How should MXC policy be configured to allow outbound web access from OpenClaw agents? #1633

Description of the new feature / enhancement

I'm using OpenClaw 2026.10.9 with the MXC sandbox on Windows 11 ARM64.

My goal is simply to allow an OpenClaw agent running inside MXC to perform outbound HTTP/HTTPS requests (for example fetching https://example.com). I am not focusing on browser automation at this stage. First I want basic web requests to work, and afterwards I would like to add automation.

OpenClaw configuration:

{
"sandbox": {
"mode": "all",
"backend": "mxc"
}
}

MXC plugin configuration:

{
"plugins": {
"entries": {
"mxc": {
"config": {
"network": "default"
}
}
}
}
}

Custom mxc-policy.json:

{
"filesystem": {
"restrictToProjectDir": true,
"additionalReadonlyPaths": [],
"additionalReadwritePaths": []
}
}

Observed behavior:

• With sandbox disabled ("mode": "off"), the agent can access web content.

• With sandbox enabled ("backend": "mxc"), web access fails.

• Testing from inside the agent with:

  curl https://example.com

  returns:

  curl: error initializing curl library
  (Command exited with code 2)

The gateway log also contains:

[mxc] MXC sandbox host preparation incomplete:
the system drive root (C:\) does not grant directory access to AppContainer processes

although wxc-host-prep prepare-system-drive has already been run multiple times from an elevated shell.

Questions:

1. What is the recommended MXC policy configuration for outbound HTTP/HTTPS access from OpenClaw agents?

2. Is OpenClaw's

   "plugins.entries.mxc.config.network": "default"

   expected to be sufficient by itself, or must network permissions also be explicitly granted in mxc-policy.json?

3. Can someone provide a minimal working mxc-policy.json example that allows:

   • curl https://example.com
   • PowerShell Invoke-WebRequest
   • general outbound HTTP(S) requests

4. Does MXC currently support localhost / loopback access from OpenClaw sandboxes (for example CDP/browser-control scenarios), or is that intentionally blocked?

I'm mainly looking for guidance on the correct MXC policy configuration and whether there are limitations specific to OpenClaw + MXC.

Proposed technical implementation details

No response