openclaw/docs/platforms/android.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Android app (node): connection runbook + Canvas/Chat/Camera	Pairing or reconnecting the Android node Debugging Android gateway discovery or auth Verifying chat history parity across clients	Android App

Android App (Node)

Support snapshot

• Role: companion node app (Android does not host the Gateway).
• Gateway required: yes (run it on macOS, Linux, or Windows via WSL2).
• Install: Getting Started + Pairing.
• Gateway: Runbook + Configuration.
  • Protocols: Gateway protocol (nodes + control plane).

System control

System control (launchd/systemd) lives on the Gateway host. See Gateway.

Connection Runbook

Android node app ⇄ (mDNS/NSD + WebSocket) ⇄ Gateway

Android connects directly to the Gateway WebSocket (default ws://<host>:18789) and uses Gateway-owned pairing.

Prerequisites

• You can run the Gateway on the “master” machine.
• Android device/emulator can reach the gateway WebSocket:
  • Same LAN with mDNS/NSD, or
  • Same Tailscale tailnet using Wide-Area Bonjour / unicast DNS-SD (see below), or
  • Manual gateway host/port (fallback)
• You can run the CLI (openclaw) on the gateway machine (or via SSH).

1) Start the Gateway

openclaw gateway --port 18789 --verbose

Confirm in logs you see something like:

• listening on ws://0.0.0.0:18789

For tailnet-only setups (recommended for Vienna ⇄ London), bind the gateway to the tailnet IP:

• Set gateway.bind: "tailnet" in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json on the gateway host.
• Restart the Gateway / macOS menubar app.

2) Verify discovery (optional)

From the gateway machine:

dns-sd -B _openclaw-gw._tcp local.

More debugging notes: Bonjour.

Tailnet (Vienna ⇄ London) discovery via unicast DNS-SD

Android NSD/mDNS discovery won’t cross networks. If your Android node and the gateway are on different networks but connected via Tailscale, use Wide-Area Bonjour / unicast DNS-SD instead:

1. Set up a DNS-SD zone (example openclaw.internal.) on the gateway host and publish _openclaw-gw._tcp records.
2. Configure Tailscale split DNS for your chosen domain pointing at that DNS server.

Details and example CoreDNS config: Bonjour.

3) Connect from Android

In the Android app:

• The app keeps its gateway connection alive via a foreground service (persistent notification).
• Open Settings.
• Under Discovered Gateways, select your gateway and hit Connect.
• If mDNS is blocked, use Advanced → Manual Gateway (host + port) and Connect (Manual).

After the first successful pairing, Android auto-reconnects on launch:

• Manual endpoint (if enabled), otherwise
• The last discovered gateway (best-effort).

4) Approve pairing (CLI)

On the gateway machine:

openclaw nodes pending
openclaw nodes approve <requestId>

Pairing details: Gateway pairing.

5) Verify the node is connected

• Via nodes status:

  openclaw nodes status
  

• Via Gateway:

  openclaw gateway call node.list --params "{}"
  

6) Chat + history

The Android node’s Chat sheet uses the gateway’s primary session key (main), so history and replies are shared with WebChat and other clients:

• History: chat.history
• Send: chat.send
• Push updates (best-effort): chat.subscribe → event:"chat"

7) Canvas + camera

Gateway Canvas Host (recommended for web content)

If you want the node to show real HTML/CSS/JS that the agent can edit on disk, point the node at the Gateway canvas host.

Note: nodes use the standalone canvas host on canvasHost.port (default 18793).

1. Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/canvas/index.html on the gateway host.

2. Navigate the node to it (LAN):

openclaw nodes invoke --node "<Android Node>" --command canvas.navigate --params '{"url":"http://<gateway-hostname>.local:18793/__openclaw__/canvas/"}'

Tailnet (optional): if both devices are on Tailscale, use a MagicDNS name or tailnet IP instead of .local, e.g. http://<gateway-magicdns>:18793/__openclaw__/canvas/.

This server injects a live-reload client into HTML and reloads on file changes. The A2UI host lives at http://<gateway-host>:18793/__openclaw__/a2ui/.

Canvas commands (foreground only):

• canvas.eval, canvas.snapshot, canvas.navigate (use {"url":""} or {"url":"/"} to return to the default scaffold). canvas.snapshot returns { format, base64 } (default format="jpeg").
• A2UI: canvas.a2ui.push, canvas.a2ui.reset (canvas.a2ui.pushJSONL legacy alias)

Camera commands (foreground only; permission-gated):

• camera.snap (jpg)
• camera.clip (mp4)

See Camera node for parameters and CLI helpers.