How to receive SMS in OpenClaw

This guide walks you through retrieving incoming SMS messages directly from OpenClaw using the Ozeki SMS MCP server. By following this tutorial, you will learn how to launch OpenClaw, switch to the normal agent mode, ask it to list incoming messages in plain language, and verify the transaction through the gateway logs.

What is an MCP tool call?

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool call is how an AI model communicates with external systems. When the AI needs to perform an action or retrieve data, such as querying a database, calling an API, or reading a file, it sends a structured request to the appropriate MCP server, which processes it and returns the result.

Owerview
Owerview

Example prompt

List all my incoming SMS messages.

Steps to follow

We assume Ozeki SMS Gateway is already installed on your system, you have created an MCP user account with an API key, and you have already configured the Ozeki SMS MCP server in OpenClaw.

  1. Launch OpenClaw
  2. Switch to normal agent mode
  3. Use the list incoming messages tool
  4. Verify the transaction in logs

How to receive SMS in OpenClaw video

The following video shows how to retrieve incoming SMS messages from OpenClaw using the Ozeki SMS MCP server step-by-step.

Step 1 - Launch OpenClaw

Open a terminal window and navigate to your working directory. Type openclaw and press Enter to start OpenClaw (Figure 1).

Launch OpenClaw from terminal
Figure 1 - Launch OpenClaw from the terminal

Step 2 - Switch to normal agent mode

By default, OpenClaw may start in a restricted agent mode that limits tool access. To allow MCP tool calls, switch to the normal agent mode. You can do this by selecting the normal agent option from the mode menu or by issuing the appropriate command in the OpenClaw interface (Figure 2).

Change to normal agent mode
Figure 2 - Switch OpenClaw to normal agent mode

Step 3 - Use the list incoming messages tool

In the OpenClaw prompt, type your request in plain language and press Enter. OpenClaw will interpret the request and invoke the appropriate MCP tool to retrieve the messages from the gateway inbox (Figure 3). 

List all my incoming SMS messages.

Ask AI to list messages
Figure 3 - Ask OpenClaw to list incoming SMS messages

OpenClaw will display the result returned by the Ozeki SMS MCP server. You should see the list of incoming messages, each with the sender number, message text, and timestamp confirming when it was received (Figure 4).

List incoming messages tool result
Figure 4 - OpenClaw displays the incoming messages tool result

Step 4 - Verify the transaction in logs

Open Ozeki SMS Gateway in your browser and navigate to the event log of your MCP user. You should see a log entry for the incoming message retrieval request, confirming that the API key authentication and tool call were processed correctly by the gateway (Figure 5).

Check transaction in MCP user event logs
Figure 5 - Verify the transaction in the MCP user event logs

Final thoughts

You have successfully retrieved incoming SMS messages from OpenClaw using the Ozeki SMS MCP server. OpenClaw can now list incoming messages from your gateway simply by being asked to do so in plain language, making it easy to add SMS inbox access to any OpenClaw workflow.

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