Openclaw Local Test

OpenClaw Local Test

Provide a ready-to-use local OpenClaw instance for manual testing in a browser.

Workflow

1. Ensure the helper exists on PATH.

Prefer ~/.local/bin/openclaw-local-test if present. If missing or clearly stale, install the bundled helper:

``bash install -m 755 scripts/openclaw-local-test ~/.local/bin/openclaw-local-test ``

1. Start the full manual-test instance.

Pass the source config explicitly so the user can confirm which local credentials/config will be mirrored:

``bash openclaw-local-test --repo ~/repos/openclaw --base-config ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ``

Read [references/options.md](references/options.md) for alternate repo, browser, lease, status, stop, and smoke-test options.

1. Inspect the generated config before testing behavior.

The running Gateway uses ~/.openclaw-local-test/openclaw.json, not the source config directly. Read [references/config-inspection.md](references/config-inspection.md) for the redacted inspection command and reporting rules.

1. Verify both endpoints after startup:

``bash curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:/healthz curl -fsS http://localhost:/healthz ``

1. Check logs when channel/provider readiness matters:

``bash tail -80 ~/.openclaw-local-test/logs/gateway.log tail -80 ~/.openclaw-local-test/logs/gateway.err.log ``

1. Report only useful test details:

• browser URL, usually http://localhost:/
• Gateway port and browser proxy port
• provider/model, usually atlassian-aigw/gpt-5.5-2026-04-23
• config path, active agent id, and relevant permission/tool/plugin settings
• lease expiry time
• whether Slack and Discord started or any degraded logs appeared
• openclaw-local-test --status and openclaw-local-test --stop

Context Pointers

• Read [references/helper-behavior.md](references/helper-behavior.md) when you

need to explain state paths, session rotation, model/config rewriting, proxy behavior, startup locks, TTL, or security posture.

• Read [references/troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md) when

startup, proxy, provider, channel, or cleanup behavior fails.

Done Means

• The helper path is installed or already present.
• The instance started from the intended OpenClaw repo and explicit base config.
• Health checks passed for both Gateway and browser proxy.
• The active generated config was inspected with secrets redacted.
• The report includes URL, ports, provider/model, relevant config summary, lease

expiry, channel status, and stop/status commands.

• Raw config, secrets, and credentials were not pasted into chat.

Avoid

• exposing the local Gateway/browser proxy publicly;
• interpreting behavior against the source config instead of the generated

runtime config;

• manually choosing ports while another startup is waiting on the lock;
• keeping reduced smoke-test instances running unless the user explicitly asks;
• using openclaw-dia-test for new instructions except as a compatibility

stop/status fallback.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: jesse-merhi
• Source: jesse-merhi/skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.