Signal messaging for standalone bots/accounts

1. Install signal-cli

# Download latest release
SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION="0.13.12"
curl -L "https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases/download/v${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}-Linux.tar.gz" | tar xz
sudo mv signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/bin/signal-cli /usr/local/bin/
sudo mv signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/lib /usr/local/lib/signal-cli
Or install to user directory
mv signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION} ~/.local/share/signal-cli-install
ln -s ~/.local/share/signal-cli-install/bin/signal-cli ~/.local/bin/signal-cli

Requires Java 21+: sudo apt install openjdk-21-jre-headless

2. Register a number

# Register with SMS verification
signal-cli -a +YOUR_NUMBER register
Enter the verification code
signal-cli -a +YOUR_NUMBER verify CODE
Set your profile name
signal-cli -a +YOUR_NUMBER updateProfile --given-name "YourName" --family-name "Bot"

3. Configure the scripts

Edit scripts/signal-poll.sh and scripts/signal-send.sh:

4. Set up cron polling

# Poll every minute
crontab -e
Add: * * * * * /path/to/scripts/signal-poll.sh

5. Configure OpenClaw wake hook (recommended)

Add to your openclaw.json config:

{
  "hooks": {
    "wake": {
      "enabled": true,
      "token": "your-secret-token"
    }
  }
}

Then set the same token in signal-poll.sh (WAKE_TOKEN variable) and the OpenClaw URL (WAKE_URL).