--- summary: "CLI reference for attaching the TUI to a recent Gateway session" read_when: - You want to continue an existing Gateway session in the terminal - You want to find a recent session by key, display name, or label - You connect the TUI to a remote Gateway title: "Resume" --- # `openclaw resume` Attach the terminal UI to an existing Gateway session. The session stays on the Gateway; `resume` selects it and opens the existing [TUI](/cli/tui). ```bash openclaw resume openclaw resume openclaw resume --handoff ``` With no query, OpenClaw displays up to 50 sessions active in the last seven days. With a query, an exact session key wins; otherwise OpenClaw requires a unique substring or fuzzy match across session keys, display names, and labels. The picker omits bare `global` rows because they do not identify an owning agent. To attach one, pass a fully qualified key such as `openclaw resume agent:main:global`. If a query is ambiguous, OpenClaw prints the matching candidates and exits with status 1. If no recent session matches, it suggests the picker and [`openclaw sessions`](/cli/sessions), then exits with status 1. ## Options | Flag | Default | Description | | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `--handoff ` | (none) | Opaque session key and Gateway URL copied from the Control UI. | | `--url ` | `gateway.remote.url` from config | Gateway WebSocket URL. | | `--token ` | (none) | Gateway token if required. | | `--password ` | (none) | Gateway password if required. | | `--tls-fingerprint ` | `gateway.remote.tlsFingerprint` | Expected TLS certificate fingerprint for a pinned `wss://` Gateway. | `--handoff` cannot be combined with a positional query or `--url` because it authoritatively supplies both. You can combine it with `--token`, `--password`, and `--tls-fingerprint`; those explicit authentication values keep their normal highest priority. `resume` never starts a Gateway automatically. If the configured Gateway is unavailable, start or repair it and rerun the command. `resume` resolves configured Gateway auth SecretRefs for token/password auth when possible (`env`/`file`/`exec`/`store` providers). When present, `--handoff` supplies the target Gateway URL. Otherwise, Gateway target precedence is explicit `--url`, then `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL`, then `gateway.remote.url` when `gateway.mode` is `remote`, then the local loopback Gateway. For that local Gateway, `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT` takes precedence over the active port recorded by a running Gateway, which takes precedence over the configured or default `gateway.port`. An explicit target normally requires an explicit `--token` or `--password`; OpenClaw does not borrow credentials or a TLS pin from a different configured target. `resume` has one narrow exception for a handoff copied from the Control UI: when its Gateway URL byte-for-byte matches a canonical target of the current profile, it may reuse that profile's configured interactive auth, SecretRef, and stored exact-origin device auth. In local mode, the eligible targets are the current local target with `gateway.controlUi.basePath` and `gateway.publicOrigin` converted to WebSocket form with that base path. In remote mode, only the exact `gateway.remote.url` is eligible. TLS pin ownership is narrower: an exact direct-local target may reuse the local Gateway certificate fingerprint, and an exact configured remote target may reuse `gateway.remote.tlsFingerprint`; a public-origin target never inherits the local listener's pin. Pass `--tls-fingerprint` explicitly when that public origin needs a pin. A host, port, path, profile, query, or fragment mismatch fails closed under the normal explicit-target policy. OpenClaw never scans other profiles for a match. Handoff connections also ignore ambient `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN` and `OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD` fallback, so shell credentials for another Gateway cannot cross into the selected target. Explicit flags and credentials owned by an exact configured target remain eligible. ## Continue from the Control UI Open the selected session's header menu and choose **Continue in terminal…**. The dialog shows one copyable `openclaw resume --handoff ` command. The opaque payload is versioned, bounded, and encoded with an unpadded URL-safe base64 alphabet, so the command needs no quoting and is safe to paste in common POSIX shells, PowerShell, and `cmd.exe`. The encoded argument is limited to 4096 characters; inside it, the agent-qualified session key is limited to 512 user-perceived characters and the Gateway URL to 2048 characters. It contains only the exact qualified session key and selected Gateway WebSocket URL, including any Control UI base path. It contains no token, password, device credential, or bootstrap credential, and the browser does not execute it. The Control UI does not offer this command when the selected Gateway URL uses a query string. Gateway authentication and stored device scope are origin-based, not query-aware, so OpenClaw never strips or copies that query into a credential-free handoff. Use a manually authenticated CLI target with explicit `--token` or `--password`, or configure a queryless Gateway URL. Run the command in an already configured OpenClaw terminal. The terminal authenticates independently. Before opening the TUI, `resume` asks that Gateway to resolve the qualified key and uses the returned canonical key. A deleted or stale session stops with guidance to copy a fresh command; it never starts a new session. The Gateway's session access controls remain authoritative. This flow continues an existing session; it does not delegate first-use authentication from the browser. If OpenClaw reports an invalid `--handoff` payload, return to the session's Control UI menu and copy a fresh command. Do not edit or reuse a truncated payload. ## Examples ```bash # Choose from recent sessions openclaw resume # Exact key openclaw resume agent:main:bugfix # Unique display-name or label fragment openclaw resume bugfix # Remote Gateway override openclaw resume bugfix --url wss://gateway.example.com --token # Opaque command copied from the Control UI openclaw resume --handoff ``` ## Related - [TUI](/cli/tui) - [Sessions](/cli/sessions) - [TUI guide](/web/tui)