openclaw-sdk

Wrap. Enhance. Ship.

Python SDK for the OpenClaw autonomous AI agent framework.

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Overview

OpenClaw is a framework for running autonomous AI agents that communicate via WhatsApp, Telegram, and other channels. This SDK provides a Pythonic interface to:

• Execute agents — send queries and receive results synchronously or as a stream of events
• Manage channels — check status, trigger logins, and logout
• Schedule cron jobs — create and delete recurring tasks
• Manage skills — install, enable, and disable agent capabilities via CLI
• Monitor costs — track token usage and USD cost across runs
• Build pipelines — chain multiple agents where each step feeds the next
• Extract structured data — parse LLM responses into validated Pydantic models
• Integrate with FastAPI — drop-in routers for agent, channel, and admin endpoints

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Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• A running OpenClaw instance (WebSocket gateway at ws://127.0.0.1:18789/gateway)

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Installation

pip install openclaw-sdk

With FastAPI integration:

pip install "openclaw-sdk[fastapi]"

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Quick Start

import asyncio
from openclaw_sdk import OpenClawClient

async def main():
    async with OpenClawClient.connect() as client:
        agent = client.get_agent("research-bot")
        result = await agent.execute("Summarise the latest AI research papers")
        print(result.content)

asyncio.run(main())

OpenClawClient.connect() auto-detects the gateway:

1. OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WS_URL environment variable (WebSocket)
2. OPENCLAW_OPENAI_BASE_URL environment variable (OpenAI-compatible HTTP)
3. Local socket probe at 127.0.0.1:18789 (auto-connect when OpenClaw is running locally)

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Core Concepts

Gateway

The gateway is the transport layer between the SDK and OpenClaw. Three implementations are available:

Gateway	When to use
ProtocolGateway	WebSocket connection to a remote or local OpenClaw instance
OpenAICompatGateway	OpenAI-compatible HTTP API (no streaming)
LocalGateway	Auto-connecting WebSocket for local development

Agent

An Agent represents a single OpenClaw agent, identified by agent_id and an optional session_name (default "main").

agent = client.get_agent("research-bot")                  # session: main
agent = client.get_agent("research-bot", session_name="weekly-digest")
print(agent.session_key)  # "agent:research-bot:weekly-digest"

Session Key

The session key scopes conversation history within OpenClaw:

agent:{agent_id}:{session_name}

ExecutionResult

agent.execute() returns an ExecutionResult:

result = await agent.execute("What is the weather in Paris?")
print(result.success)      # True
print(result.content)      # "The current weather in Paris is..."
print(result.latency_ms)   # 1523

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Usage Examples

Streaming

async with OpenClawClient.connect() as client:
    agent = client.get_agent("writer-bot")
    stream = await agent.execute_stream("Write a poem about the sea")
    async for event in stream:
        if event.event_type == "content":
            print(event.data["payload"]["content"], end="", flush=True)

Pipeline

from openclaw_sdk.pipeline.pipeline import Pipeline

async with OpenClawClient.connect() as client:
    result = await (
        Pipeline(client)
        .add_step("researcher", "research-bot", "Research: {topic}")
        .add_step("writer", "writer-bot", "Write an article based on: {researcher}")
        .run(topic="quantum computing")
    )
    print(result.final_result.content)

Structured Output

from pydantic import BaseModel
from openclaw_sdk.output.structured import StructuredOutput

class Summary(BaseModel):
    title: str
    key_points: list[str]
    sentiment: str

async with OpenClawClient.connect() as client:
    agent = client.get_agent("analyst-bot")
    summary = await StructuredOutput.execute(agent, "Analyse this article: ...", Summary)
    print(summary.title)
    print(summary.key_points)

Callbacks

from openclaw_sdk.callbacks.handler import CallbackHandler
from openclaw_sdk.core.types import ExecutionResult

class LoggingCallback(CallbackHandler):
    async def on_execution_start(self, agent_id: str, query: str) -> None:
        print(f"[{agent_id}] Starting: {query[:50]}")

    async def on_execution_end(self, agent_id: str, result: ExecutionResult) -> None:
        print(f"[{agent_id}] Done in {result.latency_ms}ms")

async with OpenClawClient.connect(callbacks=[LoggingCallback()]) as client:
    await client.get_agent("bot").execute("hello")

Cost Tracking

from openclaw_sdk.tracking.cost import CostTracker

tracker = CostTracker()
async with OpenClawClient.connect() as client:
    agent = client.get_agent("bot")
    result = await agent.execute("hello")
    tracker.record(result)

print(tracker.summary())

Channel Management

async with OpenClawClient.connect() as client:
    status = await client.channels.status()
    print(status)

    qr = await client.channels.web_login_start("whatsapp")
    print(qr)  # Display QR code

    logged_in = await client.channels.web_login_wait("whatsapp")
    print(logged_in)

Scheduling

from openclaw_sdk.scheduling.manager import ScheduleConfig

async with OpenClawClient.connect() as client:
    config = ScheduleConfig(
        name="daily-report",
        schedule="0 9 * * *",
        session_target="agent:reporter-bot:main",
        payload="Generate the daily summary report",
    )
    job = await client.scheduling.create_schedule(config)
    print(job.id)

FastAPI Integration

from fastapi import FastAPI
from openclaw_sdk.integrations.fastapi import (
    create_agent_router,
    create_channel_router,
    create_admin_router,
)

app = FastAPI()
client = ...  # your OpenClawClient instance

app.include_router(create_agent_router(client, prefix="/agents"))
app.include_router(create_channel_router(client, prefix="/channels"))
app.include_router(create_admin_router(client, prefix="/admin"))

Endpoints provided:

Method	Path	Description
GET	/agents/health	Gateway health check
POST	/agents/{agent_id}/execute	Execute a query
GET	/channels/status	All channel statuses
POST	/channels/{channel}/logout	Logout a channel
POST	/channels/{channel}/login/start	Start QR login
POST	/channels/{channel}/login/wait	Wait for QR scan
GET	/admin/schedules	List cron jobs
DELETE	/admin/schedules/{job_id}	Delete a cron job
GET	/admin/skills	List installed skills
POST	/admin/skills/{name}/install	Install a skill

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Configuration

Parameter	Env Var	Default	Description
gateway_ws_url	OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_WS_URL	—	WebSocket URL
openai_base_url	OPENCLAW_OPENAI_BASE_URL	—	OpenAI-compat base URL
api_key	OPENCLAW_API_KEY	—	API key
timeout	—	300	Execution timeout (seconds)
mode	—	"auto"	Gateway selection mode

from openclaw_sdk import OpenClawClient
from openclaw_sdk.core.config import ClientConfig

config = ClientConfig(
    gateway_ws_url="ws://my-server:18789/gateway",
    api_key="secret",
    timeout=60,
)
async with OpenClawClient.connect(**config.model_dump()) as client:
    ...

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Compatibility Matrix

openclaw-sdk	Python	OpenClaw	pydantic	websockets
2.1.x	3.11, 3.12, 3.13	2026.2.0+	>= 2.0	>= 12.0
2.0.x	3.11, 3.12, 3.13	2026.2.0+	>= 2.0	>= 12.0
1.x	3.11, 3.12	2026.2.0+	>= 2.0	>= 12.0

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Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/masteryodaa/openclaw-sdk
cd openclaw-sdk
pip install -e ".[fastapi]"
pip install pytest pytest-asyncio pytest-cov mypy ruff

# Run tests
pytest tests/ -q

# With coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=src/openclaw_sdk --cov-report=term-missing

# Type check
mypy src/

# Lint
ruff check src/ tests/

Integration Tests

Integration tests require a running OpenClaw instance:

pytest tests/integration/ -m integration

Tests are automatically skipped when OpenClaw is not reachable or not authenticated.

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Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feat/my-feature
3. Write tests for your changes
4. Ensure pytest, mypy, and ruff all pass
5. Open a pull request

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.

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