Email Authentication Failures

Quick Diagnosis

openclaw doctor --channel email

Common Errors

535 Authentication Failed (SMTP)

Your SMTP credentials are incorrect or your account requires an App Password.

• Gmail: Enable 2FA, then generate an App Password and use that instead of your account password
• Outlook / Microsoft 365: Use OAuth 2.0 instead of basic auth (basic auth is disabled by Microsoft)

OAuth Token Expired

OAuth tokens expire. Re-authenticate:

openclaw channels reconnect email

Follow the browser prompt to re-authorize OpenClaw's access to your mailbox.

IMAP Connection Refused

1. Verify IMAP is enabled in your email provider's settings (Gmail: Settings → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP)
2. Check the IMAP host and port in config.yaml:
   Gmail: imap.gmail.com:993, Outlook: outlook.office365.com:993
3. Ensure port 993 is not blocked by your firewall

SSL Certificate Error

channels:
  email:
    imap:
      tls: true
      tls_reject_unauthorized: false  # only for self-signed certs