Gateway can expose a small HTTP webhook endpoint for external triggers.

{
  hooks: {
    enabled: true,
    token: "shared-secret",
    path: "/hooks",
  },
}

Notes:

• hooks.token is required when hooks.enabled=true.
• hooks.path defaults to /hooks.

Every request must include the hook token. Prefer headers:

• Authorization: Bearer <token> (recommended)
• x-openclaw-token: <token>
• ?token=<token> (deprecated; logs a warning and will be removed in a future major release)

Payload:

{ "text": "System line", "mode": "now" }

• text required (string): The description of the event (e.g., “New email received”).
• mode optional (now | next-heartbeat): Whether to trigger an immediate heartbeat (default now) or wait for the next periodic check.

Effect:

• Enqueues a system event for the main session
• If mode=now, triggers an immediate heartbeat

Payload:

{
  "message": "Run this",
  "name": "Email",
  "sessionKey": "hook:email:msg-123",
  "wakeMode": "now",
  "deliver": true,
  "channel": "last",
  "to": "+15551234567",
  "model": "openai/gpt-5.2-mini",
  "thinking": "low",
  "timeoutSeconds": 120
}

• message required (string): The prompt or message for the agent to process.
• name optional (string): Human-readable name for the hook (e.g., “GitHub”), used as a prefix in session summaries.
• sessionKey optional (string): The key used to identify the agent’s session. Defaults to a random hook:<uuid>. Using a consistent key allows for a multi-turn conversation within the hook context.
• wakeMode optional (now | next-heartbeat): Whether to trigger an immediate heartbeat (default now) or wait for the next periodic check.
• deliver optional (boolean): If true, the agent’s response will be sent to the messaging channel. Defaults to true. Responses that are only heartbeat acknowledgments are automatically skipped.
• channel optional (string): The messaging channel for delivery. One of: last, whatsapp, telegram, discord, slack, mattermost (plugin), signal, imessage, msteams. Defaults to last.
• to optional (string): The recipient identifier for the channel (e.g., phone number for WhatsApp/Signal, chat ID for Telegram, channel ID for Discord/Slack/Mattermost (plugin), conversation ID for MS Teams). Defaults to the last recipient in the main session.
• model optional (string): Model override (e.g., anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet or an alias). Must be in the allowed model list if restricted.
• thinking optional (string): Thinking level override (e.g., low, medium, high).
• timeoutSeconds optional (number): Maximum duration for the agent run in seconds.

Effect:

• Runs an isolated agent turn (own session key)
• Always posts a summary into the main session
• If wakeMode=now, triggers an immediate heartbeat

Custom hook names are resolved via hooks.mappings (see configuration). A mapping can turn arbitrary payloads into wake or agent actions, with optional templates or code transforms.

Mapping options (summary):

• hooks.presets: ["gmail"] enables the built-in Gmail mapping.
• hooks.mappings lets you define match, action, and templates in config.
• hooks.transformsDir + transform.module loads a JS/TS module for custom logic.
• Use match.source to keep a generic ingest endpoint (payload-driven routing).
• TS transforms require a TS loader (e.g. bun or tsx) or precompiled .js at runtime.
• Set deliver: true + channel/to on mappings to route replies to a chat surface (channel defaults to last and falls back to WhatsApp).
• allowUnsafeExternalContent: true disables the external content safety wrapper for that hook (dangerous; only for trusted internal sources).
• openclaw webhooks gmail setup writes hooks.gmail config for openclaw webhooks gmail run. See Gmail Pub/Sub for the full Gmail watch flow.

• 200 for /hooks/wake
• 202 for /hooks/agent (async run started)
• 401 on auth failure
• 400 on invalid payload
• 413 on oversized payloads

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:18789/hooks/wake \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer SECRET' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"text":"New email received","mode":"now"}'

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:18789/hooks/agent \
  -H 'x-openclaw-token: SECRET' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"message":"Summarize inbox","name":"Email","wakeMode":"next-heartbeat"}'

Add model to the agent payload (or mapping) to override the model for that run:

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:18789/hooks/agent \
  -H 'x-openclaw-token: SECRET' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"message":"Summarize inbox","name":"Email","model":"openai/gpt-5.2-mini"}'

If you enforce agents.defaults.models, make sure the override model is included there.

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:18789/hooks/gmail \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer SECRET' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"source":"gmail","messages":[{"from":"Ada","subject":"Hello","snippet":"Hi"}]}'

• Keep hook endpoints behind loopback, tailnet, or trusted reverse proxy.
• Use a dedicated hook token; do not reuse gateway auth tokens.
• Avoid including sensitive raw payloads in webhook logs.
• Hook payloads are treated as untrusted and wrapped with safety boundaries by default. If you must disable this for a specific hook, set allowUnsafeExternalContent: true in that hook’s mapping (dangerous).