Signal Integration

The Most Private Way to Use OpenClaw

Signal is the gold standard for secure messaging, and now it's the gold standard for private AI assistance. OpenClaw integrates with Signal through community bridges to provide end-to-end encrypted AI interactions. Your conversations, commands, and data stay completely private - not even OpenClaw's servers can read your messages in transit.

Get This Integration Set Up

View Our Services

Messaging

Signal

Visit Website

How OpenClaw Signal Integration Works

We Set Up Signal-CLI

We install signal-cli, the community-maintained command-line interface for Signal. This tool allows programmatic access to Signal's messaging capabilities while maintaining the end-to-end encryption that makes Signal secure.

We Register Your Signal Number

We register a dedicated phone number with Signal for your OpenClaw bot. This number becomes your AI assistant's identity on Signal. We can use a VoIP number or dedicated SIM for bot-only use.

We Connect the OpenClaw Bridge

We link signal-cli to OpenClaw's Signal bridge module. The bridge monitors for incoming messages, processes them through OpenClaw's AI, and sends encrypted responses back through Signal's protocol.

Start Private Conversations

Message your OpenClaw number on Signal to start interacting. All conversations are end-to-end encrypted. Your AI assistant is now available through the most secure messaging platform available.

Why Connect OpenClaw to {page.integration.name}

True End-to-End Encryption

Signal's encryption protocol (also used by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and others) is considered the gold standard. Messages are encrypted on your device and only decrypted on the receiving device. Not even Signal's servers can read your messages - and neither can anyone intercepting them.

Zero Data Collection

Signal collects virtually no metadata. No message contents, no contact lists, no usage patterns. Combined with self-hosted OpenClaw, you have an AI assistant that leaves no trace. Perfect for journalists, activists, healthcare professionals, and privacy-conscious users.

Open Source Everything

Signal is fully open source, as is signal-cli and OpenClaw. Every component in the chain can be audited. There are no black boxes, no hidden data collection, no mysterious behaviors. Security through transparency.

Disappearing Messages

Configure messages to automatically disappear after a set time. Your AI conversations can be configured to vanish in minutes, hours, or days. Even if someone gains access to your device, the conversation history is limited.

No Phone Number Exposure

Signal supports usernames, allowing communication without exposing phone numbers. Your OpenClaw bot can have a username, and users can find it without knowing the underlying phone number.

Sealed Sender

Signal's sealed sender feature hides message metadata even from Signal's servers. They can't see who is messaging whom. Your AI conversations are invisible even to the infrastructure operators.

Setup Guide

Install Signal-CLI

Signal-cli is a command-line tool that provides programmatic access to Signal. Install it on your server alongside OpenClaw. It requires Java and handles all Signal protocol operations.

# Install Java (required for signal-cli)
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jre-headless

# Download signal-cli
VERSION="0.12.8"
wget https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases/download/v${VERSION}/signal-cli-${VERSION}-Linux.tar.gz
tar xf signal-cli-${VERSION}-Linux.tar.gz -C /opt
ln -s /opt/signal-cli-${VERSION}/bin/signal-cli /usr/local/bin/signal-cli

# Verify installation
signal-cli --version

Register Signal Account

Register a phone number with Signal for your OpenClaw bot. You can use a real phone number, VoIP number (like Google Voice), or a dedicated SIM. Verification requires receiving an SMS or voice call.

# Register with SMS verification
signal-cli -u +1234567890 register

# You'll receive a verification code via SMS
# Enter it to complete registration:
signal-cli -u +1234567890 verify CODE_HERE

# Alternative: Voice verification
signal-cli -u +1234567890 register --voice

# Set a profile name (optional but recommended)
signal-cli -u +1234567890 updateProfile --name "OpenClaw AI"

# Generate a username (optional)
signal-cli -u +1234567890 setUsername "openclaw.01"

Install Signal Bridge Module

Add the Signal bridge to your OpenClaw installation. The bridge interfaces with signal-cli and handles message processing and response formatting.

# Using OpenClaw CLI
openclaw install signal-bridge

# Or manual installation
cd /path/to/openclaw
npm install @openclaw/signal-bridge

# Verify installation
openclaw plugins list | grep signal

Configure Signal Connection

Create your Signal configuration file with the registered phone number and processing settings. Configure message handling and security preferences.

# config/signal.yaml
signal:
  enabled: true
  
  # Account settings
  phone_number: "+1234567890"
  signal_cli_path: "/usr/local/bin/signal-cli"
  data_path: "/home/openclaw/.local/share/signal-cli"
  
  # Connection mode
  mode: daemon  # 'daemon' for persistent, 'receive' for polling
  
  # Message handling
  messages:
    trust_new_contacts: true  # Auto-trust new contact identities
    send_receipts: true
    send_typing: false  # Typing indicators reveal activity
  
  # Security settings
  security:
    verify_identities: true
    block_unknown: false  # Allow messages from anyone
  
  # Disappearing messages default
  disappearing_messages:
    enabled: true
    timer: 604800  # 7 days in seconds

Configure AI Response Behavior

Set up how OpenClaw processes Signal messages and formats responses. Enable privacy-focused features like minimal logging and secure data handling.

# config/signal-ai.yaml
ai_responses:
  # Privacy-focused logging
  logging:
    level: minimal
    exclude_content: true  # Never log message contents
    retention_days: 1
  
  # Response formatting
  format:
    max_length: 4096
    split_long_messages: true
  
  # Media handling
  media:
    images: analyze_and_respond
    voice: transcribe_and_respond
    documents: process_securely
    auto_delete_received: true  # Delete received files after processing
  
  # Privacy features
  privacy:
    no_external_requests: false  # Set true for maximum isolation
    local_processing_only: false  # Requires local AI model
    clear_context_on_timer: true
    context_clear_minutes: 60

Set Up Signal-CLI Daemon

Run signal-cli in daemon mode for real-time message handling. The daemon maintains a persistent connection and processes messages immediately as they arrive.

# Start daemon manually for testing
signal-cli -u +1234567890 daemon

# Or run as systemd service
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/signal-cli.service << EOF
[Unit]
Description=Signal-CLI Daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=openclaw
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/signal-cli -u +1234567890 daemon --socket /run/signal-cli/socket
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl enable signal-cli
sudo systemctl start signal-cli

Connect OpenClaw to Daemon

Configure OpenClaw to communicate with the signal-cli daemon. This enables real-time message processing and response.

# Update config/signal.yaml
signal:
  # Daemon connection
  daemon:
    enabled: true
    socket_path: "/run/signal-cli/socket"  # Unix socket
    # Or use TCP if configured:
    # host: "localhost"
    # port: 7583
  
  # Reconnection settings
  reconnect:
    max_attempts: 10
    delay_ms: 5000

# Start OpenClaw Signal bridge
openclaw signal start

# Check status
openclaw signal status

# View logs
openclaw logs signal --follow

Test and Verify

Send test messages to your OpenClaw Signal number and verify responses are working correctly. Test different message types and security features.

# From another Signal account, message your bot number
# Or test from command line:
signal-cli -u +1234567890 send -m "Hello, OpenClaw!" +0987654321

# Check received messages
signal-cli -u +1234567890 receive

# Test with OpenClaw
openclaw signal test

# Verify identity trust
signal-cli -u +1234567890 listIdentities

# Check linked devices (should show only your bot)
signal-cli -u +1234567890 listDevices

What You Can Do

Secure Personal Assistant

The most private way to interact with an AI assistant. Your conversations never leave the encrypted channel, and with self-hosted OpenClaw, all processing happens on your infrastructure. Perfect for sensitive personal matters, legal consultations, or simply valuing privacy.

Journalist Source Protection

Journalists can use OpenClaw through Signal to research sensitive topics, organize notes, and even communicate with sources more securely. The AI can help with fact-checking and research without creating records on external servers.

Healthcare Communications

Medical professionals can use encrypted AI assistance for patient-related research, drug interaction checking, and clinical decision support. Combined with proper HIPAA-compliant infrastructure, this creates a private healthcare AI tool.

Legal Research

Attorneys can research case law, draft documents, and organize case information with AI assistance, knowing that attorney-client privilege extends to truly private AI interactions. No third-party servers see your legal queries.

Human Rights Work

Activists and human rights workers in sensitive regions can use AI assistance without creating trails that could endanger themselves or those they help. Document human rights situations, organize advocacy, and communicate securely.

Financial Privacy

Discuss investment strategies, tax situations, and financial planning with AI assistance that leaves no trace. Combined with disappearing messages, your financial queries vanish after you've got your answers.

Secure Team Communication

Create Signal groups with OpenClaw for team collaboration that's truly private. Coordinate projects, share information, and get AI assistance without exposing sensitive business discussions to external servers.

Privacy-First Smart Home

Control smart home devices through Signal messages. Your home automation commands stay encrypted, unlike voice assistants that send everything to cloud servers. 'Turn off the lights' stays between you and your home.

Anonymous Research

Research sensitive topics without creating a search history or profile. Ask questions that you wouldn't want in your Google history. The AI helps you learn while respecting your privacy.

Known Limitations

No official Signal bot API - uses community signal-cli which may break with Signal updates
Requires a phone number for registration (cannot be purely anonymous)
Voice calls and video are not supported through signal-cli
Group message handling has limitations compared to direct messages
Rate limiting may occur if sending too many messages too quickly
Signal-cli requires Java runtime, adding infrastructure complexity
Identity key changes require re-verification which can interrupt automated flows
Large file transfers may be slower than other platforms
No read receipts for bots (you don't know if messages were read)
Desktop client linking requires additional setup and may not persist across restarts
Our team can help you work around these limitations with custom configurations

Frequently Asked Questions

Is using signal-cli against Signal's terms of service?

Signal-cli is a community project, and Signal has historically been tolerant of non-commercial, privacy-respecting use cases. However, it's not officially supported or endorsed by Signal. Using it for spam, abuse, or commercial mass messaging would likely violate Signal's spirit and potentially their terms. For personal use and small-scale legitimate applications, signal-cli has been used for years without issues. Always use responsibly and consider Signal's mission of protecting private communication.

How private is this really?

The message transport is as private as Signal gets - end-to-end encrypted, minimal metadata, open source. However, once messages reach your OpenClaw server, they're decrypted for AI processing. The overall privacy depends on: where you host OpenClaw (self-hosted is most private), which AI model you use (local models keep data on your hardware), your logging configuration (disable content logging), and your network setup. A fully local deployment with a local AI model achieves maximum privacy.

Can I use a virtual number for Signal registration?

Yes, but with caveats. Many VoIP numbers work with Signal (Google Voice, TextNow, etc.), but some are blocked to prevent abuse. If your VoIP number is rejected, try a different provider or use a dedicated prepaid SIM. Some users report better success with numbers that have been used for a while before Signal registration. The number needs to receive SMS or voice calls for verification.

What happens if Signal updates break signal-cli?

Signal occasionally makes protocol changes that temporarily break signal-cli. The signal-cli maintainers typically release updates within days to weeks. During outages, your bot won't receive or send messages. Mitigation strategies: monitor signal-cli releases, have backup communication channels, and consider contributing to signal-cli development. The active community usually resolves issues quickly.

Can I use Signal Desktop with OpenClaw?

Signal-cli can link to an existing Signal account as a secondary device, similar to Signal Desktop. However, for bot use, registering a dedicated number is recommended. Linked devices share the message queue, which can cause issues if both the desktop client and OpenClaw try to process the same messages. For cleanest operation, use a dedicated number exclusively for OpenClaw.

How do I handle Signal's safety numbers?

When a contact's identity key changes (they reinstalled Signal, switched phones, etc.), Signal detects this and alerts you. Configure signal-cli to either trust new keys automatically (convenient but less secure) or require manual verification (more secure but needs intervention). For bot use, auto-trust is usually necessary, but you can implement notifications when keys change for sensitive applications.

Can OpenClaw participate in Signal group chats?

Yes, with limitations. Signal-cli can receive and send group messages. However, groups require invitation - you can't add the bot to a group, someone must invite it. The bot receives all group messages (no mention requirement), so implement filtering to avoid responding to everything. Group administrative actions (adding/removing members, changing settings) have limited support.

How do I make messages disappear automatically?

Configure disappearing messages in your signal.yaml configuration. You can set a default timer for all conversations. Signal's disappearing messages work by deleting messages after the set time from both sender and receiver devices. Note that if recipients screenshot or copy messages before they disappear, the content is still preserved. Disappearing messages are a convenience feature, not a security guarantee.

What's the best infrastructure for maximum privacy?

Maximum privacy setup: 1) Self-host OpenClaw on hardware you control (not cloud providers), 2) Use a local AI model (Ollama with Llama, etc.) so queries never leave your network, 3) Connect over Tor or VPN for network privacy, 4) Disable all logging, 5) Use a prepaid SIM card purchased with cash for registration, 6) Run on an encrypted filesystem, 7) Enable disappearing messages. This creates an AI assistant with minimal traceability.

Can I use Signal's new username feature?

Yes, signal-cli supports usernames. After registration, you can set a username that others can use to find your bot without knowing the phone number. This adds a layer of privacy since you don't need to share the underlying phone number. Users search for your username and can start conversations directly. Note that you still need a phone number for initial registration.

Ready for the Most Private AI Assistant?

Let our team handle the integration. Book a free consultation and we'll set up Signal + OpenClaw so your conversations stay encrypted, your data stays private, and you stay in control.

Book a Free Consultation