01: Start and observe

The goal of this chapter is simple: make the system observable. Everything else (mechanisms, code reading) should map back to this minimal flow.

Minimal, verifiable flow (aim for 10 minutes)

1. Start the gateway (foreground):

openclaw gateway

2. Tail logs:

openclaw logs --follow

3. Open Control UI and complete one chat run (or send one inbound message via any channel):

openclaw dashboard

What you should see (acceptance checks)

You should reliably observe:

1. Control-plane events: after a successful WS connect, you receive events like tick / presence (see TypeBox).
2. Chat execution: chat.send ACKs quickly with a runId, and the reply streams back via chat events (see Control UI).

If you can’t reach these, pause the deep dive and troubleshoot first.

Common blockers

• Control UI not reachable: check Dashboard and networking/ports (see Network).
• WS can’t connect: start from the handshake/auth in Gateway protocol and validate via Health checks.
• Logs are missing/noisy: tune output per Logging, then re-try the acceptance checks.