Voice wake

OpenClaw treats wake words as a single global list owned by the Gateway.

• There are no per-node custom wake words.
• Any node/app UI may edit the list; changes are persisted by the Gateway and broadcast to everyone.
• macOS and iOS keep local Voice Wake enabled/disabled toggles (local UX + permissions differ).
• Android currently keeps Voice Wake off and uses a manual mic flow in the Voice tab.

Storage (Gateway host)

Wake words are stored on the gateway machine at:

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  ~/.openclaw/settings/voicewake.json

Shape:

json
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{ "triggers": ["openclaw", "claude", "computer"], "updatedAtMs": 1730000000000 }

Protocol

Methods

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  voicewake.get
  →
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  { triggers: string[] }
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  voicewake.set
  with params
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  { triggers: string[] }
  →
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  { triggers: string[] }

Notes:

• Triggers are normalized (trimmed, empties dropped). Empty lists fall back to defaults.
• Limits are enforced for safety (count/length caps).

Routing methods (trigger → target)

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  voicewake.routing.get
  →
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  { config: VoiceWakeRoutingConfig }
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  voicewake.routing.set
  with params
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  { config: VoiceWakeRoutingConfig }
  →
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  { config: VoiceWakeRoutingConfig }

shape:

json
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{
  "version": 1,
  "defaultTarget": { "mode": "current" },
  "routes": [{ "trigger": "robot wake", "target": { "sessionKey": "agent:main:main" } }],
  "updatedAtMs": 1730000000000
}

Route targets support exactly one of:

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  { "mode": "current" }
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  { "agentId": "main" }
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  { "sessionKey": "agent:main:main" }

Events

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  voicewake.changed
  payload
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  { triggers: string[] }
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  voicewake.routing.changed
  payload
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  { config: VoiceWakeRoutingConfig }

Who receives it:

• All WebSocket clients (macOS app, WebChat, etc.)
• All connected nodes (iOS/Android), and also on node connect as an initial “current state” push.

Client behavior

macOS app

• Uses the global list to gate
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  VoiceWakeRuntime
  triggers.
• Editing “Trigger words” in Voice Wake settings calls
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  voicewake.set
  and then relies on the broadcast to keep other clients in sync.

iOS node

• Uses the global list for
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  VoiceWakeManager
  trigger detection.
• Editing Wake Words in Settings calls
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  voicewake.set
  (over the Gateway WS) and also keeps local wake-word detection responsive.

Android node

• Voice Wake is currently disabled in Android runtime/Settings.
• Android voice uses manual mic capture in the Voice tab instead of wake-word triggers.

Related

• Talk mode
• Audio and voice notes
• Media understanding