Your own personal AI assistant. Any OS. Any Platform. The lobster way. 🦞
OpenClaw runs completely on your local infrastructure, ensuring you maintain absolute authority over your AI assistant. Integrate seamlessly with WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, iMessage, Microsoft Teams, WebChat, BlueBubbles, Matrix, Zalo, and more. Streamline operations and engage through natural conversation—all with guaranteed privacy and security.
OpenClaw is the self-hosted personal AI assistant that runs on your machine—not in someone else's cloud. I've been using it for local chat, automation, and multi-agent setups; this guide reflects what works in practice.
OpenClaw is a self-hosted AI assistant platform designed to run on your personal devices. It communicates through your existing messaging channels including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, iMessage, Microsoft Teams, WebChat, and extended channels such as BlueBubbles, Matrix, Zalo, and Zalo Personal. The platform supports voice interaction on macOS, iOS, and Android devices, and features an interactive Canvas interface for visual control. The Gateway serves as the management layer—the core value lies in the intelligent assistant itself.
For those seeking a dedicated, single-user AI companion that operates locally with minimal latency and constant availability, OpenClaw delivers exactly that.
Setup can trip people up in a few places. The installer sometimes needs a terminal restart before openclaw is found—close and reopen your terminal if you get "command not found." Channel linking (WhatsApp, Telegram) can fail if the QR step times out; just run the wizard again. If the Gateway won't start, run openclaw doctor --fix and check Troubleshooting for token and port issues. Most problems are fixable in a few minutes.
OpenClaw is built around two primary components:
The agent executes completely on your local system and stores all configurations, user preferences, memory data, and custom instructions as standard folders and Markdown files on your device. Similar to how Obsidian operates—with cloud services handling synchronization (Obsidian Sync for Obsidian, your chosen LLM provider for OpenClaw)—the core functionality runs locally, on your hardware, and can be customized and modified without restrictions.
Complete feature set for your personal AI assistant
Compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux systems. Supports Anthropic, OpenAI, or self-hosted language models. Privacy-first design ensures your data never leaves your control.
Interact through WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, or iMessage. Functions seamlessly in both direct messages and group conversations.
Develops personalized knowledge about you over time. Learns your preferences, maintains context, and adapts to your needs. Memory stored as Markdown files that are searchable, editable, and compatible with tools like Obsidian.
Navigate websites, complete forms, and extract information from any online resource. Comprehensive web automation functionality.
Access files, execute commands, run scripts, schedule tasks, and automate complex workflows. Choose between full system access or sandboxed execution. Capable of self-improvement through configuration modifications.
Enhance functionality with community-developed skills or create custom extensions. The assistant can generate its own skills. Request new features, and it will produce the required code and configuration automatically. ClawHub skills are scanned with VirusTotal for an extra layer of security—see Security.
Connect to the tools and services you already use
Exploring alternatives? OpenClaw isn't the only self-hosted AI assistant. ZeroClaw (Rust, 99% less memory), TinyClaw (minimal Claude Code wrapper), and others suit different needs. Compare alternatives →
Single command installation process
The Setup Wizard runs in your browser and walks you through install, configuration, adding a channel (e.g. WhatsApp, Discord), or adding a skill. You get ready-to-run scripts tailored to your OS, merge-ready channel JSON, and optional steps to fix common issues with built-in docs search. All free; nothing runs on your machine until you choose to run the generated commands.
Open Setup WizardLatest release: v2026.3.13 — All releases · Source (ZIP) · Source (tar.gz)
v2026.3.13: Recovery release—compaction fix, Telegram/Discord/session fixes, Docker OPENCLAW_TZ and token-leak security fix, cron deadlock fix, dashboard chat reload and auth fixes, Ollama reasoning visibility, Slack interactive replies, browser batch act, plugin collision fail-fast. Release notes
We recommend the one-liner—it installs Node.js (if needed) and all dependencies automatically.
ollama launch openclaw --model kimi-k2.5:cloud. One command installs and configures everything. Ollama + OpenClaw tutorial.
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
openclaw onboard
Works everywhere. Installs everything. Handles Node.js and dependencies automatically.
iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex
openclaw onboard
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd
openclaw onboard
macOS Companion App: Download for macOS (menubar access, works alongside the CLI). Requires macOS 14+.
If you already have Node.js 22.12.0+, you can use npm or pnpm. The Setup Wizard in your browser gives you ready-to-run commands for your OS, then configure and add channels or skills from the same flow.
npm i -g openclaw
# or: pnpm add -g openclaw
openclaw onboardCustomize OpenClaw to match your specific requirements
Minimal config: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (newer installs) or ~/.clawdbot/moltbot.json (legacy). Workspace root is ~/.openclaw/workspace or ~/clawd depending on install. The CLI is openclaw; moltbot and clawdbot remain as compatibility aliases. To generate a config snippet in your browser, use the Setup Wizard (Configure).
{
"agent": {
"model": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"
}
}Recommended configuration: Anthropic Pro/Max subscriptions (100/200) combined with Opus 4.6 for enhanced context handling and improved protection against prompt injection attacks.
OAuth-based subscriptions:
Although the platform supports various language models, Anthropic Pro/Max with Opus 4.6 is the recommended choice. You can configure automatic model failover and authentication profile rotation (switching between OAuth and API key methods) with backup options.
OpenClaw organizes all data within a dedicated workspace directory:
~/.openclaw/workspace or ~/clawd (configurable via agents.defaults.workspace)AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md~/clawd/skills/<skill>/SKILL.mdThe workspace consists of standard folders and Markdown files on your system. These can be edited directly, searched using tools like Raycast, or synchronized with applications like Obsidian.
Connect OpenClaw to your preferred communication platforms
OpenClaw provides comprehensive support for multiple messaging channels, enabling interaction with your AI assistant through your existing communication applications. Each platform features its own dedicated setup procedure and configuration parameters. For a guided flow with step-by-step instructions and merge-ready config, use the Setup Wizard (Add a channel).
OpenClaw integrates with all leading messaging services:
WhatsApp integration follows a straightforward process:
openclaw channels login (credentials saved to ~/.clawdbot/credentials)channels.whatsapp.allowFrom to specify authorized contactschannels.whatsapp.groups is configured, it functions as a group allowlist; use "*" to permit all groupsNote: WhatsApp authentication requires QR code pairing. All credentials are stored locally with encryption. The configuration directory path ~/.clawdbot/ is maintained for backward compatibility with earlier versions (Clawdbot and Moltbot).
"OpenClaw Reveals the Future Landscape of Personal AI Assistant Technology"
"The Rise of Self-Hosted AI: Why Developers Are Investing in Mac Minis for Personal AI Agents"
"OpenClaw represents the pinnacle of customizable, adaptive software. I have complete control over its capabilities and full visibility into its operations."
"This is what Siri should have been from the start. The capabilities extend far beyond what I initially imagined."
"OpenClaw demonstrates that we're only scratching the surface of what language models can achieve as personal assistants. Once you experience this level of capability, there's no returning to traditional solutions."
Trusted by thousands of developers and users worldwide
OpenClaw was built for Molty, a space lobster AI assistant 🦞 by Peter Steinberger and the community. The project is becoming an independent foundation and remains open source. Join thousands of developers who are building the future of personal AI assistants.
Join a growing community of users leveraging OpenClaw to streamline and automate their daily workflows.