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Most operations flow through the Gateway (openclaw gateway), a single long-running process that owns channel connections and the WebSocket control plane.

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Core rules

  • One Gateway per host is recommended. It is the only process allowed to own the WhatsApp Web session. For rescue bots or strict isolation, run multiple gateways with isolated profiles and ports. See Multiple gateways.
  • Loopback first: the Gateway WS defaults to ws://127.0.0.1:18789. The wizard generates a gateway token by default, even for loopback. For tailnet access, run openclaw gateway --bind tailnet --token ... because tokens are required for non-loopback binds.
  • Nodes connect to the Gateway WS over LAN, tailnet, or SSH as needed. The legacy TCP bridge is deprecated.
  • Canvas host is an HTTP file server on canvasHost.port (default 18793) serving /__openclaw__/canvas/ for node WebViews. See Gateway configuration (canvasHost).
  • Remote use is typically SSH tunnel or tailnet VPN. See Remote access and Discovery.