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Typing indicators

Typing indicators are sent to the chat channel while a run is active. Use agents.defaults.typingMode to control when typing starts and typingIntervalSeconds to control how often it refreshes.

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Defaults

When agents.defaults.typingMode is unset, OpenClaw keeps the legacy behavior:
  • Direct chats: typing starts immediately once the model loop begins.
  • Group chats with a mention: typing starts immediately.
  • Group chats without a mention: typing starts only when message text begins streaming.
  • Heartbeat runs: typing is disabled.

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Modes

Set agents.defaults.typingMode to one of:
  • never — no typing indicator, ever.
  • instant — start typing as soon as the model loop begins, even if the run later returns only the silent reply token.
  • thinking — start typing on the first reasoning delta (requires reasoningLevel: "stream" for the run).
  • message — start typing on the first non-silent text delta (ignores the NO_REPLY silent token).
Order of “how early it fires”: never → message → thinking → instant

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Configuration 

{
  agent: {
    typingMode: "thinking",
    typingIntervalSeconds: 6,
  },
}
You can override mode or cadence per session: 
{
  session: {
    typingMode: "message",
    typingIntervalSeconds: 4,
  },
}

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Notes

  • message mode won’t show typing for silent-only replies (e.g. the NO_REPLY token used to suppress output).
  • thinking only fires if the run streams reasoning (reasoningLevel: "stream"). If the model doesn’t emit reasoning deltas, typing won’t start.
  • Heartbeats never show typing, regardless of mode.
  • typingIntervalSeconds controls the refresh cadence, not the start time. The default is 6 seconds.