OpenClaw

OpenClaw: Files, the browser, and memory

This is the third of eight OpenClaw pages, and it assumes the first job from Install and first job worked. It shows which files the agent can reach, how it uses the web, and where its memory lives, with one small safe exercise for each.

These steps were checked on 14 November 2026, against OpenClaw 2026.11.3. Keep the approval switch on ask and the file tools inside the workspace for this whole page, and keep the sandbox off as you left it.

Files: what the agent can reach

The agent's file tools are called read, write, edit, and apply_patch, and they work in the workspace, ~/.openclaw/workspace. On Windows, that is the folder you opened with explorer on the last page.

The workspace is where the agent starts, not a fence around it. With the sandbox off, a command that names a full path can reach any folder your account can open. On a native Windows install, the file tools also accept drive paths. The approval switch covers commands only, and the file tools never ask, so the tools.fs.workspaceOnly setting from page 2 is what keeps them in the workspace. Keep both on.

You can hand the agent files without giving it your folders. The chat page accepts uploads of images, videos, and other files, and each upload shows up in the chat as an attachment. The agent can also read PDFs, up to 10 at a time, from an attachment, a file path, or a web address.

Everything you attach goes to the model provider along with your message, so with a cloud model like Gemini, the file leaves your computer.

The chat page also has a Files panel, which lists the workspace files and the attachments in the chat. Hover over a file to see Preview, Copy path, and Download file, and use Download file to save a copy through your browser.

Exercise: tidy a list you attach

Make a small text file on your desktop with a few made-up grocery items, one per line, and nothing private in it. Attach it in the chat, then send:

Read the file I attached. Write a tidy, alphabetized copy named groceries-tidy.txt in your workspace. Only work inside your workspace. Do not run commands, do not delete or move anything, and do not open any website.

If the agent says it cannot reach the attachment, the workspace-only setting may be blocking it. Copy the file into the workspace folder instead, and ask the agent to read it there.

What you should see groceries-tidy.txt in the Files panel and in the workspace folder, and the original file on your desktop unchanged.

The web: fetch, search, and a browser

OpenClaw has three separate web tools, and each one is set up differently.

To set up search, open Settings → Search in the chat page, pick a provider, and use Test search, or run openclaw configure --section web in the terminal. Gemini is one of the providers, and it can reuse a Gemini key, but this guide could not confirm whether the key you added during setup turns search on by itself. DuckDuckGo needs no key, but OpenClaw's docs call it an unofficial integration. A test search uses that provider's normal limits and billing.

The browser uses its own separate profile, named openclaw, which never touches your personal browser. By default it runs without a visible window, so you will see results in the chat rather than a browser opening on your screen. There is also a user profile that attaches to your real, signed-in Chrome. Do not use it, because then the agent acts as you on every site where you are logged in.

To check that the browser is ready, paste this into your terminal:

openclaw browser --browser-profile openclaw status

The approval switch you set covers commands. This guide could not confirm that it also pauses the browser before each click, so treat every page the agent opens as a page that could try to steer it.

Exercise: read one public page

Send this in the chat:

Use the browser to open the Wikipedia article about houseplants. Save a three-line summary and the page address as houseplants-summary.txt in your workspace. Do not sign in to anything, do not fill in any form, and do not buy anything.

What you should see houseplants-summary.txt in the workspace, with three lines and the page address you can open yourself to check it.

Memory: what it keeps and where

OpenClaw's memory is plain text files in the workspace, and its docs say there is no hidden memory store besides them. These are the files:

On a personal install, memory carries over from one chat to the next. When you say "remember that…", the agent writes the note into one of these files, and it stays until someone deletes it.

OpenClaw also runs a background job called dreaming, which is on by default. It sets up one repeating scheduled job of its own, which reviews recent notes and moves the lasting ones into MEMORY.md. Its summaries go into DREAMS.md so you can see what it promoted.

Memory search, which finds old notes by meaning, uses OpenAI by default, so with only a Gemini key it does not find notes by meaning until you set memory.search.provider to gemini. MEMORY.md and USER.md still load at the start of each chat either way. Leave that setup for after the first hour, and run openclaw memory status --deep to check search once you do.

Memory is a note, not a rule. OpenClaw's docs say memory can record approval context but does not enforce it, so "remember never to delete files" does not replace the approval switch.

Exercise: save a preference, then find it

Send this in the chat:

Remember that I want prices in dollars and answers in short sentences.

Then type /new, which starts a fresh chat, and ask: "How should you write prices for me?"

To read the file yourself, open it in Notepad on Windows:

notepad "$env:USERPROFILE\.openclaw\workspace\USER.md"

On a Mac, open it in TextEdit:

open -e ~/.openclaw/workspace/USER.md

If USER.md is empty or missing, try MEMORY.md instead, because this guide could not confirm which file the agent picks for a preference.

What you should see the fresh chat answers with dollars and short sentences, and one of the two files has a line about your preference.

Deleting what it saved

To remove a memory, delete that line from the file and save it, or ask the agent in the chat to forget it and then check the file yourself. Afterward, rebuild the search index so the old line stops turning up in searches:

openclaw memory index --force

Deleting a note does not delete the chat it came from. Chat history is kept separately, in ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent>/agent/openclaw-agent.sqlite, and OpenClaw's openclaw memory forget command is a more advanced tool for clearing what came from a chosen chat.

This guide could not confirm how OpenClaw's memory checks treat a file you edit by hand. If the agent seems to stop reading MEMORY.md or USER.md, run openclaw doctor, which lists any memory file it has set aside.

When the tidy list, the summary, and the preference are all in place, you have used every part of this page.

Sources

All checked 14 November 2026.

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Continue to Phone and schedules.

Checked 14 November 2026 · prices, limits, and versions change