What Is OpenClaw? Full Install & Usage Guide (2026)

OpenClaw 🦞 is an open-source AI personal agent (MIT license), local-first — the entire Gateway runs on your machine, connecting to 20+ messaging platforms so you can command AI from Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, or anywhere.

OpenClaw 🦞 — Local-first AI agent: one npm install, connects Telegram/WhatsApp/Discord/iMessage and more

Summary:

• ✅ Self-hosted — runs on your hardware, your rules
• ✅ Multi-channel — one Gateway serves WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord simultaneously
• ✅ Agent-native — tool use, sessions, memory, multi-agent routing
• ✅ Open source — MIT licensed, community-driven

Core Concepts

Architecture overview:

Telegram / Discord / WhatsApp / Signal / iMessage...
                        │
                        ▼
            ┌─────────────────────┐
            │      Gateway        │  ← runs locally on your machine
            │  127.0.0.1:18789    │
            └──────────┬──────────┘
                       │
          ├─ AI Agent (RPC)
          ├─ CLI (openclaw ...)
          ├─ WebChat UI / Dashboard
          └─ macOS app / iOS / Android nodes

Quick Start

System Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 22.16 (required — per official docs)
• npm or pnpm

Step 1 — Install OpenClaw

npm install -g openclaw@latest

Step 2 — Run Onboarding (installs daemon automatically)

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

This installs the Gateway as a background service — auto-starts with your OS (launchd on macOS, systemd on Linux). This is the simplest setup path.

If you just want onboarding without installing the daemon:

openclaw onboard

Step 3 — Pair a Channel and Start the Gateway

# Pair WhatsApp (or another channel), then start the Gateway:
openclaw channels login
openclaw gateway --port 18789

Check Status

openclaw doctor

The doctor command checks your configuration, connections, and surfaces security risks.

Local Dashboard

Once the Gateway is running, open:

http://127.0.0.1:18789/

Install From Source (Developer)

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw
pnpm install
pnpm ui:build        # build UI (auto-installs deps on first run)
pnpm build           # produces dist/

# Run onboarding:
pnpm openclaw onboard --install-daemon

# Dev loop (auto-reload on source/config changes):
pnpm gateway:watch

Basic Configuration

Main config file: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

If you don't create a config file, OpenClaw uses the bundled Pi binary in RPC mode with per-sender sessions.

Minimal config (just the AI model):

{
  "agent": {
    "model": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"
  }
}

With Telegram:

{
  "agent": {
    "model": "openai/gpt-4o"
  },
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "token": "YOUR_BOT_TOKEN",
      "allowFrom": ["YOUR_TELEGRAM_USER_ID"]
    }
  }
}

With WhatsApp (group lockdown):

{
  "channels": {
    "whatsapp": {
      "allowFrom": ["+15555550123"],
      "groups": {
        "*": { "requireMention": true }
      }
    }
  },
  "messages": {
    "groupChat": {
      "mentionPatterns": ["@openclaw"]
    }
  }
}

With Ollama (fully offline local model):

{
  "agent": {
    "model": "ollama/qwen3.5:latest"
  }
}

Full configuration reference for all keys: docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/configuration

Supported Channels

OpenClaw supports 20+ platforms — one Gateway serves all simultaneously:

Basic Usage

After installation, interact via Telegram or the CLI:

# Send a message to the agent via CLI:
openclaw message send --to +1234567890 --message "Hello"

# Run the agent with a specific task:
openclaw agent --message "Ship checklist" --thinking high

# Approve a pairing request from a new user:
openclaw pairing approve telegram <code>

Common Chat Commands

# Find files
Find all PDFs in the Downloads folder created this week

# Summarize a document
Summarize /Documents/report.pdf

# Web search
Find the latest news about GPT-5 and summarize it

# Execute code
Run backup.sh and report the result

Real-World Use Cases

1. Personal File Management

"Find all Excel files named 'budget' on the Desktop,
 copy them to /Archive/2025/"

2. Browser Automation

"Open Chrome, go to gmail.com, read my 5 latest unread emails and summarize"

3. Research Agent

"Research the Astro.js framework, compare with Next.js,
 write a 300-word summary and save to ~/research/astro.md"

4. Voice Wake (macOS/iOS)

Set up the wake word "Hey Claw" → speak commands directly without opening any app.

5. Scheduled Task (Cron)

"Every morning at 8am: get weather + summarize tech news,
 send to my Telegram"

Skills System

Skills are extension plugins at ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md:

• ClawHub — community skills marketplace
• Skills inject context into the agent via AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md
• Custom skill: create a folder + SKILL.md with name and description frontmatter

Remote Access

Want to access the Gateway from outside your local network? Two options:

• Web surfaces: docs.openclaw.ai/web
• Tailscale: docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/tailscale

Security Model — Read Before You Deploy

⚠️ OpenClaw connects to real messaging surfaces. Treat all inbound DMs as untrusted input.

DM Pairing (default behavior):

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "dmPolicy": "pairing"  // unknown senders must verify a pairing code first
    }
  }
}

Approve a new user:

openclaw pairing approve telegram <code>

Sandbox for groups/channels (recommended):

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "sandbox": {
        "mode": "non-main"  // non-main sessions run inside dedicated Docker containers
      }
    }
  }
}

Safe update channels:

openclaw update --channel stable    # tagged stable releases
# or:
openclaw update --channel beta      # prerelease builds

Summary

OpenClaw is the right choice if you want:

• ✅ Local-first AI agent — data never leaves your machine
• ✅ Connect 20+ platforms (Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord...) with one Gateway
• ✅ Simple install via one npm command
• ✅ Web dashboard at localhost:18789
• ✅ Deep customization via Skills and openclaw.json
• ✅ MIT license, fully open source

Official resources:

• 🐙 GitHub: github.com/openclaw/openclaw
• 📚 Docs: docs.openclaw.ai
• 🌐 Website: openclaw.ai
• 🚀 Quick Start: docs.openclaw.ai/start/quickstart