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Dashboard (Control UI)

The Gateway dashboard is the browser Control UI served at / by default (override with gateway.controlUi.basePath). Quick open (local Gateway): Key references: Authentication is enforced at the WebSocket handshake via connect.params.auth (token or password). See gateway.auth in Gateway configuration. Security note: the Control UI is an admin surface (chat, config, exec approvals). Do not expose it publicly. The UI keeps dashboard URL tokens in memory for the current tab and strips them from the URL after load. Prefer localhost, Tailscale Serve, or an SSH tunnel.
  • After onboarding, the CLI auto-opens the dashboard and prints a clean (non-tokenized) link.
  • Re-open anytime: openclaw dashboard (copies link, opens browser if possible, shows SSH hint if headless).
  • If the UI prompts for auth, paste the token from gateway.auth.token (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN) into Control UI settings.

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Token basics (local vs remote)

  • Localhost: open http://127.0.0.1:18789/.
  • Token source: gateway.auth.token (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN); openclaw dashboard can pass it via URL fragment for one-time bootstrap, but the Control UI does not persist gateway tokens in localStorage.
  • If gateway.auth.token is SecretRef-managed, openclaw dashboard prints/copies/opens a non-tokenized URL by design. This avoids exposing externally managed tokens in shell logs, clipboard history, or browser-launch arguments.
  • If gateway.auth.token is configured as a SecretRef and is unresolved in your current shell, openclaw dashboard still prints a non-tokenized URL plus actionable auth setup guidance.
  • Not localhost: use Tailscale Serve (tokenless for Control UI/WebSocket if gateway.auth.allowTailscale: true, assumes trusted gateway host; HTTP APIs still need token/password), tailnet bind with a token, or an SSH tunnel. See Web surfaces.

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If you see “unauthorized” / 1008

  • Ensure the gateway is reachable (local: openclaw status; remote: SSH tunnel ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@host then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/).
  • Retrieve or supply the token from the gateway host:
    • Plaintext config: openclaw config get gateway.auth.token
    • SecretRef-managed config: resolve the external secret provider or export OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN in this shell, then rerun openclaw dashboard
    • No token configured: openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token
  • In the dashboard settings, paste the token into the auth field, then connect.