Typing Indicators in OpenClaw: Control When and How They Appear

Typing indicators are transmitted to the chat channel while a run is active. Control when typing begins with agents.defaults.typingMode and set the refresh interval (keepalive cadence, default 6 seconds) with typingIntervalSeconds.

Defaults

When agents.defaults.typingMode is unset:

• Direct chats: typing starts immediately when the model loop begins.
• Group chats with a mention: typing starts immediately.
• Group chats without a mention: typing starts when the admitted run shows user-visible activity, for example harness execution activity or message text.
• Heartbeat runs: typing starts when the heartbeat run begins, provided the resolved heartbeat target is a typing-capable chat and typing is not disabled.

Modes

Set agents.defaults.typingMode to one of:

• never - no typing indicator at any time.
• instant - begin typing as soon as the model loop starts, even if the run later produces only the silent reply token.
• thinking - begin typing on the first reasoning delta, or on active harness execution after the turn is accepted.
• message - begin typing on the first user-visible reply activity, such as active harness execution or a non-silent text delta. Silent reply tokens like NO_REPLY are not considered text activity.

Order from earliest to latest: never -> message/thinking -> instant.

Configuration

Set the agent-level default:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      typingMode: "thinking",
      typingIntervalSeconds: 6,
    },
  },
}

Override the policy for one agent:

{
  agents: {
    entries: {
      support: {
        typingMode: "message",
      },
    },
  },
}

Notes

• message mode does not trigger from silent reply tokens, though active execution can still display typing before any assistant text appears.
• thinking still responds to streamed reasoning (reasoningLevel: "stream"), and can also trigger from active execution before reasoning deltas arrive.
• Heartbeat typing acts as a liveness signal for the resolved delivery target. It begins at heartbeat run start rather than following message or thinking stream timing. Set typingMode: "never" to disable it.
• Heartbeats do not show typing when the heartbeat target is "none", when the target cannot be resolved, when chat delivery is disabled for the heartbeat, or when the channel does not support typing.
• agents.defaults.typingIntervalSeconds controls the refresh cadence for every agent, not the start time. Default: 6 seconds.

Related

• Presence, How the Gateway tracks connected clients for the Control UI Devices page and macOS Instances tab.

• Streaming and chunking, Outbound streaming behavior, chunk boundaries, and channel-specific delivery.