Agent Settings

Two Ways to Configure Your Agent

You can adjust your agent’s settings through the setup wizard (guided, step-by-step) or through the Console (direct file editing for advanced users). Both methods modify the same underlying configuration file.

What You Can Configure

Name and Personality

Give your agent a name and define how it communicates. The personality setting controls tone, formality, and communication style across all channels. You might want a professional, concise tone for a business agent or a friendly, conversational style for customer interactions.

System Instructions

Define what your agent should do, what it should avoid, and how it should handle specific situations. These instructions act as standing orders that guide your agent’s behavior in every interaction. Be specific — “respond to pricing questions with our standard rate sheet” works better than “be helpful.”

Model Selection

Choose which AI model your agent uses by default. If you have added multiple API keys (for example, both Anthropic and OpenAI), you can select which provider and model your agent should prefer. You can set different models for different tasks if your plan supports it.

Channel Configuration

Control which messaging channels your agent monitors and how it behaves on each one. You can connect WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage, and email through the setup wizard, and adjust channel-specific settings afterward.

Where Settings Are Stored

Your agent’s configuration lives in a file called openclaw.json inside the agent’s container. This file uses JSON5 format (which allows comments) and is hot-reloadable — meaning most changes take effect immediately without restarting the agent.

Editing via Console

For advanced users, the Console tab provides a terminal session inside your agent’s container. You can directly edit openclaw.json or any other configuration file. This gives you full control over every setting, including options not exposed in the wizard.

The config file is located at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Use any terminal text editor to make changes. After saving, the agent picks up the new configuration automatically.

Using OpenClaw CLI

You can also read and write configuration values directly from the Console:

# Read a setting
openclaw config get agents.defaults.model

# Change a setting
openclaw config set agents.defaults.model "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"

For the full list of available commands, see OpenClaw Commands. For a complete reference of every config field, see Configuration Reference.

Related Docs

• Console Overview — terminal access for advanced configuration editing
• Adding API Keys — configure which AI models your agent can use