openclaw/docs/nodes/node-exec.md

summary	read_when	title	sidebarTitle
Allowlist node commands, point exec at a node, and invoke commands directly	Routing exec tool calls to a paired node Allowlisting node commands or binding exec to one node Invoking a node command over raw RPC	Run commands on a node	Node exec

Allowlist the commands

Exec approvals are per node host. Add allowlist entries from the gateway:

openclaw approvals allowlist add --node <id|name|ip> "/usr/bin/uname"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --node <id|name|ip> "/usr/bin/sw_vers"

Approvals live on the node host in ~/.openclaw/state/openclaw.sqlite#exec_approvals_config.

Point exec at the node

Configure defaults (gateway config):

openclaw config set tools.exec.host node
openclaw config set tools.exec.mode allowlist
openclaw config set tools.exec.node "<id-or-name>"

Or per session:

/exec host=node security=allowlist node=<id-or-name>

Once set, any exec call with host=node runs on the node host (subject to the node allowlist/approvals).

Quote arguments containing literal shell separators, such as OAuth callback URLs: /usr/bin/printf '%s\n' 'http://127.0.0.1:9876/oauth2/callback?state=example&code=example'. Single or double quotes preserve literal separators through approval preparation. An escaped \& also passes preparation; quote the full URL to prevent shell wildcard expansion. The normal node execution policy and human approval still apply.

Child commands retain the node's profile and state paths, but do not inherit its daemon identity or native service selectors. This lets openclaw gateway status and openclaw update inspect the Gateway independently of the node service. Explicit service selectors in permitted environment overrides still apply.

host=auto will not implicitly choose the node on its own. An explicit per-call host=node request is allowed from auto only when no sandbox runtime is active; while a sandbox runtime is active, auto rejects it. To run on a node from a sandboxed session, or to make node exec the session default, set tools.exec.host=node or /exec host=node ... explicitly.

Related:

• Node host CLI
• Exec tool
• Exec approvals

Channel and subagent context

Nodes advertising system.run.execution-context.v1 receive optional executionContext on both system.run.prepare and system.run. Its only fields are senderId, chatId (nonempty strings), and subagent (true when present). The node injects OPENCLAW_CHANNEL_CONTEXT with the sender/chat identity JSON and OPENCLAW_SUBAGENT_EXEC=1 into the child environment. These routing hints do not grant session, turn, or command approval authority, and do not modify approved argv. When context is present, it replaces both routing markers, including inherited values. Omitted fields do not retain a previous channel or subagent hint. Requests without typed context keep their existing environment behavior.

Custom env overrides still follow the node's existing restrictions. Supporting this context does not enable arbitrary environment overrides on Windows companion nodes that reject them. A node must support the context through its preparation, approval, and launch paths before advertising the capability.

Update both the Gateway and node to use this transport, and approve an updated node capability surface in Devices if requested after reconnecting. Older Gateways keep sending the markers through env; newer Gateways do the same for nodes without the capability. That compatibility path preserves existing behavior, including custom-env-not-supported on older Windows companions. The Gateway does not omit markers to bypass that rejection. An unsupported context request is rejected before dispatch; reconnecting a node without the capability does not silently downgrade a prepared request. No protocol-version or configuration change is needed.

For openclaw agent --local connected to a remote Gateway, the CLI also checks the Gateway's advertised capability. An older Gateway selects the existing env transport even with an updated node. A Gateway downgrade after discovery rejects the typed request before dispatch rather than dropping its context.

Invoking commands

Low-level (raw RPC):

openclaw nodes invoke --node <idOrNameOrIp> --command device.info --params '{}'

nodes invoke blocks system.run and system.run.prepare; those commands only run through the exec tool with host=node (see above). Higher-level helpers exist for the common "give the agent a MEDIA attachment" workflows (camera, screen, location: see Node device commands).

Long-running streaming node commands use additive node.invoke.progress events. Each event carries the invoke ID, a zero-based sequence number, and a bounded UTF-8 text chunk; the Gateway orders chunks before delivering them to the caller. The existing node.invoke.result remains the single terminal response. Streaming callers can set an inactivity deadline that starts with the first progress event and resets after later progress while retaining the invoke's separate hard timeout during approval and execution. Result, hard timeout, inactivity timeout, and node disconnect all discard pending stream state. Caller cancellation emits node.invoke.cancel with the published NodeInvokeCancelEvent payload (invokeId and nodeId); the node host then terminates the matching process tree. Existing request/response commands are unchanged.

Codex sessions on a node

A session host using the Codex runtime also needs the codex plugin installed and enabled in the node host's OpenClaw configuration. --session-host alone does not install or enable this plugin. On the node, install it if missing, then enable it:

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/codex
openclaw plugins enable codex
openclaw node restart

If you run openclaw node run in the foreground, stop and restart that process instead. Approve the node's updated command surface after it reconnects. The Gateway must also allow codex.exec-server.stdio.v1 in gateway.nodes.commands.allow without a matching deny entry. Codex execution keeps its separate placement approval; enabling the plugin does not grant that approval.

environments.list with runtimeId: "codex" reports a requiredNodeCommand state and an actionable message when the node does not advertise the command, awaits pairing approval, or is blocked by Gateway policy. A missing node advertisement requires installing and enabling the plugin on the node; changing the Gateway allowlist alone cannot add it. See Install plugins for installation sources.

See Codex paired-device placement.

Exec node binding

With no node target set, exec host=node selects the sole paired, connected node that supports system.run. Other paired devices do not make the selection ambiguous. If multiple executable nodes are connected, choose a target per call or bind exec to a specific node; the active Canvas target does not select the exec host. A bound or explicit target that is offline or cannot execute commands is rejected rather than redirected to another node.

A binding sets the default node for exec host=node and can be overridden per agent.

Global default:

openclaw config set tools.exec.node "node-id-or-name"

Per-agent override:

openclaw config get agents.entries
openclaw config set 'agents.entries.main.tools.exec.node' "node-id-or-name"

Unset the binding to use the sole eligible node, or choose a target per call when multiple eligible nodes are connected:

openclaw config unset tools.exec.node
openclaw config unset 'agents.entries.main.tools.exec.node'