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Gateway (Concept)

Gateway (Concept)

The Gateway is the long‑running runtime service that:

  • connects channels (Telegram/WhatsApp/Discord/…)
  • routes inbound messages into sessions
  • runs agent turns and streams output back to the correct surface
  • exposes APIs used by the Control UI and the CLI

It is the “control plane” of OpenClaw.

What the Gateway is (and isn’t)

  • The Gateway owns state (sessions, credentials on the gateway host, cron jobs, etc.).
  • The model/provider is a dependency. If the provider changes, the Gateway should keep working.
  • The Control UI is a client. It connects to the Gateway; it does not replace it.

Next steps:

FeaturesGateway Architecture