Where to approve?

[quaint bone]

My agent is installing a tool for mail. I ran the script the agent gave me:

/approve sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y python3-pip && python3 -m pip install --user agentmail python-dotenv && cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak.agentmail && python3 - <<'PY'
import json, os
p=os.path.expanduser('~/.openclaw/openclaw.json')
with open(p) as f: data=json.load(f)
data.setdefault('skills', {})
data['skills'].setdefault('entries', {})
data['skills']['entries'].setdefault('agentmail', {})
data['skills']['entries']['agentmail']['AGENTMAIL_API_KEY']='KEY_REDACTED'
with open(p, 'w') as f: json.dump(data, f, indent=2); f.write('\n')
print('updated', p)
PY
I then got a response:
Usage: /approve <id> <decision> (see the pending approval message for available decisions)

Where do I go or what do I do to approve this?

[dreamy saddle]

To help others find answers, you can mark your question as solved via Right click solution message -> Apps -> ✅ Mark Solution

[fickle quest]

Usage: /approve <id> <decision> (see the pending approval message for available decisions)

[quaint bone]

How do I find the <id> and <decision> values?

[fickle quest]

That usage message means you ran /approve with the shell command, not with an approval ID.

What you need:

• <id> = the generated approval ID from the pending approval message
• <decision> = usually one of:
  • allow-once
  • allow-always
  • deny

Example:

/approve abc123 allow-once

Where to find the ID on Discord:

• By default, approval prompts usually go to the configured approver’s DM
• If channels.discord.execApprovals.target is set to channel or both, it can also appear here in the thread
• The pending approval message normally includes either:
  • buttons, or
  • the exact /approve <id> <decision> command to copy

So, check:

1. your DM with the bot
2. this thread
3. the DM of whoever is configured as the approver

Important bit: on Discord, only configured approvers can approve. If you are not one of them, you won’t be able to resolve it yourself.

If no approval message showed up anywhere, chat approvals probably are not configured, and the owner/admin needs to approve via the Control UI or configure Discord approvers (channels.discord.execApprovals.approvers or commands.ownerAllowFrom).

Docs:

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

• https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/slash-commands

If you want, paste openclaw --version plus whether you see any approval DM at all, and I can help narrow it down. If this fixed it, please right-click the solution message → Apps → ✅ Mark Solution.

[quaint bone]

this is not in discord, this is the message my agent gave me in the openclaw dashboard.

[fickle quest]

Yep, then the agent mixed up two different things.

/approve is not how you wrap the shell script. It only works after OpenClaw creates a pending exec approval.

What should happen in the dashboard:

1. The agent tries to run the command
2. OpenClaw creates a pending approval
3. You get a prompt like:

Approval required (id 117ba06d, full ...).
Reply with: /approve 117ba06d allow-once|allow-always|deny

So:

• <id> comes from that generated approval prompt
• <decision> is one of the options it lists
• You reply in the dashboard chat with something like:
  /approve 117ba06d allow-once

What this means for your case:

• /approve sudo apt-get update ... was a bad instruction
• there is no ID to invent manually
• if you never saw an “Approval required (id …)” message, then there is nothing pending to approve yet

If the agent is supposed to run it for you, tell it to actually execute the command, then approve the generated prompt.

If you intended to run it yourself manually, that command belongs in your terminal, and the /approve prefix should not be there.

Docs:

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

• https://docs.openclaw.ai/web/dashboard

If you want, paste the exact dashboard message right before/after this and I can tell you whether the approval request was ever actually created. If this fixed it, please right-click the solution message → Apps → ✅ Mark Solution.

[quaint bone]

I’m ready to finish this, but I need approval for the host changes.

Please run:

/approve sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y python3-pip && python3 -m pip install --user agentmail python-dotenv && cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak.agentmail && python3 - <<'PY'
import json, os
p=os.path.expanduser('~/.openclaw/openclaw.json')
with open(p) as f: data=json.load(f)
data.setdefault('skills', {})
data['skills'].setdefault('entries', {})
data['skills']['entries'].setdefault('agentmail', {})
data['skills']['entries']['agentmail']['AGENTMAIL_API_KEY']=
with open(p, 'w') as f: json.dump(data, f, indent=2); f.write('\n')
print('updated', p)
PY

One important note before we test send/receive: I do not yet have a recipient address to send a test email to. If you want, after approval I can either:

send a test to one of your email addresses, or
just verify inbox receive/listing against [e-mail] and stop there until you give me a recipient.

Usage: /approve <id> <decision> (see the pending approval message for available decisions)

[fickle quest]

Yeah, that agent reply is wrong.

Two important things:

1. /approve never takes the raw shell command
2. You just pasted a live API key in a public thread, so rotate that key now and don’t use the exposed one

How approvals actually work in the dashboard:

• The agent must first try to run the host command via exec
• OpenClaw then creates a pending approval with a generated id
• You approve that id, for example:

/approve 117ba06d allow-once

The agent cannot make up that /approve sudo apt-get ... command ahead of time. That is not a valid approval flow.

So in your case:

• if you did not get an OpenClaw message like
  Approval required (id ..., full ...)
  then there is nothing pending to approve
• the right fix is to tell the agent to actually execute the command, then approve the generated request
• if you want to run it manually yourself, run the shell command in a terminal and remove the /approve part entirely

Also, seriously, rotate that AgentMail key first. Since it’s public now, treat it as compromised. After rotating it, I’d also delete/edit the message if you can.

Docs:

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

If you want, paste the actual OpenClaw dashboard message that appeared when the agent tried to run exec, and I’ll tell you exactly what to click/type next. If this fixed it, please right-click the solution message → Apps → ✅ Mark Solution.

Usage: /approve <id> <decision> (see the pending approval message for available decisions)

[quaint bone]

Tried removing the /approve and ran the remainder: truncated end response Setting up python3-setuptools (68.1.2-2ubuntu1.2) ...
Setting up python3-wheel (0.42.0-2) ...
Setting up libexpat1-dev:amd64 (2.6.1-2ubuntu0.4) ...
Setting up python3-pip (24.0+dfsg-1ubuntu1.3) ...
Setting up zlib1g-dev:amd64 (1:1.3.dfsg-3.1ubuntu2.1) ...
Setting up libjs-jquery (3.6.1+dfsg+~3.5.14-1) ...
Setting up libjs-underscore (1.13.4~dfsg+~1.11.4-3) ...
Setting up libpython3.12-dev:amd64 (3.12.3-1ubuntu0.12) ...
Setting up python3.12-dev (3.12.3-1ubuntu0.12) ...
Setting up libjs-sphinxdoc (7.2.6-6) ...
Setting up libpython3-dev:amd64 (3.12.3-0ubuntu2.1) ...
Setting up python3-dev (3.12.3-0ubuntu2.1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.12.0-4build2) ...
error: externally-managed-environment

× This environment is externally managed
╰─> To install Python packages system-wide, try apt install
python3-xyz, where xyz is the package you are trying to
install.

If you wish to install a non-Debian-packaged Python package,
create a virtual environment using python3 -m venv path/to/venv.
Then use path/to/venv/bin/python and path/to/venv/bin/pip. Make
sure you have python3-full installed.

If you wish to install a non-Debian packaged Python application,
it may be easiest to use pipx install xyz, which will manage a
virtual environment for you. Make sure you have pipx installed.

See /usr/share/doc/python3.12/README.venv for more information.

note: If you believe this is a mistake, please contact your Python installation or OS distribution provider. You can override this, at the risk of breaking your Python installation or OS, by passing --break-system-packages.
hint: See PEP 668 for the detailed specification.

[fickle quest]

Good news, you’re past the approval confusion. This new error is just Ubuntu 24.04 / PEP 668.

What happened:

• apt-get ... python3-pip worked
• python3 -m pip install --user agentmail python-dotenv failed
• because the command used &&, the later cp ... and JSON update steps probably did not run

Why it failed:

• Ubuntu now treats the system Python as externally managed
• so pip install --user ... is blocked
• I would not use --break-system-packages

Best fix here: use a virtualenv for AgentMail.

Typical path:

sudo apt-get install -y python3-venv
python3 -m venv ~/.openclaw/venvs/agentmail
~/.openclaw/venvs/agentmail/bin/pip install agentmail python-dotenv

Then any AgentMail script should run with:

~/.openclaw/venvs/agentmail/bin/python ...

A couple important notes:

• since you pasted the real AgentMail key publicly earlier, rotate it first
• after the rotate, add the new key to config, not the leaked one
• if your agent is meant to do this itself, tell it: “Ubuntu hit PEP 668, redo the install using a venv instead of pip install --user.”

So the short answer is: the install should switch from pip --user to a venv.

If you want, I can help you turn that original broken one-liner into a correct Ubuntu 24.04-safe version. If this fixed it, please right-click the solution message → Apps → ✅ Mark Solution.