openclaw/docs/concepts/typing-indicators.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
When OpenClaw shows typing indicators and how to tune them	Changing typing indicator behavior or defaults	Typing Indicators

Typing indicators

Typing indicators are sent to the chat channel while a run is active. Use agents.defaults.typingMode to control when typing starts and typingIntervalSeconds to control how often it refreshes.

Defaults

When agents.defaults.typingMode is unset, OpenClaw keeps the legacy behavior:

• Direct chats: typing starts immediately once the model loop begins.
• Group chats with a mention: typing starts immediately.
• Group chats without a mention: typing starts only when message text begins streaming.
• Heartbeat runs: typing starts when the heartbeat run begins if 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, ever.
• instant — start typing as soon as the model loop begins, even if the run later returns only the silent reply token.
• thinking — start typing on the first reasoning delta (requires reasoningLevel: "stream" for the run).
• message — start typing on the first non-silent text delta (ignores the NO_REPLY silent token).

Order of “how early it fires”: never → message → thinking → instant

Configuration

{
  agent: {
    typingMode: "thinking",
    typingIntervalSeconds: 6,
  },
}

You can override mode or cadence per session:

{
  session: {
    typingMode: "message",
    typingIntervalSeconds: 4,
  },
}

Notes

• message mode won’t show typing for silent-only replies when the whole payload is the exact silent token (for example NO_REPLY / no_reply, matched case-insensitively).
• thinking only fires if the run streams reasoning (reasoningLevel: "stream"). If the model doesn’t emit reasoning deltas, typing won’t start.
• Heartbeat typing is a liveness signal for the resolved delivery target. It starts at heartbeat run start instead of following message or thinking stream timing. Set typingMode: "never" to disable it.
• Heartbeats do not show typing when target: "none", when the target cannot be resolved, when chat delivery is disabled for the heartbeat, or when the channel does not support typing.
• typingIntervalSeconds controls the refresh cadence, not the start time. The default is 6 seconds.