This content has been merged into Remote Access. See that page for the current guide.

Running OpenClaw.app with a Remote Gateway

OpenClaw.app uses SSH tunneling to connect to a remote gateway. This guide shows you how to set it up.

Overview

flowchart TB
    subgraph Client["Client Machine"]
        direction TB
        A["OpenClaw.app"]
        B["ws://127.0.0.1:18789\n(local port)"]
        T["SSH Tunnel"]

        A --> B
        B --> T
    end
    subgraph Remote["Remote Machine"]
        direction TB
        C["Gateway WebSocket"]
        D["ws://127.0.0.1:18789"]

        C --> D
    end
    T --> C

Quick setup

Step 1: Add SSH Config

Edit ~/.ssh/config and add:

Host remote-gateway    HostName <REMOTE_IP>          # e.g., 172.27.187.184    User <REMOTE_USER>            # e.g., jefferson    LocalForward 18789 127.0.0.1:18789    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Replace <REMOTE_IP> and <REMOTE_USER> with your values.

Step 2: Copy SSH Key

Copy your public key to the remote machine (enter password once):

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa <REMOTE_USER>@<REMOTE_IP>

Step 3: Configure Remote Gateway Auth

openclaw config set gateway.remote.token "<your-token>"

Use gateway.remote.password instead if your remote gateway uses password auth. OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN is still valid as a shell-level override, but the durable remote-client setup is gateway.remote.token / gateway.remote.password.

Step 4: Start SSH Tunnel

ssh -N remote-gateway &

Step 5: Restart OpenClaw.app

# Quit OpenClaw.app (⌘Q), then reopen:open /path/to/OpenClaw.app

The app will now connect to the remote gateway through the SSH tunnel.

Auto-Start Tunnel on Login

To have the SSH tunnel start automatically when you log in, create a Launch Agent.

Create the PLIST file

Save this as ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"><plist version="1.0"><dict>    <key>Label</key>    <string>ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel</string>    <key>ProgramArguments</key>    <array>        <string>/usr/bin/ssh</string>        <string>-N</string>        <string>remote-gateway</string>    </array>    <key>KeepAlive</key>    <true/>    <key>RunAtLoad</key>    <true/></dict></plist>

Load the Launch Agent

launchctl bootstrap gui/$UID ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel.plist

The tunnel will now:

• Start automatically when you log in
• Restart if it crashes
• Keep running in the background

Legacy note: remove any leftover com.openclaw.ssh-tunnel LaunchAgent if present.

Troubleshooting

Check if tunnel is running:

ps aux | grep "ssh -N remote-gateway" | grep -v greplsof -i :18789

Restart the tunnel:

launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel

Stop the tunnel:

launchctl bootout gui/$UID/ai.openclaw.ssh-tunnel

How it works

OpenClaw.app connects to ws://127.0.0.1:18789 on your client machine. The SSH tunnel forwards that connection to port 18789 on the remote machine where the Gateway is running.

Related

• Remote access
• Tailscale