Openclaw

What is Openclaw?

Openclaw is an open-source AI agent framework that runs on your machine 24/7. It connects to messaging platforms (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord) and executes tasks autonomously using Tools and Skills. By giving your Openclaw agent a Commune email inbox, it can send outbound emails, receive inbound emails via webhook, and manage threaded conversations — all programmatically.

How it works

Openclaw agent
  │
  ├─ SKILL.md teaches the agent Commune API calls
  │
  ▼
Commune API
  │
  ├─ Outbound: agent sends emails via REST API
  ├─ Inbound: Commune forwards emails to Openclaw webhook
  │
  ▼
Email sent / received

Create a Commune inbox for your agent via API
Set up a webhook endpoint so Openclaw receives inbound emails
Create a SKILL.md that teaches Openclaw how to use the Commune API
Your agent can now send, receive, and reply to emails autonomously

Setup guide

Create an inbox

curl -X POST https://api.commune.email/v1/inboxes \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "local_part": "my-openclaw-agent",
    "display_name": "My Openclaw Agent"
  }'

const inbox = await commune.inboxes.create({
  localPart: 'my-openclaw-agent',
  displayName: 'My Openclaw Agent',
});

inbox = client.inboxes.create(
    local_part="my-openclaw-agent",
    display_name="My Openclaw Agent",
)

This gives your agent an address like my-openclaw-agent@agents.commune.email.

Configure a webhook for inbound emails

Set up a webhook on your inbox so Commune forwards inbound emails to your Openclaw instance.

curl -X POST https://api.commune.email/v1/domains/YOUR_DOMAIN_ID/inboxes/YOUR_INBOX_ID/webhook \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "endpoint": "https://your-openclaw-host:8080/webhook/email",
    "events": ["inbound"]
  }'

If running Openclaw locally, use a tunnel like ngrok or cloudflared to expose your webhook endpoint.

Add the Openclaw webhook hook

In your openclaw.json, add a hook that listens for the email webhook topic:

// ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
{
  "hooks": {
    "email": {
      "type": "webhook",
      "topic": "email",
      "description": "Inbound emails from Commune",
      "handler": "process-email"
    }
  }
}

Create the Commune email SKILL.md

Skills are markdown playbooks that teach Openclaw how to perform tasks. Create this file in your Openclaw workspace:

# ~/.openclaw/skills/commune-ai/SKILL.md

# Commune Email Skill

## Description
Send and receive emails using the Commune API.

## Configuration
- COMMUNE_API_KEY: Your Commune API key
- COMMUNE_INBOX_ID: Your inbox ID
- COMMUNE_API_BASE: https://api.commune.email

## Send Email
When asked to send an email:
1. Use web_fetch to POST to ${COMMUNE_API_BASE}/v1/messages/send
2. Include headers: Authorization: Bearer ${COMMUNE_API_KEY}
3. Body: { "inbox_id": "${COMMUNE_INBOX_ID}", "to": [recipient],
   "subject": subject, "text": body, "html": html_body }
4. Confirm send with the message_id from response

## Read Emails
When asked to check or read emails:
1. GET ${COMMUNE_API_BASE}/v1/inboxes/${COMMUNE_INBOX_ID}/threads
2. Parse thread list and summarize for user
3. To read a thread: GET /v1/threads/{thread_id}/messages

## Reply to Email
When replying to an email thread:
1. POST to ${COMMUNE_API_BASE}/v1/messages/send
2. Include "thread_id" in the body to keep the conversation threaded
3. The Reply-To header is handled automatically

## Handle Inbound Webhook
When an email webhook arrives at /webhook/email:
1. Parse the payload for: from, subject, text, thread_id
2. Summarize the email and determine if action is needed
3. If auto-reply is configured, draft and send a response
4. Otherwise, notify the user via their preferred channel

Set environment variables

// ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json — environment section
{
  "environment": {
    "COMMUNE_API_KEY": "comm_your_api_key_here",
    "COMMUNE_INBOX_ID": "your_inbox_id",
    "COMMUNE_API_BASE": "https://api.commune.email"
  }
}

Test the integration

Send a test message to your Openclaw agent via any channel (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.):

You: "Send an email to hello@example.com with subject 'Test' and body 'Hello from Openclaw!'"

Openclaw: "Email sent successfully to hello@example.com (message_id: msg_xxx).
The email was sent from my-openclaw-agent@agents.commune.email."

Advanced: Auto-reply to inbound emails

You can configure your Openclaw agent to automatically process and reply to inbound emails. Add this to your SKILL.md:

## Auto-Reply Rules
When an inbound email arrives via webhook:
Check if the sender is in the known contacts list
Analyze the email content for intent (question, request, etc.)
Draft an appropriate response using context from previous threads
Send the reply using the Commune API with the same thread_id
Log the interaction for review

Resources

Openclaw GitHub

Openclaw source code and documentation

Openclaw Hooks

Webhook hook configuration docs

Messages API

Full Commune messages documentation

Webhooks

Webhook setup and payload format

Get Started

SDKs

Email

Commune OAuth

Phone & SMS

Security

Integrations

Examples

Community

What is Openclaw?

How it works

Setup guide

Advanced: Auto-reply to inbound emails

Resources

Openclaw GitHub

Openclaw Hooks

Messages API

Webhooks

​What is Openclaw?

​How it works

​Setup guide

​Advanced: Auto-reply to inbound emails

​Resources

Openclaw GitHub

Openclaw Hooks

Messages API

Webhooks

What is Openclaw?

How it works

Setup guide

Advanced: Auto-reply to inbound emails

Resources