Approve OpenClaw Pairing Codes | Generated by AI

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Question: How do I approve a pairing code from a bot using openclaw pairing approve as the bot owner in OpenClaw?

Answer:

How OpenClaw Pairing Works

Pairing is OpenClaw’s way of controlling who can issue commands to your agent. When an unknown user DMs your bot, they get an 8-character code, and you — the bot owner — run openclaw pairing approve <channel> <CODE> to activate them. Codes expire after one hour.

Full Step-by-Step: Approving a Pairing Code

Step 1 — User sends a DM to your bot

The user messages your bot (e.g., on Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, etc.). Since they are unknown, the bot does not process their message — it replies with an 8-character pairing code (uppercase letters, excluding ambiguous characters like 0, O, 1, and I).

Step 2 — User shares the code with you

The user must tell you (the bot owner) what their pairing code is — for example: JN4MSY23

Step 3 — Check pending pairing requests (optional)

On your Linux server, run:

openclaw pairing list telegram

Replace telegram with your channel: telegram, whatsapp, signal, imessage, discord, slack

Step 4 — Approve the pairing code

openclaw pairing approve <channel> <CODE>

Examples by platform:

# Telegram
openclaw pairing approve telegram JN4MSY23

# Discord
openclaw pairing approve discord JN4MSY23

# WhatsApp
openclaw pairing approve whatsapp JN4MSY23

# Slack
openclaw pairing approve slack JN4MSY23

# Signal
openclaw pairing approve signal JN4MSY23

# LINE
openclaw pairing approve line JN4MSY23

You should see a confirmation: Approved telegram sender <user-id>

If Running in Docker

Enter the container first, then run the approve command:

# SSH into your server
ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

# Enter the OpenClaw container
docker exec -it openclaw-mupw-openclaw-1 sh

# Approve the pairing code
openclaw pairing approve telegram ABCD1234

# Exit container
exit

# Restart the container
docker restart openclaw-mupw-openclaw-1

If Running Docker Compose

Run the approve command directly via Docker Compose from the folder containing your docker-compose.yml:

docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli pairing approve telegram <CODE>

Via Web UI (Dashboard Chat Box)

In the OpenClaw web interface chat box, type:

openclaw pairing approve telegram <CODE>

Important Notes

Topic Details
Code expiry Codes expire after 1 hour — if missed, the user must send another message to get a new code
Max pending codes Pending DM pairing requests are capped at 3 per channel by default; additional requests are ignored until one expires or is approved
After approval The user is added to a local allowlist and can now interact with the bot normally
Approve all pending openclaw pairing approve telegram (no code = approve all pending)

After approving via pairing code, switch to allowlist mode so the user never needs to re-pair:

# Set dmPolicy to allowlist and add user's Telegram numeric ID
openclaw config set channels.telegram.dmPolicy allowlist
openclaw config set channels.telegram.allowFrom '["123456789"]'
openclaw restart

Telegram needs numeric IDs, not @usernames. WhatsApp needs E.164 format like +15551234567. Discord needs the full numeric user ID.

References:

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