mirror of
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
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Peter Steinberger
c6edd3e80f
* feat(gateway): grant scopes by verified identity * chore(plugin-sdk): refresh API baseline * test(agents): isolate transcript repair mocks
205 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
205 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
---
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summary: "Operator roles, scopes, and approval-time checks for Gateway clients"
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read_when:
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- Debugging missing operator scope errors
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- Reviewing device or node pairing approvals
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- Adding or classifying Gateway RPC methods
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title: "Operator scopes"
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---
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Operator scopes gate what a Gateway client can do after it authenticates.
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They are a control-plane guardrail inside one trusted Gateway operator domain,
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not hostile multi-tenant isolation. For strong separation between people,
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teams, or machines, run separate Gateways under separate OS users or hosts.
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Related: [Security](/gateway/security), [Gateway protocol](/gateway/protocol),
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[Gateway pairing](/gateway/pairing), [Devices CLI](/cli/devices).
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## Roles
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Every Gateway WebSocket client connects with one role:
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- `operator`: control-plane clients such as CLI, Control UI, automation, and
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trusted helper processes.
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- `node`: capability hosts (macOS, iOS, Android, headless) that expose
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commands through `node.invoke`.
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Operator RPC methods require the `operator` role; node-originated methods
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require the `node` role.
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## Scope levels
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| Scope | Meaning |
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| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| `operator.read` | Read-only status, lists, catalog, logs, session reads, retained audit and execution-identity diagnostics, and other non-mutating calls. |
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| `operator.write` | Mutating operator actions: sending messages, invoking tools, updating talk/voice settings, node command relay. Also satisfies `operator.read`. |
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| `operator.admin` | Administrative access. Satisfies every `operator.*` scope. Required for config mutation, updates, native hooks, reserved namespaces, and high-risk approvals. |
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| `operator.pairing` | Device and node pairing management: list, approve, reject, remove, rotate, revoke. |
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| `operator.approvals` | Exec and plugin approval APIs. |
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| `operator.questions` | Listing, reading, answering, and resolving interactive questions. |
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| `operator.talk` | Creating, steering, and closing Talk sessions without general Gateway write access. `operator.write` also satisfies this scope. |
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| `operator.talk.secrets` | Reading Talk configuration with secrets included. |
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Unknown future `operator.*` scopes require an exact match unless the caller
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already holds `operator.admin`.
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## Identity scope grants
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`gateway.auth.identityScopes` grants operator scopes to verified user
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identities from trusted-proxy auth or Tailscale WhoIs:
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```json5
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{
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gateway: {
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auth: {
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identityScopes: {
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"admin@example.com": ["operator.admin"],
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"operator@example.com": ["operator.read", "operator.write"],
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},
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},
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},
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}
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```
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The key is the verified proxy identity or Tailscale WhoIs login. Email keys
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match case-insensitively; non-email identities match exactly. Config validation
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rejects scope names outside the closed set above.
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Connection authority is resolved in this order:
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1. For trusted-proxy Control UI connections, `x-openclaw-scopes` first caps
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device enrollment or upgrade requests. Device authorization then establishes
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the persistent scopes; a device-less session contributes no self-declared
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scopes.
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2. OpenClaw unions a matching server-side identity grant with those scopes.
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3. OpenClaw applies `x-openclaw-scopes` to the final union as the session cap.
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An absent header means no cap; a present-but-empty header yields no scopes.
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The result is used for both `hello.auth.scopes` and Gateway method
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authorization. Identity grants are session-only: they do not create or modify
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pairing records or request a device scope upgrade. Token, password, and no-auth
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connections carry no verified identity and receive no grant.
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## Method scope is only the first gate
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Each Gateway RPC has a least-privilege method scope that decides whether a
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request reaches its handler. Params-aware methods derive that scope before
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dispatch so authorization failures have one canonical structured response:
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- `agent` needs `operator.write` for ordinary turns and `operator.admin` for
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`/new` or `/reset` session lifecycle commands.
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- `node.invoke` needs `operator.write` for ordinary relay commands and
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`operator.admin` for `browser.proxy`, `browser.proxy.upload.v1`, `fs.listDir`,
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and `terminal.upload`.
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- `talk.config` needs `operator.read`; `includeSecrets: true` also needs
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`operator.talk.secrets`.
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- `talk.client.*`, `talk.session.*`, `talk.speak`, and `talk.mode` need
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`operator.talk` (or the compatible broader `operator.write`).
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- `sessions.patch` needs `operator.write` for session organization fields and
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the per-session `model` override. Other runtime overrides, including
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thinking, fast, verbose, trace, and reasoning levels, need `operator.admin`.
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Persisting a selected model as the configured agent default is also
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admin-only.
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Some handlers then apply stricter checks based on the concrete thing being
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approved or mutated:
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- `device.pair.approve` is reachable with `operator.pairing`, but approving an
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operator device can only mint or preserve scopes the caller already holds.
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- `node.pair.approve` is reachable with `operator.pairing`, then derives extra
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approval scopes from the pending node's declared command list.
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- `chat.send` is a write-scoped method, but the `/config set` and
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`/config unset` chat commands require `operator.admin` on top of that,
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regardless of the caller's chat-send scope.
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This lets lower-scope operators perform low-risk pairing actions without
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making all pairing approval admin-only.
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Session mutation RPCs are authorized by their negotiated operator scopes,
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independent of the connecting client's `client.id` or `client.mode`. Client
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identity can still affect connection and device-auth policy, but it neither
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grants nor removes session mutation authority.
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`audit.run.inspect` intentionally uses `operator.read`. Every client with that
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scope in a Gateway operator domain may receive the retained execution-identity
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context, including bounded pseudonymized references and secret-redacted display
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labels. `operator.read` is not a per-user or hostile multi-tenant privacy
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boundary. Operators who must keep this data separate need separate Gateway
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trust domains.
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## Device pairing approvals
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Device pairing records are the durable source of approved roles and scopes.
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An already-paired device does not get broader access silently: a reconnect
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that asks for a broader role or broader scopes creates a new pending upgrade
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request.
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The explicit exception is the administrator-capable Control UI owner profile
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issued directly on the Gateway host by `openclaw dashboard` or graphical
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onboarding. Its short-lived, single-use bootstrap can approve the exact closed
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scope set for a fresh browser or upgrade an existing limited credential only
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when it binds to that same signed browser keypair. Generic Control UI and
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Telegram handoffs, mobile setup profiles, shared credentials, locality, and
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caller-selected scopes do not receive this exception.
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Approving a device request:
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- A request with no operator role does not need operator scope approval.
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- A request for a non-operator device role (for example `node`) requires
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`operator.admin`, even though `device.pair.approve` itself only needs
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`operator.pairing`.
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- A request for `operator.read`, `operator.write`, `operator.approvals`,
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`operator.questions`, `operator.pairing`, `operator.talk`, or
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`operator.talk.secrets` requires
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the caller to already hold that scope, or `operator.admin`.
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- A request for `operator.admin` requires `operator.admin`.
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- A repair request with no explicit scopes can inherit the existing operator
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token's scopes; if that token is admin-scoped, approval still requires
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`operator.admin`.
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Non-admin shared-secret and trusted-proxy sessions can only approve
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operator-device requests within their own declared operator scopes; approving
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non-operator roles is admin-only even when those sessions can otherwise use
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`operator.pairing`.
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For paired-device token sessions, management is self-scoped unless the caller
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has `operator.admin`: a non-admin caller sees only its own pairing entries, and
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can approve, reject, rotate, revoke, or remove only its own device entry.
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## Node pairing approvals
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Legacy `node.pair.*` methods use a separate Gateway-owned node pairing store.
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WS nodes use device pairing (`role: node`) instead, but the same approval
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vocabulary applies. See [Gateway pairing](/gateway/pairing) for how the two
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stores relate.
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`node.pair.approve` derives extra required scopes from the pending request's
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command list:
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| Declared commands | Required scopes |
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| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
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| none | `operator.pairing` |
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| ordinary node commands | `operator.pairing` + `operator.write` |
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| `system.run`, `system.run.prepare`, `system.which`, `browser.proxy`, `browser.proxy.upload.v1`, `fs.listDir`, or `system.execApprovals.get/set` | `operator.pairing` + `operator.admin` |
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Approving a node declaration records its command surface. For `computer.act`,
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the node advertises that surface only after Computer Control is enabled locally;
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once the pairing update is approved, invoking it through `node.invoke` requires
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write scope but not admin scope for each action. Commands classified as
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dangerous or privacy-heavy still require a persistent
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`gateway.nodes.commands.allow` entry in addition to pairing.
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Node pairing establishes identity and trust; it does not replace a node's own
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`system.run` exec approval policy.
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## Shared-secret auth
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Shared gateway token/password auth is treated as trusted operator access for
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that Gateway. OpenAI-compatible HTTP surfaces, `/tools/invoke`, and HTTP
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session-history endpoints restore the full default operator scope set for
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shared-secret bearer auth, even if a caller sends narrower declared scopes.
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Identity-bearing modes, such as trusted proxy auth or private-ingress `none`,
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can still honor explicit declared scopes. Use separate Gateways for real trust
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boundary separation.
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