Bundled plugin guides

Webhooks plugin

The Webhooks plugin adds authenticated HTTP routes so a trusted external system (Zapier, n8n, a CI job, an internal service) can create and drive managed OpenClaw TaskFlows over HTTP, without writing a custom plugin.

The plugin runs inside the Gateway process. For a remote Gateway, install and configure it on that host, then restart the Gateway. It ships with no routes configured, so it is a no-op until you add at least one route.

Configure routes

Set config under plugins.entries.webhooks.config:

json5
{  plugins: {    entries: {      webhooks: {        enabled: true,        config: {          routes: {            zapier: {              path: "/plugins/webhooks/zapier",              sessionKey: "agent:main:main",              secret: {                source: "env",                provider: "default",                id: "OPENCLAW_WEBHOOK_SECRET",              },              controllerId: "webhooks/zapier",              description: "Zapier TaskFlow bridge",            },          },        },      },    },  },}

Route fields:

Field Required Default Notes
enabled no true
path no /plugins/webhooks/<routeId> Must be unique across routes.
sessionKey yes - Session that owns the bound TaskFlows.
secret yes - Plain string or a SecretRef (below).
controllerId no webhooks/<routeId> Used as the default create_flow controller.
description no - Operator note only.

secret accepts a plain string or a SecretRef: { source: "env" | "file" | "exec", provider: "default", id: "..." }.

Every configured route registers at startup regardless of whether its secret currently resolves. An unresolvable secret does not disable or skip the route - requests to it fail authentication (401) until the secret can be resolved. SecretRef values are re-resolved on every request, so rotating the underlying secret (env var, file, or exec output) takes effect without a Gateway restart.

Security model

Each route acts with the TaskFlow authority of its configured sessionKey: it can inspect and mutate any TaskFlow owned by that session. TaskFlow access always goes through api.runtime.tasks.managedFlows.bindSession(...), so a route can never act outside its bound session. To limit blast radius:

  • Use a strong, unique secret per route.
  • Prefer a SecretRef over an inline plaintext secret.
  • Bind routes to the narrowest session that fits the workflow.
  • Expose only the specific webhook path you need.

Request handling order for each path: HTTP method (POST only) and Content-Type: application/json checks, then fixed-window rate limiting (120 requests per 60-second window per path+client-IP key, up to 4,096 tracked keys), then in-flight request limiting (8 concurrent requests per key, up to 4,096 tracked keys), then shared-secret authentication, then a 256 KB / 15-second JSON body read. Requests that fail an earlier check never reach later ones.

Request format

Send POST requests with Content-Type: application/json and either Authorization: Bearer <secret> or x-openclaw-webhook-secret: <secret>:

bash
curl -X POST https://gateway.example.com/plugins/webhooks/zapier \  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SHARED_SECRET' \  -d '{"action":"create_flow","goal":"Review inbound queue"}'

Supported actions

Action Purpose
create_flow Create a managed TaskFlow for the route's session.
get_flow Fetch one TaskFlow by id.
list_flows List TaskFlows for the route's session.
find_latest_flow Fetch the most recently updated TaskFlow.
resolve_flow Resolve a TaskFlow by opaque token.
get_task_summary Fetch the task summary for a TaskFlow.
set_waiting Mark a TaskFlow waiting, with optional state/wait data.
resume_flow Resume a waiting/blocked TaskFlow.
finish_flow Mark a TaskFlow finished.
fail_flow Mark a TaskFlow failed.
request_cancel Request cooperative cancellation.
cancel_flow Cancel a TaskFlow (may return 202 if children are still active).
run_task Create a managed child task inside an existing TaskFlow.

Mutating actions (set_waiting, resume_flow, finish_flow, fail_flow, request_cancel) require flowId and expectedRevision for optimistic concurrency; a stale revision returns 409 revision_conflict.

create_flow

json
{  "action": "create_flow",  "goal": "Review inbound queue",  "status": "queued",  "notifyPolicy": "done_only"}

run_task

Allowed runtime values: subagent, acp. startedAt, lastEventAt, and progressSummary are only valid when status is "running"; sending them with any other status returns 400 invalid_request.

json
{  "action": "run_task",  "flowId": "flow_123",  "runtime": "acp",  "childSessionKey": "agent:main:acp:worker",  "task": "Inspect the next message batch"}

Response shape

json
{  "ok": true,  "routeId": "zapier",  "result": {}}
json
{  "ok": false,  "routeId": "zapier",  "code": "not_found",  "error": "TaskFlow not found.",  "result": {}}

Flow and task views never include owner/session metadata, so responses cannot leak the route's bound sessionKey. code values include not_found, not_managed, revision_conflict, persist_failed, cancel_requested, cancel_pending, terminal, invalid_request, request_rejected, and action-specific fallback codes (mutation_rejected, create_rejected, task_not_created, cancel_rejected) when a mutation is rejected for a reason not covered by the named codes above.

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