I need help | Friends of the Crustacean 🦞🤝 | Page 1

vale gate Mar 5, 2026, 5:25 AM

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my openclaw doesnt code bro its so stupid it just gives me code to put into terminal myself i hate this i wanna give it access to do everything on its own

hasty anchorBOT Mar 5, 2026, 5:25 AM

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dawn gateBOT Mar 5, 2026, 5:27 AM

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That usually happens when OpenClaw doesn’t have the exec tool enabled / pointed at a real machine, so it can’t run anything and falls back to “here’s what you should type”.

There are 2 separate things to make it “actually code”:

1) Let it edit files (so it can write code)

OpenClaw can only write where its workspace is. So either:

put your repo inside the workspace, or
set your agent’s workspace to your repo path (agents.defaults.workspace)

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/concepts/agent-workspace

2) Let it run commands (so it can execute installs/tests/etc.)

Enable tools + configure exec to run on the host (or a node), e.g. in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

#

  tools: {
    profile: "coding",
    exec: {
      host: "gateway",        // run on the gateway machine
      security: "allowlist",  // start safe
      ask: "on-miss"
    }
  }
}

Then you still need to allow/approve what it can run via Exec approvals:

Control UI → Nodes → Exec approvals
or edit ~/.openclaw/exec-approvals.json

Docs:

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Tools: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools
Exec: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/exec
Exec approvals: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/exec-approvals

Important reality check (why “do everything” is scary)

If you set security: "full" + ask: "off", you are basically giving it “can delete your disk” power. If you really want that, do it on a throwaway VM or a dedicated user account first.

Quick question so I can point you to the right setup

Where is your Gateway running (same machine as your terminal, or a VPS)? If it’s on a VPS and you want it to run commands on your laptop, you’ll need to pair your laptop as a node and use host=node for exec.

vale gate Mar 5, 2026, 5:41 AM

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im using it on my termnial main pc its stupid and it needs help settings itself up it keeps asking to approve it

dawn gateBOT Mar 5, 2026, 5:43 AM

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Those “approve this command?” prompts are Exec approvals kicking in. It’s an intentional safety interlock so the agent can’t just start running arbitrary shell commands on your real machine.

You’ve got 3 ways to deal with it (from safest → most “hands off”):

Option A (recommended): only prompt when it needs a new binary

Set exec to allowlist + ask on-miss, then add the common binaries once. After that it stops nagging.

In config (~/.openclaw/openclaw.json):

{
  tools: {
    profile: "coding",
    exec: { host: "gateway", security: "allowlist", ask: "on-miss" }
  }
}

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Then open Control UI → Nodes → Exec approvals and add allowlist entries for the stuff you use (git, node, pnpm, etc.). (This edits ~/.openclaw/exec-approvals.json.)

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/exec-approvals

Option B (no sandbox escapes): run commands inside the sandbox

If you enabled Docker sandboxing, you can keep exec.host: "sandbox" so it runs in the container (no host approval prompts). You’ll probably want workspaceAccess: "rw" so it can still edit your project files.

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/sandboxing

Option C (what you asked for): stop asking entirely (dangerous)

If you truly want “just run it”, set approvals to full + ask off:

Control UI → Nodes → Exec approvals → Defaults
- security: full
- ask: off

or directly in ~/.openclaw/exec-approvals.json.

#I need help