODE=require

Plugin and core guidance

• Plugin-facing file access should go through openclaw/plugin-sdk/* helpers, not raw fs, when a path comes from a message, model output, config, or plugin input.
• Core code should use the fs-safe wrappers under src/infra/* so OpenClaw's process policy applies consistently.
• Archive extraction should use the fs-safe archive helpers with explicit size, entry-count, link, and destination limits.
• Secrets should use OpenClaw secret helpers or fs-safe secret/private-state helpers; do not hand-roll mode checks around fs.writeFile.
• For hostile local-user isolation, do not rely on fs-safe alone. Run separate gateways under separate OS users/hosts, or use sandboxing.

Related: Security, Sandboxing, Exec approvals, Secrets.