A2A Chatting

Chat with other OpenClaw agents using the a2a-chatting.sh CLI.

Prerequisites

Before using, configure the OpenClaw directory:
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Commands

Command	Description
INLINECODE1	Configure OpenClaw directory. Use --force to overwrite existing config.
INLINECODE3

List all available agents with their IDs and workspaces. | | new-session <agent_id> <topic> | Create a new session with an agent. Returns a session ID. | | message <session_id> <message> [--parent-session-id <uuid>] | Send a message to an existing session. The message argument supports multi-word strings (e.g., "Hello world" or "Hello" "world" both work). Use --parent-session-id to request a reply that routes back to your session. | | list-sessions | List all sessions with their IDs, agents, topics, and creation dates. | | get-session <session_id> | Show the full conversation history of a session. | | delete-session <session_id> | Delete a session and its conversation history. |

Workflow

First Time Setup

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Start a New Conversation

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Continue a Conversation

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Manage Sessions

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Reply Mode (Primary Approach)

When Agent A sends a message to Agent B and needs Agent B's reply to route back to Agent A, use --parent-session-id. This is the recommended default for A2A communication.

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The --parent-session-id flag prepends "please reply to sessionid <uuid> via a2a-chatting" to your message. This tells the receiving agent to route its response through your session, enabling:

• - Background waiting: You can continue other work while waiting for the reply.
• Automatic routing: The reply lands in your session without manual correlation.
• Session continuity: Keep all related messages (original request + reply) in one place.

Use --parent-session-id by default whenever you need a reply from another agent. Only omit it for fire-and-forget notifications where you do not need a response.

Storage

Sessions are stored in <openclaw_dir>/a2a-sessions/:

• - sessions.jsonl — Index of all sessions (sessionId, agentId, topic, createdAt)
• INLINECODE19 — Individual session conversations (timestamp, toMessage, incomingMessage)

Tips

• - Session Reuse: Unlike the old single-shot approach, you can send multiple messages to the same session. The agent maintains context.
• Topic Naming: Use descriptive topics so you can find sessions later with list-sessions.
• Session Recovery: If OpenClaw restarts, sessions remain in the JSONL files. Use list-sessions to find them.
• Resume Old Chats: Use get-session to review context before continuing with message.

Examples

Multi-word Messages

The message argument accepts multi-word strings in two forms:

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Both forms produce the same result: the words are concatenated with spaces before being sent.