mirror of
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
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Peter Steinberger
6885eb69b0
CI jobs are not installs; unchecked they outnumber operators by orders of magnitude and make version and platform counts meaningless. A configured telemetry endpoint still reports, so update-path E2E lanes keep working.
203 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
203 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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summary: "What OpenClaw sends: a daily update check by default, optional anonymous feature statistics, and every privacy control"
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title: "Usage telemetry and update checks"
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read_when:
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- Checking what information OpenClaw sends and what it never collects
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- Deciding whether to share anonymous feature statistics
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- Enabling or disabling anonymous feature statistics
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- Disabling all automatic update-check requests
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---
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**The only thing OpenClaw sends on its own is a daily update check.** It asks
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whether a newer version exists, and the request carries nothing but the version,
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operating system, and CPU architecture already visible to any package registry.
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Everything else on this page is opt-in.
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Anonymous feature statistics — which channels and providers you have configured
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— are **off by default** and never turn themselves on. When you do enable them,
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they ride along with that same daily update check instead of adding a second
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request.
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If you turn them on: thank you. Feature statistics are the only way we learn
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which channels, providers, and plugins people actually use, and they decide what
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gets improved, what gets fixed first, and what can safely be retired. A handful
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of Discord anecdotes is otherwise the entire evidence base. We publish what we
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learn back to everyone at
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[telemetry.openclaw.ai](https://telemetry.openclaw.ai), so the data you
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contribute stays visible to you.
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Declining is a completely normal choice and changes nothing about how OpenClaw
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works for you.
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## Inspect what is sent
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Run this command before or after changing your preference:
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```bash
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openclaw telemetry show
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```
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Add `--json` to get the same state and payload as one machine-readable
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document.
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The output shows whether feature statistics are enabled, why they are enabled
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or disabled, the request endpoint, and the last successful check. When feature
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statistics are enabled, it prints the exact JSON payload the next request would
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send. When they are disabled, it shows the update-only request and its
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`User-Agent` header instead.
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## Daily update check
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The default request is:
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```http
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GET https://telemetry.openclaw.ai/api/latest-version
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User-Agent: openclaw/2026.8.2 (darwin; node/26.0.1; arm64; gateway)
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```
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The `User-Agent` contains the OpenClaw version, operating system, Node.js
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version, CPU architecture, and whether the request came from the Gateway or
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CLI. It has no request body, install identifier, machine identifier, or random
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tracking identifier.
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The service responds with the latest version and, optionally, a short
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operator-facing note. OpenClaw displays an available update and its note through
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the existing update notice. Unreachable services, timeouts, invalid responses,
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and other failed checks do not interrupt startup or normal operation.
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A successful response and its timestamp are cached in the existing shared state
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database. Startup reuses the cached result for the next 24 hours, and a running
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Gateway checks again during normal maintenance with a small random delay. Failed
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checks do not count as successful daily checks.
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For testing or self-hosting, set `OPENCLAW_TELEMETRY_ENDPOINT` to your complete
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replacement endpoint URL. The public server source is available at
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[openclaw/telemetry](https://github.com/openclaw/telemetry).
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## Optional anonymous feature statistics
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Feature statistics are **off by default**. Interactive setup offers a one-time
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opt-in with **No thanks** selected by default. Non-interactive and scripted
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installations never opt in automatically. OpenClaw records when you accepted or
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declined so it does not ask again.
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When you explicitly enable feature statistics, the same daily request becomes a
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`POST` with this complete JSON payload:
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```json
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{
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"schema": 1,
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"version": "2026.8.2",
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"platform": "darwin-arm64",
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"node": "26.0.1",
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"surface": "gateway",
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"features": {
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"channels": ["discord", "telegram"],
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"providerFamilies": ["anthropic", "openai"],
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"plugins": ["codex", "diagnostics-otel"],
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"pluginsEnabled": 9,
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"sessionsLast24h": 14
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}
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}
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```
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| Field | Meaning |
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| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| `schema` | Payload format version, currently `1`. |
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| `version` | Installed OpenClaw version. |
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| `platform` | Operating system and CPU architecture. |
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| `node` | Running Node.js version. |
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| `surface` | Request origin: `gateway` or `cli`. |
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| `features.channels` | Publicly known enabled channel plugin names, sorted alphabetically. |
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| `features.providerFamilies` | Publicly known configured provider names; never model names. |
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| `features.plugins` | Publicly known enabled plugin names, sorted alphabetically. |
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| `features.pluginsEnabled` | Total enabled plugins, including privately developed plugins never named. |
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| `features.sessionsLast24h` | Number of sessions observed during the preceding 24 hours. |
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OpenClaw names only plugins and channels that are bundled with OpenClaw or
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already appear in its official plugin catalog. Privately developed plugins are
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counted but never named because a private plugin name could identify its
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organization. Subtract `features.plugins.length` from `features.pluginsEnabled`
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to find the number of unnamed private plugins.
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The sender and `openclaw telemetry show` use the same payload builder, so the
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JSON displayed by the CLI is the same payload the sender would use at that
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moment.
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Reports carry no identifier of any kind, which means they cannot be linked to
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each other. We can see that some install runs Telegram with Anthropic models; we
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cannot see that it is the same install as yesterday, and we cannot build a
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history of any single machine. That costs us retention analysis, and we consider
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it worth paying.
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### What is never collected
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Neither request tier includes message content, prompts, model names, API keys,
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credentials, secret references, file paths, hostnames, account identifiers,
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user identifiers, or installation and machine identifiers. OpenClaw does not
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create a random UUID or other persistent request identifier, so daily requests
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cannot be linked through an OpenClaw-issued identifier.
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Anonymous feature statistics are separate from optional, operator-configured
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[OpenTelemetry export](/gateway/opentelemetry).
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## Turn feature statistics on or off
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Enable or disable anonymous feature statistics at any time:
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```bash
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openclaw telemetry on
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openclaw telemetry off
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```
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You can also configure the same preference directly:
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```json5
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{
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telemetry: {
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enabled: false,
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},
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}
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```
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Set `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=true` to force feature statistics off,
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even when `telemetry.enabled` is `true`. `DO_NOT_TRACK` does not disable the
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daily update check: OpenClaw sends the update-only `GET` request without a
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feature-statistics body.
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## Automated environments
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OpenClaw sends nothing when it detects an automated environment, meaning the
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`CI` environment variable is set to a truthy value. Continuous integration jobs
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are not installations: they would outnumber real operators by orders of
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magnitude and make version and platform counts meaningless, and your pipeline
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should not report to us on every job.
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This applies to both tiers, so a CI job sends no update check and no feature
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statistics. Setting `OPENCLAW_TELEMETRY_ENDPOINT` overrides the suppression,
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because a configured endpoint means the run is deliberately exercising this
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path.
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## Disable every automatic update request
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To go fully dark, disable the existing startup update check:
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```json5
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{
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update: {
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checkOnStart: false,
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},
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}
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```
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This stops both tiers and every automatic update request: no update request, no
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feature statistics, and no update notice, even when `update.auto.enabled` is
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`true`. Setting `OPENCLAW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1` also prevents automatic update
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requests and applies. Explicit update commands remain available when you choose
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to run them.
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See [Configuration reference](/gateway/configuration-reference#telemetry) for
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the full `telemetry` configuration and
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[Update configuration](/gateway/configuration-reference#update) for the
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automatic update-check controls.
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