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Web interfaces

Dashboard

The Gateway dashboard is the browser Control UI served at / by default (override with gateway.controlUi.basePath).

Quick open (local Gateway):

Key references:

Auth is enforced at the WebSocket handshake via the configured gateway auth path:

  • connect.params.auth.token
  • connect.params.auth.password
  • Tailscale Serve identity headers when gateway.auth.allowTailscale: true
  • trusted-proxy identity headers when gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy"

See gateway.auth in Gateway configuration.

Fast path (recommended)

  • After onboarding, the CLI auto-opens the dashboard and prints a clean link.
  • Re-open or repair a browser anytime: openclaw dashboard. It copies/opens a single-use pairing link that grants administrator access to that exact signed browser, including recovery from a previously limited credential, without granting blanket remote auto-approval.
  • If clipboard and browser delivery both fail, openclaw dashboard either gives a safe manual-token hint or tells you to run openclaw dashboard --json and open its short-lived browserUrl; it never prints the shared token value in interactive logs.
  • If the UI prompts for shared-secret auth, paste the configured token or password into Control UI settings.

Auth basics (local vs remote)

  • Localhost: open http://127.0.0.1:18789/.
  • Gateway TLS: when gateway.tls.enabled: true, dashboard/status links use https:// and Control UI WebSocket links use wss://.
  • Shared-secret token source: gateway.auth.token (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN). Manual token entry is kept in sessionStorage for the current tab and selected gateway URL, not localStorage.
  • Host-authorized browser handoff: openclaw dashboard issues a short-lived, single-use bootstrap instead of putting the shared Gateway token in the browser launch URL. The bootstrap is bound to that browser's signed device identity and exchanged for a durable administrator credential. A different browser profile cannot redeem the same handoff or inherit the resulting access.
  • Missing-config runtime token: if startup says it generated a runtime token, that token is ephemeral and cannot be recovered. Loopback still requires auth. Run openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token, restart the Gateway, then run openclaw gateway auth-token --show in an interactive terminal and paste the output into Control UI settings.
  • If gateway.auth.token is SecretRef-managed, the interactive dashboard handoff still works because it carries only the short-lived browser bootstrap; the external shared token is not placed in terminal output, clipboard history, or browser-launch arguments.
  • Shared-secret password: use the configured gateway.auth.password (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD). The dashboard does not persist passwords across reloads.
  • Identity-bearing modes: Tailscale Serve satisfies Control UI/WebSocket auth via identity headers when gateway.auth.allowTailscale: true; a non-loopback identity-aware reverse proxy satisfies gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy". Neither needs a pasted shared secret for the WebSocket.
  • Not localhost: use Tailscale Serve, a non-loopback shared-secret bind, a non-loopback identity-aware reverse proxy with gateway.auth.mode: "trusted-proxy", or an SSH tunnel. HTTP APIs still use shared-secret auth unless you intentionally run private-ingress gateway.auth.mode: "none" or trusted-proxy HTTP auth. See Web surfaces.

Open in Telegram

Telegram bots can open the dashboard as a Telegram Mini App with /dashboard.

Requirements:

  • gateway.tailscale.mode: "serve" or "funnel" so Telegram gets an HTTPS Mini App URL.
  • The Telegram sender must be the bot owner: a numeric Telegram user ID in commands.ownerAllowFrom or the selected account's effective channels.telegram.allowFrom.
  • Run /dashboard in a DM with the bot. Group invocations only tell you to open the command in DM and do not include a button.
  • Docker installs: Serve/Funnel modes require the gateway to bind loopback next to tailscaled, which bridge networking with published ports cannot satisfy. Run the gateway container with network_mode: host and mount the host tailscaled socket (/var/run/tailscale) plus the tailscale CLI into the container.

The Mini App performs a bounded one-time dashboard handoff and redirects to Control UI with a short-lived bootstrap token. It does not expose a shared gateway token in the URL, and it does not receive the administrator grant reserved for handoffs issued directly by the Gateway host.

Non-goals for v1:

  • Telegram Web iframe is unsupported.
  • Tailscale Serve/Funnel is the only supported published URL path.

If you see "unauthorized" / 1008

  • Confirm the gateway is reachable: local openclaw status; remote, SSH tunnel ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@gateway-host then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/.
  • For AUTH_TOKEN_MISMATCH, clients may do one trusted retry with a cached device token when the gateway returns retry hints; that retry reuses the token's cached approved scopes (explicit deviceToken/scopes callers keep their requested scope set). If auth still fails after that retry, resolve token drift manually.
  • For AUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH, the device token was recognized but does not carry the requested scopes; re-pair or approve the new scope set instead of rotating the shared gateway token.
  • Outside that retry path, the Control UI prefers a pending bootstrap token so a fresh host-issued handoff can create or upgrade the browser credential. Without a pending bootstrap, explicit shared token/password take precedence over the stored device token.
  • On the async Tailscale Serve path, failed attempts for the same {scope, ip} are serialized before the failed-auth limiter records them, so a second concurrent bad retry can already show retry later.
  • For token drift repair steps, see Token drift recovery checklist.
  • Retrieve or supply the shared secret from the gateway host:
    • Token: run openclaw gateway auth-token --show in an interactive terminal on the Gateway host
    • Password: resolve the configured gateway.auth.password or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD
    • SecretRef-managed token: run openclaw gateway auth-token --show; if resolution fails, repair the external secret provider and rerun it
    • Runtime token generated because no shared secret was configured: run openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token, restart the Gateway, then use the configured token
  • In the dashboard settings, paste the token or password into the auth field, then connect.
  • The UI language picker lives in Settings → Appearance → Language.
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