Lesson 4.1 · 30 minutes

Verify the CLI and Gateway before connecting anything real

Use bounded health checks to establish that the installed gateway is reachable and configured, without treating a green process as authorization.

Verifiedon 2026-07-302026.7.1-2

Action boundary

Before you act

Expected result: The operator can distinguish a missing CLI, unavailable gateway, configuration issue, and successful health snapshot.
Failure mode: A health command is interpreted as permission to attach a production channel or enable autonomous external actions.
Rollback: Leave channels disconnected, stop the test gateway, and return to the preceding failed check with no configuration changes beyond documented repair.

Verify in layers

The install guide gives a small first verification set: openclaw --version, openclaw doctor, and openclaw gateway status. The health reference adds openclaw health, which obtains a gateway health snapshot over WebSocket RPC. These checks answer different questions; none approves a real recipient or side effect.

Lab: make a four-line verification ledger

Run one check at a time and record a redacted result:

Check	Question answered	Safe next move if it fails
`openclaw --version`	Is the intended CLI executable available?	Return to install/PATH troubleshooting.
`openclaw doctor`	Does the local setup report repair guidance?	Read the stated diagnostic before editing anything.
`openclaw gateway status`	Is the managed gateway running?	Inspect service state; do not reinstall blindly.
`openclaw health`	Can the CLI receive a gateway health snapshot?	Confirm the gateway and configuration boundary before retrying.

Decision check

A status check is green but no provider live check has passed. Can you connect a real messaging channel? No. The missing provider evidence and the absent channel boundary are independent failures. Keep the test local and return to onboarding.

Source provenanceVerification and sources

Review receipt rr_setup_gateway_verify

Outcome: approved
Method: source-review
Reviewer: forge-independent-review
Reviewed: 2026-07-30

Evidence

openclaw-docs-index — openclaw-main-1237c0c-cli-health; snapshot 51cc0e3dd61a…

Limitations

Independent source review approved the layered verification procedure; no learner Gateway was connected.

Open the public evidence snapshot

Lesson checkpoint

Ready to move on?

Mark this lesson complete when you can apply its outcome without relying on the examples above.

Next: Define a first agent that can only propose

Safe Installation and First Agent