Basic Configuration

Configure OpenClaw behavior through the config.yaml file to customize your AI agent's personality and capabilities.

Configuration File Location

# Default location
./config/config.yaml

# Override with environment variable
export OPENCLAW_CONFIG=/path/to/config.yaml

Setting Name and Avatar

agent:
  name: "MyAssistant"
  avatar: "https://example.com/avatar.png"
  description: "AI assistant for development tasks"

System Prompt Customization

Define how your agent behaves:

agent:
  system_prompt: |
    You are a senior software engineer assistant.
    - Always explain your reasoning
    - Prioritize code quality and security
    - Ask clarifying questions when requirements are unclear

Response Mode Configuration

Control response behavior:

response:
  mode: "streaming"  # or "batch"
  max_tokens: 4096
  temperature: 0.7
  enable_thinking: true  # Show reasoning process

Reload Configuration

Changes take effect after restart:

docker compose restart openclaw