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Tools Invoke (HTTP)

OpenClaw’s Gateway exposes a simple HTTP endpoint for invoking a single tool directly. It is always enabled, but gated by Gateway auth and tool policy.
  • POST /tools/invoke
  • Same port as the Gateway (WS + HTTP multiplex): http://<gateway-host>:<port>/tools/invoke
Default max payload size is 2 MB.

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Authentication

Uses the Gateway auth configuration. Send a bearer token:
  • Authorization: Bearer <token>
Notes:
  • When gateway.auth.mode="token", use gateway.auth.token (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN).
  • When gateway.auth.mode="password", use gateway.auth.password (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD).

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Request body 

{
  "tool": "sessions_list",
  "action": "json",
  "args": {},
  "sessionKey": "main",
  "dryRun": false
}
Fields:
  • tool (string, required): tool name to invoke.
  • action (string, optional): mapped into args if the tool schema supports action and the args payload omitted it.
  • args (object, optional): tool-specific arguments.
  • sessionKey (string, optional): target session key. If omitted or "main", the Gateway uses the configured main session key (honors session.mainKey and default agent, or global in global scope).
  • dryRun (boolean, optional): reserved for future use; currently ignored.

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Policy + routing behavior

Tool availability is filtered through the same policy chain used by Gateway agents:
  • tools.profile / tools.byProvider.profile
  • tools.allow / tools.byProvider.allow
  • agents.<id>.tools.allow / agents.<id>.tools.byProvider.allow
  • group policies (if the session key maps to a group or channel)
  • subagent policy (when invoking with a subagent session key)
If a tool is not allowed by policy, the endpoint returns 404. To help group policies resolve context, you can optionally set:
  • x-openclaw-message-channel: <channel> (example: slack, telegram)
  • x-openclaw-account-id: <accountId> (when multiple accounts exist)

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Responses

  • 200 → { ok: true, result }
  • 400 → { ok: false, error: { type, message } } (invalid request or tool error)
  • 401 → unauthorized
  • 404 → tool not available (not found or not allowlisted)
  • 405 → method not allowed

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Example 

curl -sS http://127.0.0.1:18789/tools/invoke \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "tool": "sessions_list",
    "action": "json",
    "args": {}
  }'