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Agent Spawner

Spawn a new OpenClaw agent through conversation.

Rating: 3.8 (87 reviews)
Downloads: 16,962 downloads
Version: 1.0.0

Overview

Spawn a new OpenClaw agent through conversation.

Complete Documentation

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Agent Spawner

Deploy a new OpenClaw agent conversationally. Official install, carry over config from the current agent. User never edits a file.

1. Read Current Config (silent)

bash

cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
cat ~/.openclaw/.env 2>/dev/null
env | grep -iE 'API_KEY|TOKEN'
ls ~/.openclaw/extensions/
ls <workspace>/skills/

Identify:

Provider: check auth.profiles in config — could be Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, custom, etc.
API key: from env var or config (e.g. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY)
Model: from agents.defaults.model
Tool keys: anything in tools.* (search APIs, etc.)
Plugins: plugins.installs — names and npm specs
Skills: run openclaw skills list to see what's bundled vs workspace-only. Only carry over non-bundled skills.

2. Ask

"Where should I deploy it?" — Docker (local or remote SSH) or bare metal?
"Name?" — for container. Generate one if they don't care.
"Anything special?" — purpose, constraints. Optional.

Don't ask about keys, plugins, skills, ports, or config. Carry everything over, use defaults.

3. Confirm Plan

After gathering answers, present the full plan before doing anything. Show everything in one summary:

text

Here's the plan:

📦 Deploy: Docker on <target>
📛 Name: <agent-name>
🌐 Port: <port>

Carrying over from current agent:
  ✅ Provider: Anthropic (API key)
  ✅ Model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514
  ✅ Brave Search API key
  ✅ Plugins: openclaw-agent-reach
  ✅ Skills: agent-spawner, weather
  ✅ Heartbeat: 30m

The new agent will bootstrap its own identity on first message.

Good to go?

Only list items that actually exist. Wait for explicit confirmation before proceeding. If the user wants changes, adjust and re-confirm.

4. Deploy

Docker

bash

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git <agent-name>
cd <agent-name>

Set env and run non-interactive onboard. Match the provider detected in step 1:

bash

export OPENCLAW_IMAGE=alpine/openclaw:latest
export OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR=~/.openclaw-<agent-name>
export OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR=~/.openclaw-<agent-name>/workspace
export OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=<unused port, default 18789>
export OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_BIND=lan

mkdir -p $OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR/workspace

Onboard flags vary by provider. Use the matching --auth-choice and key flag:

Provider	--auth-choice	Key flag
Anthropic	apiKey	--anthropic-api-key
Gemini	gemini-api-key	--gemini-api-key
OpenAI	apiKey	(set OPENAI_API_KEY env)
Custom	custom-api-key	--custom-api-key + --custom-base-url + --custom-model-id

bash

docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice <detected> \
  --<provider>-api-key "$API_KEY" \
  --gateway-port 18789 \
  --gateway-bind lan \
  --skip-skills

docker compose up -d openclaw-gateway

Official compose uses bind mounts — host user owns files, no permission issues.

Onboard error about gateway connection is expected (not running yet). Config is written.

Bare metal

bash

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --no-onboard

openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice <detected> \
  --<provider>-api-key "$API_KEY" \
  --gateway-port 18789 \
  --gateway-bind lan \
  --install-daemon \
  --daemon-runtime node \
  --skip-skills

5. Patch Running Agent

CLI alias:

Docker: OC="docker compose exec openclaw-gateway node /app/openclaw.mjs"
Bare metal: OC="openclaw"

Config (only patch what the current agent actually has):

bash

$OC config set agents.defaults.model "<model>"
$OC config set agents.defaults.heartbeat.every "30m"
# Tool keys — only if they exist in current config
$OC config set tools.web.search.apiKey "<key>"

Plugins (from plugins.installs in current config):

bash

$OC plugins install <npm-spec>
# Repeat for each plugin

Skills (copy workspace skills):

bash

# Docker
docker cp <source-workspace>/skills/ <container>:/home/node/.openclaw/workspace/skills/
# Bare metal
cp -r <source-workspace>/skills/ ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/

Restart:

bash

docker compose restart openclaw-gateway  # Docker
openclaw gateway restart                 # bare metal

6. Hand Off

Read the gateway token:

bash

grep -A1 '"token"' $OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR/openclaw.json

Tell the user:

URL: http://:/
Token: (from config — onboard auto-generates one)
"Say hello — it'll bootstrap itself."

Notes

openclaw not in PATH inside Docker. Use node /app/openclaw.mjs.
--accept-risk required for non-interactive onboard.
alpine/openclaw:latest — pre-built official image.
Don't use named Docker volumes — root ownership issues. Official compose uses bind mounts.
Multiple agents on same host: use different OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR and OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT.
Plugins and skills persist in ~/.openclaw/ volume (extensions/ and workspace/skills/).
SSH keys, git config, apt packages are ephemeral — not in the volume, by design.

Installation

Terminal bash


openclaw install agent-spawner

Copied!

💻Code Examples

ls <workspace>/skills/

ls-workspaceskills.txt

Identify:
- **Provider**: check `auth.profiles` in config — could be Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, custom, etc.
- **API key**: from env var or config (e.g. `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `GEMINI_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`)
- **Model**: from `agents.defaults.model`
- **Tool keys**: anything in `tools.*` (search APIs, etc.)
- **Plugins**: `plugins.installs` — names and npm specs
- **Skills**: run `openclaw skills list` to see what's bundled vs workspace-only. Only carry over non-bundled skills.

## 2. Ask

1. **"Where should I deploy it?"** — Docker (local or remote SSH) or bare metal?
2. **"Name?"** — for container. Generate one if they don't care.
3. **"Anything special?"** — purpose, constraints. Optional.

Don't ask about keys, plugins, skills, ports, or config. Carry everything over, use defaults.

## 3. Confirm Plan

After gathering answers, present the full plan before doing anything. Show everything in one summary:

Good to go?

good-to-go.txt

Only list items that actually exist. Wait for explicit confirmation before proceeding. If the user wants changes, adjust and re-confirm.

## 4. Deploy

### Docker

mkdir -p $OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR/workspace

mkdir--p-openclawconfigdirworkspace.txt

**Onboard flags vary by provider.** Use the matching `--auth-choice` and key flag:

| Provider | --auth-choice | Key flag |
|----------|--------------|----------|
| Anthropic | `apiKey` | `--anthropic-api-key` |
| Gemini | `gemini-api-key` | `--gemini-api-key` |
| OpenAI | `apiKey` | (set `OPENAI_API_KEY` env) |
| Custom | `custom-api-key` | `--custom-api-key` + `--custom-base-url` + `--custom-model-id` |

docker compose up -d openclaw-gateway

docker-compose-up--d-openclaw-gateway.txt

Official compose uses **bind mounts** — host user owns files, no permission issues.

Onboard error about gateway connection is expected (not running yet). Config is written.

### Bare metal

--skip-skills

---skip-skills.txt

## 5. Patch Running Agent

CLI alias:
- Docker: `OC="docker compose exec openclaw-gateway node /app/openclaw.mjs"`
- Bare metal: `OC="openclaw"`

**Config** (only patch what the current agent actually has):

openclaw gateway restart # bare metal

openclaw-gateway-restart--bare-metal.txt

## 6. Hand Off

Read the gateway token:

example.sh

cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
cat ~/.openclaw/.env 2>/dev/null
env | grep -iE 'API_KEY|TOKEN'
ls ~/.openclaw/extensions/
ls <workspace>/skills/

example.txt

Here's the plan:

📦 Deploy: Docker on <target>
📛 Name: <agent-name>
🌐 Port: <port>

Carrying over from current agent:
  ✅ Provider: Anthropic (API key)
  ✅ Model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514
  ✅ Brave Search API key
  ✅ Plugins: openclaw-agent-reach
  ✅ Skills: agent-spawner, weather
  ✅ Heartbeat: 30m

The new agent will bootstrap its own identity on first message.

Good to go?

example.sh

export OPENCLAW_IMAGE=alpine/openclaw:latest
export OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR=~/.openclaw-<agent-name>
export OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR=~/.openclaw-<agent-name>/workspace
export OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=<unused port, default 18789>
export OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_BIND=lan

mkdir -p $OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR/workspace

example.sh

docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice <detected> \
  --<provider>-api-key "$API_KEY" \
  --gateway-port 18789 \
  --gateway-bind lan \
  --skip-skills

docker compose up -d openclaw-gateway