Configuration Compatibility¶

Community Implementation

A Rust implementation of OpenClaw by Neul Labs.

openclaw-rs uses the same configuration format as the official OpenClaw project.

File Format¶

Both projects use JSON5 (JSON with comments and trailing commas):

{
  // This is a comment
  "gateway": {
    "port": 18789,
    "bind": "127.0.0.1",  // Trailing comma allowed
  }
}

Configuration Location¶

Project	Default Path
OpenClaw	`~/.config/openclaw/openclaw.json`
openclaw-rs	`~/.openclaw/openclaw.json`

You can use either location:

# Use OpenClaw's config
openclaw --config ~/.config/openclaw/openclaw.json gateway run

# Or symlink
ln -s ~/.config/openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Shared Configuration¶

Fully Compatible¶

These sections are fully compatible between projects:

gateway¶

{
  "gateway": {
    "port": 18789,
    "bind": "127.0.0.1",
    "cors_origins": ["http://localhost:3000"],
    "tls": {
      "cert": "/path/to/cert.pem",
      "key": "/path/to/key.pem"
    }
  }
}

providers¶

{
  "providers": {
    "anthropic": {
      "api_key_env": "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
      "default_model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
      "base_url": "https://api.anthropic.com"
    },
    "openai": {
      "api_key_env": "OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "default_model": "gpt-4o",
      "org_id": "org-..."
    }
  }
}

agents¶

{
  "agents": {
    "default": {
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
      "system_prompt": "You are helpful.",
      "max_tokens": 4096,
      "temperature": 0.7,
      "tools": ["file_read", "bash"]
    }
  }
}

workspace¶

{
  "workspace": {
    "path": "~/.openclaw/workspace",
    "allowed_paths": ["~/projects", "~/code"]
  }
}

Partially Compatible¶

These sections may have differences:

skills¶

{
  "skills": {
    // Basic skill definitions work
    "custom_skill": {
      "description": "A custom skill",
      "tool": "bash",
      "command": "echo 'hello'"
    }
  }
}

⚠️ Advanced skill features may not be fully supported yet.

plugins¶

{
  "plugins": {
    "my_plugin": {
      "path": "/path/to/plugin",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

⚠️ Plugin loading works, but some plugin APIs may differ.

openclaw-rs Specific¶

These options are specific to openclaw-rs:

{
  // Rust-specific performance tuning
  "runtime": {
    "worker_threads": 4,
    "blocking_threads": 512
  },

  // Native sandbox settings
  "sandbox": {
    "enabled": true,
    "method": "bubblewrap"  // Linux only
  }
}

Validation¶

Validate your configuration:

# openclaw-rs validation
openclaw config validate

# Check for compatibility issues
openclaw config validate --compat

Environment Variables¶

Both projects support the same environment variables:

Variable	Description
`OPENCLAW_CONFIG`	Config file path
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic API key
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI API key

Migrating Configuration¶

From OpenClaw to openclaw-rs¶

Copy your config:

cp ~/.config/openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Validate:
```
openclaw config validate
```
Fix any warnings:
```
openclaw config validate --verbose
```

Use a symlink to share configuration:

# Create shared location
mkdir -p ~/.config/openclaw

# Link openclaw-rs to use shared config
ln -s ~/.config/openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Known Differences¶

Feature	OpenClaw	openclaw-rs
Config path default	`~/.config/openclaw/`	`~/.openclaw/`
Sandbox method	Node.js based	Native (bwrap, sandbox-exec)
Plugin runtime	Node.js	IPC bridge to Node.js

Next Steps¶

:material-puzzle: Skills Compatibility :material-power-plug: Plugin Compatibility