OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant you run on your own devices. It answers you on the channels you already use. It can speak and listen on macOS/iOS/Android, and can render a live Canvas you control. The Gateway is just the control plane — the product is the assistant.
If you want a personal, single-user assistant that feels local, fast, and always-on, this is it.
Supported channels include: WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, iMessage, IRC, Microsoft Teams, Matrix, Feishu, LINE, Mattermost, Nextcloud Talk, Nostr, Synology Chat, Tlon, Twitch, Zalo, Zalo Personal, WeChat, QQ, WebChat.
Preferred setup: run openclaw onboard in your terminal. OpenClaw Onboard guides you step by step through setting up the gateway, workspace, channels, and skills. It is the recommended CLI setup path and works on macOS, Linux, and Windows . Windows desktop users can start with the native Windows Hub companion app for setup, tray status, chat, node mode, and local MCP mode. Works with npm, pnpm, or bun.
Model note: while many providers and models are supported, prefer a current flagship model from the provider you trust and already use. See Onboarding.
OpenClaw Onboard installs the Gateway daemon (launchd/systemd user service) so it stays running.
Models config + CLI: Models. Auth profile rotation + fallbacks: Model failover.
OpenClaw connects to real messaging surfaces. Treat inbound DMs as untrusted input .
Full security guide: Security. Before remote exposure, use the Gateway exposure runbook.
Security model (important) Default: tools run on the host for the main session, so the agent has full access when it is just you. Group/channel safety: set agents.defaults.sandbox.mode: "non-main" to run non- main sessions inside sandboxes. Docker is the default sandbox backend; SSH and OpenShell backends are also available. Typical sandbox default: allow bash , process , read , write , edit , sessions list , sessions history , sessions send , sessions spawn ; deny browser , canvas , nodes , cron , discord , gateway . Before exposing anything remotely, read Security, Gateway exposure runbook, Sandboxing, and Configuration.
The Gateway alone delivers a great experience. All apps are optional and add extra features.
If you plan to build/run companion apps, follow the platform runbooks below.
Note: signed builds required for macOS permissions to stick across rebuilds (see macOS Permissions).
iOS node (optional) Pairs as a node over the Gateway WebSocket (device pairing). Voice trigger forwarding + Canvas surface. Controlled via openclaw nodes … .
Android node (optional) Pairs as a WS node via device pairing ( openclaw devices ... ). Exposes Connect/Chat/Voice tabs plus Canvas, Camera, Screen capture, and Android device command families. Runbook: Android connect.
Note: pnpm openclaw ... runs TypeScript directly (via tsx ). pnpm build produces dist/ for running via Node / the packaged openclaw binary, while pnpm gateway:watch rebuilds the runtime on demand during the dev loop.
Switch channels (git + npm): openclaw update --channel stable beta dev . Details: Development channels.
OpenClaw was built for Molty , a space lobster AI assistant. 🦞 by Peter Steinberger and the community. openclaw.ai soul.md steipete.me @openclaw
See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines, maintainers, and how to submit PRs. Use the issue chooser for bugs, docs bugs, and feature requests; ask setup/support questions in Discord; and report vulnerabilities through SECURITY.md. PRs should link the relevant issue when possible and follow the PR template with problem, impact, and evidence. AI/vibe-coded PRs welcome! 🤖
Special thanks to Mario Zechner for his support and for pi-mono. Special thanks to Adam Doppelt for the lobster.bot domain.
