Running OpenClaw.app with a Remote Gateway¶

OpenClaw.app uses SSH tunneling to connect to a remote gateway. This guide shows you how to set it up.

Overview¶

flowchart TB
    subgraph Client["Client Machine"]
        direction TB
        A["OpenClaw.app"]
        B["ws://127.0.0.1:18789\n(local port)"]
        T["SSH Tunnel"]

        A --> B
        B --> T
    end
    subgraph Remote["Remote Machine"]
        direction TB
        C["Gateway WebSocket"]
        D["ws://127.0.0.1:18789"]

        C --> D
    end
    T --> C

Quick Setup¶

Step 1: Add SSH Config¶

Edit ~/.ssh/config and add:

Host remote-gateway
    HostName <REMOTE_IP>          # e.g., 172.27.187.184
    User <REMOTE_USER>            # e.g., jefferson
    LocalForward 18789 127.0.0.1:18789
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Replace <REMOTE_IP> and <REMOTE_USER> with your values.

Step 2: Copy SSH Key¶

Copy your public key to the remote machine (enter password once):

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa <REMOTE_USER>@<REMOTE_IP>

Step 3: Set Gateway Token¶

launchctl setenv OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN "<your-token>"

Step 4: Start SSH Tunnel¶

ssh -N remote-gateway &

Step 5: Restart OpenClaw.app¶

# Quit OpenClaw.app (⌘Q), then reopen:
open /path/to/OpenClaw.app

The app will now connect to the remote gateway through the SSH tunnel.

To have the SSH tunnel start automatically when you log in, create a Launch Agent.

Create the PLIST file¶

Save this as ~/Library/LaunchAgents/bot.molt.ssh-tunnel.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>bot.molt.ssh-tunnel</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/bin/ssh</string>
        <string>-N</string>
        <string>remote-gateway</string>
    </array>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Load the Launch Agent¶

launchctl bootstrap gui/$UID ~/Library/LaunchAgents/bot.molt.ssh-tunnel.plist

The tunnel will now:

Start automatically when you log in
Restart if it crashes
Keep running in the background

Legacy note: remove any leftover com.openclaw.ssh-tunnel LaunchAgent if present.

Troubleshooting¶

Check if tunnel is running:

ps aux | grep "ssh -N remote-gateway" | grep -v grep
lsof -i :18789

Restart the tunnel:

launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/bot.molt.ssh-tunnel

Stop the tunnel:

launchctl bootout gui/$UID/bot.molt.ssh-tunnel

How It Works¶

Component	What It Does
`LocalForward 18789 127.0.0.1:18789`	Forwards local port 18789 to remote port 18789
`ssh -N`	SSH without executing remote commands (just port forwarding)
`KeepAlive`	Automatically restarts tunnel if it crashes
`RunAtLoad`	Starts tunnel when the agent loads

OpenClaw.app connects to ws://127.0.0.1:18789 on your client machine. The SSH tunnel forwards that connection to port 18789 on the remote machine where the Gateway is running.