modbender OpenClaw Ops — Gateway Automation Without a Plugin
Operational runbooks for automating the Clawfinger voice gateway using only OpenClaw skills and REST calls. No plugin installation required — just curl commands and OpenClaw's built-in scheduling/webhook features.
Use this when you want quick automation (health monitoring, scheduled policy changes, event-driven actions) without installing the full Clawfinger OpenClaw plugin.
For full plugin-based automation with real-time WS bridge, takeover, and tool calling, see OpenClaw Plugin. For full API reference, see Voice Gateway.
Prerequisites
- Clawfinger gateway running and reachable (default:
http://127.0.0.1:8996) - Bearer token configured (default:
localdev) curlandjqavailable on the host
All examples below use these variables:
GW="http://127.0.0.1:8996"
TOKEN="localdev"
AUTH="-H 'Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN'"
Health Monitoring
Quick health check
curl -sf "$GW/api/status" | jq '{
healthy: .mlx_audio.ok,
llm_loaded: .llm.loaded,
sessions: .active_sessions,
uptime_min: (.uptime_s / 60 | floor),
agents: (.agents | length)
}'
Cron-based heartbeat (every 5 minutes)
# Add to crontab: */5 * * * * /path/to/gateway-health.sh
#!/bin/bash
GW="http://127.0.0.1:8996"
STATUS=$(curl -sf "$GW/api/status")
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "$(date): Gateway unreachable" >> /tmp/gateway-health.log
exit 1
fi
MLX_OK=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.mlx_audio.ok')
LLM_OK=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.llm.loaded')
if [ "$MLX_OK" != "true" ] || [ "$LLM_OK" != "true" ]; then
echo "$(date): Gateway degraded — mlx=$MLX_OK llm=$LLM_OK" >> /tmp/gateway-health.log
fi
Call Operations
Dial an outbound call
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/call/dial" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"number": "+491234567890"}' | jq .
Inject a TTS message into an active call
# Get active sessions first
SESSIONS=$(curl -s "$GW/api/agent/sessions")
SID=$(echo "$SESSIONS" | jq -r '.[0]')
# Inject speech
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/agent/inject" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"text\": \"Please hold, I am looking that up for you.\", \"session_id\": \"$SID\"}" | jq .
Get full call state
curl -s "$GW/api/agent/call/$SID" | jq '{
session: .session_id,
turns: .turn_count,
takeover: .agent_takeover,
last_messages: [.history[-2:][] | "\(.role): \(.content[0:80])"]
}'
Context Injection
Push knowledge into a session
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/agent/context/$SID" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"context": "Caller is John Smith, account #12345. Balance: EUR 1,234.56. Last payment: 2026-02-15."}' | jq .
Read current context
curl -s "$GW/api/agent/context/$SID" | jq .
Clear context
curl -s -X DELETE "$GW/api/agent/context/$SID" | jq .
Policy Management
Read current call policy
curl -s "$GW/api/config/call" | jq .
Update greetings
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/call" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"greeting_incoming": "Hello, I am {owner}'''s assistant. How can I help you?",
"greeting_owner": "Markus"
}' | jq .
Enable passphrase authentication
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/call" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"auth_passphrase": "blue harvest",
"auth_max_attempts": 3,
"auth_reject_message": "Access denied. Goodbye."
}' | jq .
Block a caller
# Read current blocklist
BLOCKLIST=$(curl -s "$GW/api/config/call" | jq -c '.caller_blocklist')
# Add a number
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/call" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{\"caller_blocklist\": $(echo "$BLOCKLIST" | jq '. + [\"+491111111111\"]')}" | jq .caller_blocklist
Scheduled policy change (business hours)
# Enable auto-answer during business hours, disable at night
# Cron: 0 8 * * 1-5 /path/to/business-hours-on.sh
# Cron: 0 18 * * 1-5 /path/to/business-hours-off.sh
# business-hours-on.sh
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/call" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"call_auto_answer": true, "unknown_callers_allowed": true}'
# business-hours-off.sh
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/call" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"call_auto_answer": false, "unknown_callers_allowed": false}'
TTS and LLM Configuration
Change TTS voice
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/tts" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"voice": "am_michael", "speed": 1.0}' | jq .
List available voices
curl -s "$GW/api/config/tts" | jq '.voices'
Adjust LLM parameters
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/llm" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"temperature": 0.3, "max_tokens": 300}' | jq .
Switch to remote LLM
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/config/llm" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "gpt-4o-mini",
"base_url": "https://api.openai.com/v1",
"api_key": "sk-..."
}' | jq .
Instructions Management
Set global instructions
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/instructions" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"text": "You are a concise, professional real-time voice assistant. Keep responses under 2 sentences."}' | jq .
Set per-session instructions
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/instructions/$SID" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"text": "This caller is a VIP customer. Be extra helpful and patient."}' | jq .
Set one-shot turn instruction
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/instructions/$SID/turn" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"text": "End this turn by asking the caller to confirm their email address."}' | jq .
Session Management
List all sessions
curl -s "$GW/api/sessions" | jq '.[] | {session_id, turn_count, created_at}'
Reset a session
curl -s -X POST "$GW/api/session/reset" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-d "session_id=$SID" | jq .
Combining with OpenClaw Skills
These REST operations can be composed into OpenClaw skills for more complex automation:
- Pre-call setup: Set instructions + dial + inject context in sequence
- Post-call cleanup: Read call state, save transcript, reset session
- Escalation: Monitor sessions, inject context when keywords detected, take over via plugin if needed
- Reporting: Periodic session listing + call state extraction for analytics
For real-time event-driven automation (reacting to turn.complete, agent.takeover, etc.), use the OpenClaw Clawfinger Plugin which provides a persistent WebSocket bridge.