Token Safety Checker

Scan openclaw.json for plaintext secrets (tokens, API keys, passwords) and migrate them to environment variables using SecretRef. Use when the user asks to "check token safety", "privatize secrets", "move tokens to env vars", "audit openclaw config for secrets", or after any openclaw.json edit that may have introduced plaintext credentials. Also use when setting up a new OpenClaw instance for the first time.

Scan openclaw.json for plaintext secrets and migrate them to environment variables via SecretRef. All operations run locally. Secret values are never passed as CLI arguments, never logged, and never appear in agent context.

Script

Single entry point: scripts/safeclaw.py

text

python3 safeclaw.py scan    [--config PATH]
python3 safeclaw.py migrate [--findings JSON] [--config PATH] [--profile PATH] [--dry-run] [--restore]

How secrets are protected

Risk	Mitigation
Secret values in scan output	scan returns paths + lengths only — never values
Secret values in CLI args	migrate reads values from disk internally — never via --values arg
Secret values in dry-run output	Masked as export VAR="***"
Secret values in agent context	findings JSON only contains path, env_var, length — safe to pass through SKILL
Secret values in logs	No logging of values at any point

Workflow

1. Scan

bash

python3 <skill_dir>/scripts/safeclaw.py scan [--config ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json]

Output (safe to use in agent context — no secret values):

json

{
  "findings": [
    { "path": "channels.discord.token", "env_var": "OPENCLAW_DISCORD_TOKEN", "length": 72 }
  ],
  "shell": { "name": "zsh", "profile": "~/.zshrc", "source_cmd": "source ~/.zshrc" }
}

Exit 0 = clean → report and stop. Exit 1 = findings → continue. Exit 2 = config not found.

2. Show findings to user and confirm

Present the findings table (path | env_var | length). Allow renaming env vars. Do not proceed without explicit confirmation.

3. Dry-run

bash

python3 <skill_dir>/scripts/safeclaw.py migrate \
  --findings '<findings JSON from step 1>' \
  --dry-run

Show output to user. The script re-reads config from disk to verify findings are still current. Confirm before proceeding.

4. Migrate

bash

python3 <skill_dir>/scripts/safeclaw.py migrate \
  --findings '<findings JSON from step 1>'

The script:

1. Re-scans config from disk to confirm findings are still plaintext
2. Backs up openclaw.json → openclaw.json.bak
3. Reads secret values internally from disk (not from CLI args)
4. Appends env exports to shell profile (skips duplicates, masks values in output)
5. Replaces plaintext values with SecretRef in openclaw.json

5. Source profile + restart gateway

⚠️ Check how the gateway is managed:

Shell-launched (most local setups):

bash

source <profile>
openclaw gateway restart

systemd: Add vars to EnvironmentFile= in the unit — sourcing a shell profile won't work.

Docker: Pass via -e or environment: in compose.

6. Verify

bash

python3 <skill_dir>/scripts/safeclaw.py scan   # exit 0 = clean
openclaw gateway status

7. Rollback

bash

python3 <skill_dir>/scripts/safeclaw.py migrate --restore

SecretRef format

json

{ "source": "env",  "provider": "default", "id": "MY_ENV_VAR" }
{ "source": "file", "provider": "default", "id": "/path/to/secret.txt" }
{ "source": "exec", "provider": "default", "id": "command --prints --secret" }

env is recommended for most setups. For higher-security environments, prefer file or exec.