openclaw-openclaw/docs/gateway/tools-invoke-http-api.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Invoke a single tool directly via the Gateway HTTP endpoint	Calling tools without running a full agent turn Building automations that need tool policy enforcement	Tools invoke API

OpenClaw's Gateway exposes an HTTP endpoint for invoking a single tool directly. It is always enabled and uses Gateway auth plus tool policy. Like the OpenAI-compatible /v1/* surface, shared-secret bearer auth is treated as trusted operator access for the whole gateway.

• POST /tools/invoke
• Same port as the Gateway (WS + HTTP multiplex): http://<gateway-host>:<port>/tools/invoke
• Default max request body size: 2 MB

Authentication

Uses the Gateway auth configuration.

Common HTTP auth paths:

• shared-secret auth (gateway.auth.mode="token" or "password"): Authorization: Bearer <token-or-password>
• trusted identity-bearing HTTP auth (gateway.auth.mode="trusted-proxy"): route through the configured identity-aware proxy and let it inject the required identity headers
• private-ingress open auth (gateway.auth.mode="none"): no auth header required

Notes:

• mode="token" uses gateway.auth.token (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN).
• mode="password" uses gateway.auth.password (or OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD).
• mode="trusted-proxy" requires the HTTP request to come from a configured trusted proxy source; same-host loopback proxies require explicit gateway.auth.trustedProxy.allowLoopback = true.
• Internal same-host callers that bypass the proxy can use gateway.auth.password / OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD as a local direct fallback. Any Forwarded, X-Forwarded-*, or X-Real-IP header evidence keeps the request on the trusted-proxy path instead.
• If gateway.auth.rateLimit is configured and too many auth failures occur, the endpoint returns 429 with Retry-After.

Security boundary (important)

Treat this endpoint as a full operator-access surface for the gateway instance.

• HTTP bearer auth here is not a narrow per-user scope model.
• A valid Gateway token/password for this endpoint should be treated like an owner/operator credential.
• For shared-secret auth modes (token and password), the endpoint restores the normal full operator defaults even if the caller sends a narrower x-openclaw-scopes header.
• Shared-secret auth also treats direct tool invokes on this endpoint as owner-sender turns.
• Trusted identity-bearing HTTP modes (trusted proxy auth, or gateway.auth.mode="none" on a private ingress) honor x-openclaw-scopes when present and otherwise fall back to the normal operator default scope set.
• Keep this endpoint on loopback/tailnet/private ingress only; do not expose it directly to the public internet.

Auth matrix:

Auth mode	Behavior
token or password + Authorization: Bearer ...	Proves possession of the shared gateway operator secret. Ignores narrower x-openclaw-scopes. Restores the full default operator scope set: operator.admin, operator.approvals, operator.pairing, operator.read, operator.talk.secrets, operator.write. Treats direct tool invokes as owner-sender turns.
Trusted identity-bearing HTTP (trusted proxy auth, or mode="none" on private ingress)	Authenticates an outer trusted identity or deployment boundary. Honors x-openclaw-scopes when present. Falls back to the normal operator default scope set when the header is absent. Only loses owner semantics when the caller explicitly narrows scopes and omits operator.admin.

Request body

{
  "tool": "sessions_list",
  "action": "json",
  "args": {},
  "sessionKey": "main",
  "dryRun": false
}

Fields:

• tool / name (string, required): tool name to invoke. name takes precedence if both are sent.
• action (string, optional): merged into args.action if the tool schema supports an action property and args did not already set one.
• 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 the default agent, or global in global session scope).
• agentId (string, optional): resolves the session key for that agent. Errors with 400 if it conflicts with an explicit sessionKey that already maps to a different agent.
• idempotencyKey (string, optional): used to derive a stable tool-call id for the invocation.
• 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.

Important boundary notes:

• Exec approvals are operator guardrails, not a separate authorization boundary for this HTTP endpoint. If a tool is reachable here via Gateway auth + tool policy, /tools/invoke does not add an extra per-call approval prompt.
• If exec is reachable here, treat it as a mutating shell surface. Denying write, edit, apply_patch, or HTTP filesystem-write tools does not make shell execution read-only.
• Do not share Gateway bearer credentials with untrusted callers. If you need separation across trust boundaries, run separate gateways (ideally on separate OS users/hosts).

Gateway HTTP also applies a hard deny list by default (even if session policy allows the tool):

Tool	Reason
exec	Direct command execution (RCE surface)
spawn	Arbitrary child process creation (RCE surface)
shell	Shell command execution (RCE surface)
fs_write	Arbitrary file mutation on the host
fs_delete	Arbitrary file deletion on the host
fs_move	Arbitrary file move/rename on the host
apply_patch	Patch application can rewrite arbitrary files
sessions_spawn	Session orchestration; spawning agents remotely is RCE
sessions_send	Cross-session message injection
cron	Persistent automation control plane
gateway	Gateway control plane; prevents reconfiguration via HTTP
nodes	Node command relay can reach system.run on paired hosts

cron, gateway, and nodes are also owner-only: even outside this default deny list, non-owner callers cannot invoke them on this surface.

Customize the general deny list via gateway.tools:

{
  gateway: {
    tools: {
      // Additional tools to block over HTTP /tools/invoke
      deny: ["browser"],
      // Remove tools from the default deny list for owner/admin callers
      allow: ["gateway"],
    },
  },
}

gateway.tools.allow is an exposure override, not a scope upgrade. In identity-bearing HTTP modes, cron, gateway, and nodes remain unavailable to callers without owner/admin identity (operator.admin) even when listed in gateway.tools.allow. Shared-secret bearer auth still follows the full trusted-operator rule above.

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)
• x-openclaw-message-to: <target> (delivery target for message-tool policy)
• x-openclaw-thread-id: <threadId> (thread context for message-tool policy)

Responses

Status	Meaning
200	{ ok: true, result }
400	{ ok: false, error: { type, message } } (invalid request or tool input error)
401	Unauthorized
403	{ ok: false, error: { type, message, requiresApproval? } } (tool call blocked by policy)
404	Tool not available (not found or not allowlisted)
405	Method not allowed
408	Request body read timed out
413	Request body exceeded the max payload size
429	Auth rate-limited (Retry-After set)
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 secret' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "tool": "sessions_list",
    "action": "json",
    "args": {}
  }'

Related

• Gateway protocol
• Tools and plugins