Voice Wake (Global Wake Words)

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.
  • Each device still keeps its own Voice Wake enabled/disabled toggle (local UX + permissions differ).

Storage (Gateway host)

Wake words are stored on the gateway machine at:

  • ~/.openclaw/settings/voicewake.json

Shape:

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

Protocol

Methods

  • voicewake.get β†’ { triggers: string[] }
  • voicewake.set with params { triggers: string[] } β†’ { triggers: string[] }

Notes:

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

Events

  • voicewake.changed payload { triggers: string[] }

Who receives it:

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

Client behavior

macOS app

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

iOS node

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

Android node

  • Exposes a Wake Words editor in Settings.
  • Calls voicewake.set over the Gateway WS so edits sync everywhere.
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