Email for OpenClaw Agents

Give every OpenClaw agent its own inbox in two commands. @openmail/openclaw is a native channel plugin: mail from people wakes the agent, its reply goes out in the same thread, and the OpenMail CLI runs inside the gateway — no SMTP config, no separate process.

How OpenMail works with OpenClaw

01

Install the plugin

@openmail/openclaw is a native OpenClaw channel plugin, on ClawHub and npm.

bash
openclaw plugins install clawhub:@openmail/openclaw
02

Add the channel

Pass an API key from the console. With an account key, channels add creates the inbox, mints an inbox-scoped key for it, and stores only that. --mailbox-name picks the address.

bash
openclaw channels add --channel openmail --api-key <key> --mailbox-name sales
openclaw gateway restart
03

Check the channel

The gateway holds the connection. No bridge, no service file.

bash
openclaw channels status
# - OpenMail: enabled, configured, running, connected
04

Let the agent use email

Mail from a person wakes the agent as a conversation and its reply goes out in the same thread. For everything else, the plugin bundles the OpenMail CLI as openclaw openmail with the channel's credentials.

bash
# Read a thread
openclaw openmail -- threads get --thread-id <id> --json

# Send with an attachment
openclaw openmail -- send --to hello@example.com --subject "Report" --body "See attached" --attach report.pdf

What your OpenClaw agent can do with email

Answer inbound mail from people in-thread, with the sender's full history

Get told about verification codes, notifications, and newsletters without replying to them

Run one account per inbox or one pod account covering every inbox the agent creates

Read PDF, DOCX, XLSX, and image attachments as text, extracted server-side

Handle OTP codes and verification links for autonomous account-creation flows

What's included

Native channel plugin

Runs inside the OpenClaw gateway like WhatsApp or Telegram. Install from ClawHub, add the channel, restart. No skill files or env vars to write.

Three modes

channel: mail wakes the agent and it replies. notify: the agent tells you on your usual chat. tool: nothing inbound; the agent uses email only when asked.

Only people get a reply

OpenMail classifies inbound mail on the server. Notifications, marketing, and bounces are announced as information; spam is dropped.

Narrow keys by default

channels add mints an inbox-scoped key and never stores your account key in openclaw.json. SecretRefs supported.

Bundled CLI

openclaw openmail -- <command> runs the OpenMail CLI with the channel's credentials. The agent skill ships inside the plugin.

Managed deliverability

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configured automatically on provisioning. Primary inbox placement from day one.

Frequently asked questions

Every OpenClaw agent deserves its own inbox.