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.
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).
- If
gateway.auth.rateLimit is configured and too many auth failures occur, the endpoint returns 429 with Retry-After.
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.
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.
Gateway HTTP also applies a hard deny list by default (even if session policy allows the tool):
sessions_spawn
sessions_send
gateway
whatsapp_login
You can customize this deny list via gateway.tools:
{
gateway: {
tools: {
// Additional tools to block over HTTP /tools/invoke
deny: ["browser"],
// Remove tools from the default deny list
allow: ["gateway"],
},
},
}
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)
Responses
200 → { ok: true, result }
400 → { ok: false, error: { type, message } } (invalid request or tool input error)
401 → unauthorized
429 → auth rate-limited (Retry-After set)
404 → tool not available (not found or not allowlisted)
405 → method not allowed
500 → { ok: false, error: { type, message } } (unexpected tool execution error; sanitized message)
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": {}
}'
Last modified on March 22, 2026