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Question: OpenClaw gateway is bound to 127.0.0.1:18789 and cannot be accessed via http://192.168.1.36:18789. Should I rebind it to 0.0.0.0 to allow LAN access?

Answer:

Root Cause

The log clearly shows:

pid 85445 lzw: openclaw-gateway (127.0.0.1:18789)

OpenClaw is only listening on localhost (127.0.0.1), not on the LAN interface. That’s why 192.168.1.36:18789 cannot connect — the port is not reachable from outside the machine.

Yes, you need to bind to 0.0.0.0 to allow LAN access. Since you are on a private home network (192.168.1.x) and UFW is already restricting to LAN only, this is safe.

Step 1 — Stop the Gateway First

openclaw gateway stop
# or
systemctl --user stop openclaw-gateway.service

Verify it stopped:

ss -tlnp | grep 18789
# should return nothing

Step 2 — Set the Bind Address to 0.0.0.0

openclaw config set server.host 0.0.0.0

Or manually edit the config file:

nano ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Add or update the server block:

{
  "server": {
    "host": "0.0.0.0",
    "port": 18789
  }
}

Step 3 — Start Gateway Again

openclaw gateway start

Verify it is now listening on 0.0.0.0:

ss -tlnp | grep 18789

You should now see:

LISTEN  0.0.0.0:18789   ...   openclaw-gateway

instead of 127.0.0.1:18789.

Step 4 — Confirm UFW Still Protects It

Since you are binding to 0.0.0.0, double check UFW only allows your LAN:

sudo ufw status numbered

Make sure you have this rule (from previous step):

ALLOW IN    192.168.1.0/24    18789

If not, add it:

sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 18789
sudo ufw reload

Step 5 — Test from Your Main PC

Open browser on your main computer and go to:

http://192.168.1.36:18789

Or test with curl from your main PC:

curl http://192.168.1.36:18789

Security Summary

Binding Accessible From Safe?
127.0.0.1 Localhost only ✅ Most secure, but you can’t access from LAN
0.0.0.0 + UFW LAN rule Your home LAN only ✅ Safe for home use
0.0.0.0 + no UFW Anyone including internet ❌ Dangerous

Your setup with 0.0.0.0 + UFW rule 192.168.1.0/24 is perfectly safe for a home network.

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