OpenClaw - SocialAPI

Connect SocialAPI to OpenClaw so the agents behind every channel you route through the OpenClaw gateway can list your connected accounts, reply to comments, send direct messages (DMs), and publish posts. OpenClaw keeps its MCP servers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json under mcp.servers. The server is https://api.social-api.ai/mcp.

Prerequisites

OpenClaw installed (npm i -g openclaw).
A SocialAPI account with at least one connected account.
For a gateway with no browser: an API key.

Set up with OAuth

Add the server

openclaw mcp add socialapi \
  --url https://api.social-api.ai/mcp \
  --transport streamable-http \
  --auth oauth

This saves the entry to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "socialapi": {
        "url": "https://api.social-api.ai/mcp",
        "transport": "streamable-http",
        "auth": "oauth"
      }
    }
  }
}

Set transport to streamable-http. When you omit it, OpenClaw uses SSE.

openclaw mcp login socialapi

OpenClaw prints an authorization URL and waits for the browser callback on 127.0.0.1:8989. Open the URL, log in to SocialAPI, and click Authorize. The terminal prints MCP OAuth credentials saved for "socialapi".If the gateway runs on another machine and the callback cannot reach it, authorize in your browser, copy the code from the redirect URL, and finish with:

openclaw mcp login socialapi --code <code>

Check the server

openclaw mcp probe socialapi

OpenClaw connects and reports the number of tools. If the gateway is already running, openclaw mcp reload picks up the new server without a restart.

Choose shared or per-sender accounts

By default, the credentials from openclaw mcp login are shared: every channel acts on the one SocialAPI account you authorized. Use this for a personal assistant or a team bot. To let each person who messages the agent connect their own SocialAPI account, set oauth.identity to per-requester and give the gateway a public HTTPS origin for the callback:

{
  "gateway": {
    "publicOrigin": "https://gateway.example.com"
  },
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "socialapi": {
        "url": "https://api.social-api.ai/mcp",
        "transport": "streamable-http",
        "auth": "oauth",
        "oauth": { "identity": "per-requester" }
      }
    }
  }
}

The first time a sender calls a SocialAPI tool, OpenClaw replies with a sign-in link for that sender.

Set up a headless gateway with an API key

OpenClaw ignores a static Authorization header while auth is oauth, so save the server without auth:

Set the variable

export SOCAPI_KEY=sapi_key_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Save the server

openclaw mcp set socialapi '{"url":"https://api.social-api.ai/mcp","transport":"streamable-http","headers":{"Authorization":"Bearer ${SOCAPI_KEY}"}}'

OpenClaw resolves ${SOCAPI_KEY} from the environment the gateway runs in, so the key never sits in openclaw.json. To limit what the agent can do, create a scoped API key.

Limit the tools

Hide the tools that a channel agent must never call:

openclaw mcp tools socialapi --exclude 'social_api_delete_*,social_api_disconnect_account,social_api_revoke_key'

Use --include to keep only a subset instead, and --clear to remove the filter. See MCP tools reference for every tool name.

Try it

Send the agent a message on any routed channel:

List my connected social accounts

The agent calls social_api_list_accounts and answers with your connected accounts and their platforms.

Troubleshooting

listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use 127.0.0.1:8989

Another openclaw mcp login is still waiting. Stop it, or finish with --code <code> as shown above.

requires OAuth authorization

The server is saved but not signed in. Run openclaw mcp login socialapi.

Streamable HTTP error with an API key

The key is wrong or revoked, or the variable is not set where the gateway runs. Check the key in the dashboard.

SocialAPI MCP server: the server URL and the other supported clients.
MCP tools reference: every tool the agent can call.
Custom MCP clients: API key setup in detail.
OAuth for MCP clients: how the sign-in works.

​Prerequisites

​Set up with OAuth

​Choose shared or per-sender accounts

​Set up a headless gateway with an API key

​Limit the tools

​Try it

​Troubleshooting

​Related