OpenClaw Secrets Rotation Checklist

Teams using OpenClaw with real providers, channels, nodes, or remote Gateways need a rotation habit that does not break agents silently. This search usually appears after the first OpenClaw demo feels promising but the rollout still feels risky. The question is no longer whether an agent can answer a message. The question is whether it can run a real operating lane with memory, permissions, routing, verification, and a clean handoff back to people.

30-second answer

Use documented SecretRef handling where available, rotate at the provider, update the configured secret source, reload runtime snapshots, audit, and verify every affected channel or provider. Do not paste secrets into prompts or workspace files as a shortcut.

When this is worth doing

Rotation matters after team changes, suspected exposure, provider key updates, channel app changes, or remote Gateway changes. The hard part is not changing a token; it is proving every dependent lane still works.

Official docs to keep open

This guide stays inside the documented OpenClaw surface. The most relevant docs are gateway/secrets.md; cli/secrets.md; gateway/authentication.md; channels/troubleshooting.md; reference/secretref-credential-surface.md. The building blocks to evaluate are SecretRef contract; openclaw secrets reload; openclaw secrets audit --check; model auth status; channel probes. If a workflow would need a hidden feature, a private API, or an assumed limit that the docs do not describe, keep it out of the first rollout.

Buyer-intent runbook

1. Inventory affected surfaces first: model providers, channel plugins, remote Gateway tokens, nodes, webhooks, and any scripts that read environment variables.
2. Rotate at the source provider and update the configured secret reference. Avoid copying raw credentials into chat, memory, or documentation.
3. Reload the runtime secret snapshot with the documented secrets command when required. A changed backend secret may not affect a running Gateway until reload or restart behavior applies.
4. Run secrets audit and provider or channel status checks. The docs explicitly call out audits, model auth status, and channel probes as useful verification surfaces.
5. Watch the next scheduled runs for dependent jobs. A token can pass one check and still break a less common plugin path.

Proof before rollout

The proof is an audit with understood findings, provider or channel probes passing, and at least one affected automation using the new credential path successfully.

Common mistakes

• Do not store replacement secrets in MEMORY.md or AGENTS.md.
• Do not rotate only the obvious token and forget cron jobs or nodes.
• Do not skip runtime reload or restart requirements.
• Do not report success before the affected channel or provider is probed.

Rollout note

Rotate one surface at a time unless there is an active compromise. Smaller changes make it easier to isolate the break when an agent goes quiet.

Where the Playbook helps

The Playbook helps maintain a secret surface inventory and verification checklist so rotations do not turn into silent outages. The OpenClaw Playbook turns that decision into a repeatable operating system: which files to keep, which jobs to schedule, which approvals to require, and how to report proof without flooding the team. If you are moving from experiment to revenue or client operations, use the Playbook before the agent becomes another unmanaged tool.

The practical rule is to start with one lane, one owner, one channel, and one verification habit. Secret rotation is an operations task, not a copy-paste task; the verification path is where most failures are caught. That keeps the first deployment measurable. It also gives the team a simple before-and-after comparison: how long the workflow took manually, what the agent handled, what still needed judgment, and which check proved the result. Once the lane is stable, duplicate the pattern for adjacent work instead of designing a giant automation program on day one.