---
summary: "Optional Docker-based setup and onboarding for OpenClaw"
read_when:
  - You want a containerized gateway instead of local installs
  - You are validating the Docker flow
title: "Docker"
---

Docker is **optional**. Use it for an isolated, throwaway gateway environment or a host without local installs. If you already develop on your own machine, use the normal install flow instead.

The default sandbox backend uses Docker when `agents.defaults.sandbox` is enabled, but sandboxing is off by default and does not require the gateway itself to run in Docker. SSH and OpenShell sandbox backends are also available; see [Sandboxing](/gateway/sandboxing).

## Prerequisites

- Docker Desktop (or Docker Engine) + Docker Compose v2
- At least 2 GB RAM for image build (`pnpm install` may be OOM-killed on 1 GB hosts with exit 137)
- Enough disk for images and logs
- On a VPS/public host, review [Security hardening for network exposure](/gateway/security), especially the Docker `DOCKER-USER` firewall chain

## Containerized gateway

<Steps>
  <Step title="Build the image">
    From the repo root:

    ```bash
    ./scripts/docker/setup.sh
    ```

    This builds the gateway image locally as `openclaw:local`. To use a pre-built image instead:

    ```bash
    export OPENCLAW_IMAGE="ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest"
    ./scripts/docker/setup.sh
    ```

    Pre-built images are published first to the [GitHub Container Registry](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pkgs/container/openclaw). GHCR is the primary registry for release automation, pinned deployments, and provenance checks. The same release publishes a Docker Hub mirror at `openclaw/openclaw`:

    ```bash
    export OPENCLAW_IMAGE="openclaw/openclaw:latest"
    ./scripts/docker/setup.sh
    ```

    Use `ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw` or `openclaw/openclaw` and avoid unofficial mirrors, which don't share OpenClaw's release timing or retention policy. Official tags: `main`, `latest`, `<version>` (e.g. `2026.2.26`), and beta tags such as `2026.2.26-beta.1` (betas never move `latest`/`main`). The default `main`/`latest`/`<version>` image bundles the `codex` and `diagnostics-otel` plugins. A `-browser` variant (e.g. `latest-browser`) also ships with Chromium baked in, useful for the [sandboxed browser](/gateway/sandboxing#sandboxed-browser) tool without a first-run Playwright install.

  </Step>

  <Step title="Airgapped rerun">
    On offline hosts, transfer and load the image first:

    ```bash
    docker load -i openclaw-image.tar
    export OPENCLAW_IMAGE="ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest"
    ./scripts/docker/setup.sh --offline
    ```

    `--offline` verifies `OPENCLAW_IMAGE` already exists locally, disables implicit Compose pulls/builds, then runs the normal flow: `.env` sync, permission fixes, onboarding, gateway config sync, Compose startup.

    If `OPENCLAW_SANDBOX=1`, offline setup also checks the configured default and per-agent sandbox images on the daemon behind `OPENCLAW_DOCKER_SOCKET`, including the browser-contract label on Docker-backed browser images. If a required image is missing or stale, setup exits without changing sandbox config rather than reporting a broken success.

  </Step>

  <Step title="Complete onboarding">
    The setup script runs onboarding automatically:

    - prompts for provider API keys
    - generates a gateway token and writes it to `.env`
    - creates the auth-profile secret key directory
    - starts the gateway via Docker Compose

    Pre-start onboarding and config writes run through `openclaw-gateway` directly (with `--no-deps --entrypoint node`), since `openclaw-cli` shares the gateway's network namespace and only works once the gateway container exists.

  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the Control UI">
    Open `http://127.0.0.1:18789/` and paste the token written to `.env` into Settings. If you switched the container to password auth, use that password instead.

    Need the URL again?

    ```bash
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli dashboard --no-open
    ```

  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure channels (optional)">
    ```bash
    # WhatsApp (QR)
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli channels login

    # Telegram
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli channels add --channel telegram --token "<token>"

    # Discord
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli channels add --channel discord --token "<token>"
    ```

    Docs: [WhatsApp](/channels/whatsapp), [Telegram](/channels/telegram), [Discord](/channels/discord)

  </Step>
</Steps>

### Manual flow

```bash
docker build -t openclaw:local -f Dockerfile .
docker compose run --rm --no-deps --entrypoint node openclaw-gateway \
  dist/index.js onboard --mode local --no-install-daemon
docker compose run --rm --no-deps --entrypoint node openclaw-gateway \
  dist/index.js config set --batch-json '[{"path":"gateway.mode","value":"local"},{"path":"gateway.bind","value":"lan"},{"path":"gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins","value":["http://localhost:18789","http://127.0.0.1:18789"]}]'
docker compose up -d openclaw-gateway
```

<Note>
Run `docker compose` from the repo root. If you enabled `OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS` or `OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME`, the setup script writes `docker-compose.extra.yml`; include it after any `docker-compose.override.yml` you maintain yourself, e.g. `-f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.override.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml`.
</Note>

### Environment variables

Optional variables accepted by `scripts/docker/setup.sh` (and, for the gateway container, by `docker-compose.yml` directly):

| Variable                                        | Purpose                                                                                                 |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `OPENCLAW_IMAGE`                                | Use a remote image instead of building locally                                                          |
| `OPENCLAW_IMAGE_APT_PACKAGES`                   | Install extra apt packages during build (space-separated). Legacy alias: `OPENCLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES` |
| `OPENCLAW_IMAGE_PIP_PACKAGES`                   | Install extra Python packages during build (space-separated)                                            |
| `OPENCLAW_EXTENSIONS`                           | Pre-install plugin dependencies at build time (comma- or space-separated ids)                           |
| `OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BUILD_NODE_OPTIONS`            | Override the local source-build Node options (default `--max-old-space-size=8192`)                      |
| `OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BUILD_TSDOWN_MAX_OLD_SPACE_MB` | Override the local source-build tsdown heap in MB                                                       |
| `OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BUILD_SKIP_DTS`                | Skip declaration output during runtime-only local image builds (default `1`)                            |
| `OPENCLAW_INSTALL_BROWSER`                      | Bake Chromium + Xvfb into the image at build time                                                       |
| `OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS`                         | Extra host bind mounts (comma-separated `source:target[:opts]`)                                         |
| `OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME`                          | Persist `/home/node` in a named Docker volume                                                           |
| `OPENCLAW_SANDBOX`                              | Opt in to sandbox bootstrap (`1`, `true`, `yes`, `on`)                                                  |
| `OPENCLAW_SKIP_ONBOARDING`                      | Skip the interactive onboarding step (`1`, `true`, `yes`, `on`)                                         |
| `OPENCLAW_DOCKER_SOCKET`                        | Override the Docker socket path                                                                         |
| `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR`                      | Force Bonjour/mDNS advertising on (`0`) or off (`1`); see [Bonjour / mDNS](#bonjour--mdns)              |
| `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_SOURCE_OVERLAYS`      | Disable bundled plugin source bind-mount overlays                                                       |
| `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT`                   | Shared OTLP/HTTP collector endpoint for OpenTelemetry export                                            |
| `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_*_ENDPOINT`                 | Signal-specific OTLP endpoints for traces, metrics, or logs                                             |
| `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL`                   | OTLP protocol override. Only `http/protobuf` is supported today                                         |
| `OTEL_SERVICE_NAME`                             | Service name used for OpenTelemetry resources                                                           |
| `OTEL_SEMCONV_STABILITY_OPT_IN`                 | Opt in to latest experimental GenAI semantic attributes                                                 |
| `OPENCLAW_OTEL_PRELOADED`                       | Skip starting a second OpenTelemetry SDK when one is preloaded                                          |

The official image ships no Homebrew. During onboarding, OpenClaw hides brew-only skill dependency installers in a Linux container without `brew`; provide those dependencies through a custom image or install manually. Use `OPENCLAW_IMAGE_APT_PACKAGES` for Debian-packaged dependencies and `OPENCLAW_IMAGE_PIP_PACKAGES` for Python dependencies (runs `python3 -m pip install --break-system-packages` at build time, so pin versions and use only indexes you trust).

If Docker reports `ResourceExhausted`, `cannot allocate memory`, or aborts during `tsdown`, increase the Docker builder memory limit or retry with smaller explicit heaps:

```bash
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BUILD_NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=4096 OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BUILD_TSDOWN_MAX_OLD_SPACE_MB=4096
```

To test bundled plugin source against a packaged image, mount one plugin source directory over its packaged source path, e.g. `OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS=/path/to/fork/extensions/synology-chat:/app/extensions/synology-chat:ro`. That overrides the matching compiled `/app/dist/extensions/synology-chat` bundle for the same plugin id.

### Observability

OpenTelemetry export is outbound from the Gateway container to your OTLP collector; it needs no published Docker port. To include the bundled exporter in a locally built image:

```bash
export OPENCLAW_EXTENSIONS="diagnostics-otel"
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="http://otel-collector:4318"
export OTEL_SERVICE_NAME="openclaw-gateway"
./scripts/docker/setup.sh
```

Official prebuilt images already bundle `diagnostics-otel`; install `clawhub:@openclaw/diagnostics-otel` yourself only if you removed it. To enable export, allow and enable the `diagnostics-otel` plugin in config, then set `diagnostics.otel.enabled=true` (see the full example in [OpenTelemetry export](/gateway/opentelemetry)). Collector auth headers go through `diagnostics.otel.headers`, not Docker environment variables.

Prometheus metrics reuse the already-published Gateway port. Install `clawhub:@openclaw/diagnostics-prometheus`, enable the `diagnostics-prometheus` plugin, then scrape:

```text
http://<gateway-host>:18789/api/diagnostics/prometheus
```

The route is protected by Gateway authentication; don't expose a separate public `/metrics` port or unauthenticated reverse-proxy path. See [Prometheus metrics](/gateway/prometheus).

### Health checks

Container probe endpoints (no auth required):

```bash
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18789/healthz   # liveness
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18789/readyz     # readiness
```

The image's built-in `HEALTHCHECK` pings `/healthz`; repeated failures mark the container `unhealthy` so orchestrators can restart or replace it.

Authenticated deep health snapshot:

```bash
docker compose exec openclaw-gateway node dist/index.js health --token "$OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN"
```

### LAN vs loopback

`scripts/docker/setup.sh` defaults `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_BIND=lan` so `http://127.0.0.1:18789` on the host works with Docker port publishing.

- `lan` (default): host browser and host CLI can reach the published gateway port.
- `loopback`: only processes inside the container network namespace can reach the gateway directly.

<Note>
Use bind mode values in `gateway.bind` (`lan` / `loopback` / `custom` / `tailnet` / `auto`), not host aliases like `0.0.0.0` or `127.0.0.1`.
</Note>

### Host local providers

Inside the container, `127.0.0.1` is the container itself, not the host. Use `host.docker.internal` for providers running on the host:

| Provider  | Host default URL         | Docker setup URL                    |
| --------- | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------- |
| LM Studio | `http://127.0.0.1:1234`  | `http://host.docker.internal:1234`  |
| Ollama    | `http://127.0.0.1:11434` | `http://host.docker.internal:11434` |

The bundled setup uses those URLs as LM Studio/Ollama onboarding defaults, and `docker-compose.yml` maps `host.docker.internal` to the host gateway on Linux Docker Engine (Docker Desktop provides the same alias on macOS/Windows). Host services must listen on an address Docker can reach:

```bash
lms server start --port 1234 --bind 0.0.0.0
OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434 ollama serve
```

Using your own Compose file or `docker run`? Add the same mapping yourself, e.g. `--add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway`.

### Claude CLI backend in Docker

The official image does not pre-install Claude Code. Install and log in inside the container's `node` user, then persist that container home so image upgrades don't erase the binary or auth state.

For a new install, enable a persistent `/home/node` volume before running setup:

```bash
export OPENCLAW_IMAGE="ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest"
export OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME="openclaw_home"
./scripts/docker/setup.sh
```

For an existing install, stop the stack and reload the current `.env` values first — the setup script always rewrites `.env` from the current shell and defaults, it doesn't read the file on its own:

```bash
set -a
. ./.env
set +a
export OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME="${OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME:-openclaw_home}"
./scripts/docker/setup.sh
```

If `.env` contains values your shell can't source, re-export what you rely on manually first (`OPENCLAW_IMAGE`, ports, bind mode, custom paths, `OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS`, sandbox, skip-onboarding). The generated overlay mounts the home volume for both `openclaw-gateway` and `openclaw-cli`; run the remaining commands with that overlay (and `docker-compose.override.yml` first, if you use one):

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml run --rm \
  --entrypoint sh openclaw-cli -lc \
  'curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash'
```

The native installer writes `claude` to `/home/node/.local/bin/claude`. Point OpenClaw at that path:

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml run --rm \
  openclaw-cli config set \
  agents.defaults.cliBackends.claude-cli.command \
  /home/node/.local/bin/claude
```

Log in and verify from the same persisted home:

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml run --rm \
  --entrypoint /home/node/.local/bin/claude openclaw-cli auth login
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml run --rm \
  --entrypoint /home/node/.local/bin/claude openclaw-cli auth status --text
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml run --rm \
  openclaw-cli models auth login \
  --provider anthropic --method cli --set-default
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml run --rm \
  openclaw-cli models list --provider anthropic
```

Then use the bundled `claude-cli` backend:

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml run --rm \
  openclaw-cli agent \
  --agent main \
  --model claude-cli/claude-sonnet-4-6 \
  --message "Say hello from Docker Claude CLI"
```

`OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME` persists the native install under `/home/node/.local/bin` and `/home/node/.local/share/claude`, plus Claude Code settings/auth under `/home/node/.claude` and `/home/node/.claude.json`. Persisting only `/home/node/.openclaw` is not enough; if you use `OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS` instead of a home volume, mount all of those Claude paths into both services.

<Note>
For shared production automation or predictable Anthropic billing, prefer the Anthropic API-key path. Claude CLI reuse follows Claude Code's installed version, account login, billing, and update behavior.
</Note>

### Bonjour / mDNS

Docker bridge networking usually doesn't forward Bonjour/mDNS multicast (`224.0.0.251:5353`) reliably. When `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR` is unset, the bundled Bonjour plugin auto-disables LAN advertising once it detects it's running in a container, so it won't crash-loop retrying multicast the bridge drops. Set `OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1` to force it off regardless of detection, or `0` to force it on (only on host networking, macvlan, or another network where mDNS multicast is known to work).

Use the published Gateway URL, Tailscale, or wide-area DNS-SD for Docker hosts otherwise. See [Bonjour discovery](/gateway/bonjour) for gotchas and troubleshooting.

### Storage and persistence

Docker Compose bind-mounts `OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR` to `/home/node/.openclaw`, `OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR` to `/home/node/.openclaw/workspace`, and `OPENCLAW_AUTH_PROFILE_SECRET_DIR` to `/home/node/.config/openclaw`, so those paths survive container replacement. When a variable is unset, `docker-compose.yml` falls back under `${HOME}`, or `/tmp` if `HOME` itself is missing, so `docker compose up` never emits an empty-source volume spec on bare environments.

That mounted config directory holds:

- `openclaw.json` for behavior config
- `agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json` for stored provider OAuth/API-key auth
- `.env` for env-backed runtime secrets such as `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN`

The auth-profile secret directory stores the local encryption key for OAuth-backed auth profile token material. Keep it with your Docker host state, but separate from `OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR`.

Installed downloadable plugins store package state under the mounted OpenClaw home, so install records and package roots survive container replacement; gateway startup does not regenerate bundled-plugin dependency trees.

For full VM persistence details, see [Docker VM Runtime - What persists where](/install/docker-vm-runtime#what-persists-where).

**Disk growth hotspots:** `media/`, session JSONL files, the shared SQLite state database, installed plugin package roots, and rolling file logs under `/tmp/openclaw/`.

### Shell helpers (optional)

For shorter day-to-day commands, install [ClawDock](/install/clawdock):

```bash
mkdir -p ~/.clawdock && curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openclaw/openclaw/main/scripts/clawdock/clawdock-helpers.sh -o ~/.clawdock/clawdock-helpers.sh
echo 'source ~/.clawdock/clawdock-helpers.sh' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc
```

If you installed from the older `scripts/shell-helpers/clawdock-helpers.sh` path, rerun the command above so your local helper tracks the current location. Then use `clawdock-start`, `clawdock-stop`, `clawdock-dashboard`, etc. (run `clawdock-help` for the full list).

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Enable agent sandbox for Docker gateway">
    ```bash
    export OPENCLAW_SANDBOX=1
    ./scripts/docker/setup.sh
    ```

    Custom socket path (e.g. rootless Docker):

    ```bash
    export OPENCLAW_SANDBOX=1
    export OPENCLAW_DOCKER_SOCKET=/run/user/1000/docker.sock
    ./scripts/docker/setup.sh
    ```

    The script mounts `docker.sock` only after sandbox prerequisites pass. If sandbox setup can't complete, it resets `agents.defaults.sandbox.mode` to `off`. Codex code mode is disabled for turns where the OpenClaw sandbox is active (see [Sandboxing § Docker backend](/gateway/sandboxing#docker-backend)); never mount the host Docker socket into agent sandbox containers.

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Automation / CI (non-interactive)">
    Disable Compose pseudo-TTY allocation with `-T`:

    ```bash
    docker compose run -T --rm openclaw-cli gateway probe
    docker compose run -T --rm openclaw-cli devices list --json
    ```

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Shared-network security note">
    `openclaw-cli` uses `network_mode: "service:openclaw-gateway"` so CLI commands can reach the gateway over `127.0.0.1`. Treat this as a shared trust boundary. The compose config drops `NET_RAW`/`NET_ADMIN` and enables `no-new-privileges` on both `openclaw-gateway` and `openclaw-cli`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Docker Desktop DNS failures in openclaw-cli">
    Some Docker Desktop setups fail DNS lookups from the shared-network `openclaw-cli` sidecar after `NET_RAW` is dropped, showing up as `EAI_AGAIN` during npm-backed commands like `openclaw plugins install`. Keep the default hardened compose file for normal operation. The override below restores default capabilities for the `openclaw-cli` container only — use it for the one-off command that needs registry access, not as your default invocation:

    ```bash
    printf '%s\n' \
      'services:' \
      '  openclaw-cli:' \
      '    cap_drop: !reset []' \
      > docker-compose.cli-no-dropped-caps.local.yml

    docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.cli-no-dropped-caps.local.yml run --rm openclaw-cli plugins install <package>
    ```

    If you already created a long-running `openclaw-cli` container, recreate it with the same override — `docker compose exec`/`docker exec` can't change Linux capabilities on an already-created container.

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Permissions and EACCES">
    The image runs as `node` (uid 1000). If you see permission errors on `/home/node/.openclaw`, make sure your host bind mounts are owned by uid 1000:

    ```bash
    sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /path/to/openclaw-config /path/to/openclaw-workspace
    ```

    The same mismatch can show up as `blocked plugin candidate: suspicious ownership (... uid=1000, expected uid=0 or root)` followed by `plugin present but blocked` — the process uid and the mounted plugin directory owner disagree. Prefer running as the default uid 1000 and fixing the bind mount ownership. Only chown `/path/to/openclaw-config/npm` to `root:root` if you intentionally run OpenClaw as root long term.

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Faster rebuilds">
    Order your Dockerfile so dependency layers are cached, avoiding a `pnpm install` rerun unless lockfiles change:

    ```dockerfile
    FROM node:24-bookworm
    RUN curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
    ENV PATH="/root/.bun/bin:${PATH}"
    RUN corepack enable
    WORKDIR /app
    COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml pnpm-workspace.yaml .npmrc ./
    COPY ui/package.json ./ui/package.json
    COPY scripts ./scripts
    RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
    COPY . .
    RUN pnpm build
    RUN pnpm ui:install
    RUN pnpm ui:build
    ENV NODE_ENV=production
    CMD ["node","dist/index.js"]
    ```

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Power-user container options">
    The default image is security-first and runs as non-root `node`. For a more full-featured container:

    1. **Persist `/home/node`**: `export OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME="openclaw_home"`
    2. **Bake system deps**: `export OPENCLAW_IMAGE_APT_PACKAGES="git curl jq"`
    3. **Bake Python deps**: `export OPENCLAW_IMAGE_PIP_PACKAGES="requests==2.32.5 humanize==4.14.0"`
    4. **Bake Playwright Chromium**: `export OPENCLAW_INSTALL_BROWSER=1`, or use the official `-browser` image tag
    5. **Or install Playwright browsers into a persisted volume**:
       ```bash
       docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli \
         node /app/node_modules/playwright-core/cli.js install chromium
       ```
    6. **Persist browser downloads**: use `OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME` or `OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS`. OpenClaw auto-detects the image's Playwright-managed Chromium on Linux.

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="OpenAI Codex OAuth (headless Docker)">
    If you pick OpenAI Codex OAuth in the wizard, it opens a browser URL. In Docker or headless setups, copy the full redirect URL you land on and paste it back into the wizard to finish auth.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Base image metadata">
    The runtime image uses `node:24-bookworm-slim` and runs `tini` as PID 1 so zombie processes are reaped and signals handled correctly in long-running containers. It publishes OCI base-image annotations including `org.opencontainers.image.base.name` and `org.opencontainers.image.source`. Dependabot refreshes the pinned Node base digest; release builds don't run a separate distro upgrade layer. See [OCI image annotations](https://github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/blob/main/annotations.md).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Running on a VPS?

See [Hetzner (Docker VPS)](/install/hetzner) and [Docker VM Runtime](/install/docker-vm-runtime) for shared VM deployment steps including binary baking, persistence, and updates.

## Agent sandbox

When `agents.defaults.sandbox` is enabled with the Docker backend, the gateway runs agent tool execution (shell, file read/write, etc.) inside isolated Docker containers while the gateway itself stays on the host — a hard wall around untrusted or multi-tenant agent sessions without containerizing the whole gateway.

Sandbox scope can be per-agent (default), per-session, or shared; each scope gets its own workspace mounted at `/workspace`. You can also configure allow/deny tool policies, network isolation, resource limits, and browser containers.

For full configuration, images, security notes, and multi-agent profiles:

- [Sandboxing](/gateway/sandboxing) -- complete sandbox reference
- [OpenShell](/gateway/openshell) -- interactive shell access to sandbox containers
- [Multi-Agent Sandbox and Tools](/tools/multi-agent-sandbox-tools) -- per-agent overrides

### Quick enable

```json5
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      sandbox: {
        mode: "non-main", // off | non-main | all
        scope: "agent", // session | agent | shared
      },
    },
  },
}
```

Build the default sandbox image (from a source checkout):

```bash
scripts/sandbox-setup.sh
```

For npm installs without a source checkout, see [Sandboxing § Images and setup](/gateway/sandboxing#images-and-setup) for inline `docker build` commands.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Image missing or sandbox container not starting">
    Build the sandbox image with [`scripts/sandbox-setup.sh`](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/blob/main/scripts/sandbox-setup.sh) (source checkout) or the inline `docker build` command from [Sandboxing § Images and setup](/gateway/sandboxing#images-and-setup) (npm install), or set `agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.image` to your custom image. Containers are auto-created per session on demand.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Permission errors in sandbox">
    Set `docker.user` to a UID:GID that matches your mounted workspace ownership, or chown the workspace folder.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Custom tools not found in sandbox">
    OpenClaw runs commands with `sh -lc` (login shell), which sources `/etc/profile` and may reset PATH. Set `docker.env.PATH` to prepend your custom tool paths, or add a script under `/etc/profile.d/` in your Dockerfile.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="OOM-killed during image build (exit 137)">
    The VM needs at least 2 GB RAM. Use a larger machine class and retry.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Unauthorized or pairing required in Control UI">
    Fetch a fresh dashboard link and approve the browser device:

    ```bash
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli dashboard --no-open
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli devices list
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli devices approve <requestId>
    ```

    More detail: [Dashboard](/web/dashboard), [Devices](/cli/devices).

  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Gateway target shows ws://172.x.x.x or pairing errors from Docker CLI">
    Reset gateway mode and bind:

    ```bash
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli config set --batch-json '[{"path":"gateway.mode","value":"local"},{"path":"gateway.bind","value":"lan"}]'
    docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli devices list --url ws://127.0.0.1:18789
    ```

  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

- [Install Overview](/install) — all installation methods
- [Podman](/install/podman) — Podman alternative to Docker
- [ClawDock](/install/clawdock) — Docker Compose community setup
- [Updating](/install/updating) — keeping OpenClaw up to date
- [Configuration](/gateway/configuration) — gateway configuration after install