OpenClaw Full Tutorial for Beg

Course Overview & Prerequisites #

• Introduction to OpenClaw: Formerly known as Claudebot/MoltBot, OpenClaw is a proactive autonomous agent and self-hosted messaging gateway.
• Capabilities: Automates tasks (email triage, calendar management, smart home control) via Telegram, WhatsApp, and Discord.
• Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with Command Line Interface (CLI) and exposure to Large Language Models (LLMs) via APIs.
• Course Structure: Covers installation, memory management, social media integration (Pinchboard), skills, multi-agent setups, and security/sandboxing.

OpenClaw Concepts & Architecture #

• Self-Hosted Gateway: A long-running background process on your machine that maintains persistent connections to messaging platforms and routes messages to agents.
• Comparison to Claude Code: Unlike Claude Code, OpenClaw is fully self-hosted, supports more messengers natively (WhatsApp, Discord, etc.), and is more configurable for complex workflows.
• Local vs. VPS: Users can run OpenClaw locally or on a Virtual Private Server (VPS). Local runs allow browser use but pose higher security risks; VPS is recommended for production to protect personal files.

Installation & Configuration #

• Requirements: Node.js version 22 or higher.
• Standard Commands:
  • npm install -g openclaw: Global installation.
  • openclaw onboard --install-daemon: Launches the onboarding wizard and installs OpenClaw as a background service (launchd/systemd).
• Onboarding Wizard: Configures workspace location, model selection (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google Gemini), API tokens, and connection types (Loopback, LAN, or Tailscale).
• Maintenance Tools:
  • openclaw security-audit deep: Identifies and fixes file permission vulnerabilities.
  • openclaw doctor: Performs health checks and quick fixes for the gateway.

Workspace, Memory & Identity #

• The .openclaw Directory: All configurations, credentials, and session memories are stored here.
• Key Files:
  • agent.md: The core definition file telling the agent how to operate.
  • identity.md: Defines the agent’s name (e.g., "Nova"), personality, and role.
  • user.md: Stores information about the user (timezone, preferences).
  • heartbeat.md: Commands or tasks for the agent to check periodically (e.g., hourly).
• Git Integration: The workspace can be initialized as a Git repository to sync settings and agent personalities across different devices.

Personal Assistant Setup & Messaging #

• Social Media (Pinchboard): Demonstration of connecting to "Pinchboard" (an agent-focused social platform) to automatically register, verify, and post "pinches" (tweets).
• WhatsApp Integration: Requires plugins enable whatsapp and scanning a QR code via openclaw channels login.
• Discord Integration: Requires creating a Discord bot via the Developer Portal, enabling "Message Content Intent," and providing the Bot Token, Guild ID, and Channel IDs.
• Security Note: It is highly recommended to use agents only in one-on-one chats. Adding an agent with terminal access to a group chat creates a massive prompt injection vulnerability.

Skills & Extensions #

• Skill Structure: Each skill is a directory containing a skill.md (YAML config + instructions) and optional executable scripts (Python/JS).
• Pre-built Skills: Includes Obsidian, Google Workspace, Apple Notes, and OnePassword.
• ClawHub: A package registry (clawhub.com) for downloading third-party skills using clawhub install.
• Custom Skills: Demonstration of writing a Python-based SMTP email skill for sending messages through Gmail.

Multi-Agent Systems #

• Purpose: Different agents can be created for specific contexts (e.g., a "Work" agent vs. a "Personal" agent).
• Context Switching: Use the /agents command within the Terminal User Interface (TUI) to swap between personas instantly.
• Isolation: Each agent can have its own workspace, permissions, and set of skills.

Security & Sandboxing #

• Risk Factors: Since agents have terminal and file access, malicious actors could theoretically use prompt injection to delete files or steal data.
• Sandboxing with Docker:
  • Modes: none, non-main (sandbox everything except the primary agent), or all.
  • Scopes: session (new container per chat), agent (one container per agent), or shared (one container for all agents).
• Elevated Mode: Use with extreme caution; it allows an agent to bypass the sandbox and run commands directly on the host machine.
• Demo: A sandboxed "Work" agent was shown to be unable to access the user’s actual desktop files, restricted only to its designated Docker container.

Summary #

This video serves as a technical walkthrough for OpenClaw, an open-source framework for hosting autonomous AI agents. It details the transition from initial CLI installation to advanced configurations like connecting Discord/WhatsApp and creating custom Python skills. Central to the tutorial is the "security-first" approach, emphasizing that while OpenClaw grants AI agents deep access to a user’s local system, this power must be managed through Docker sandboxing, careful channel white-listing, and model selection. The course concludes by demonstrating how to manage multiple AI personas, effectively turning a local machine into a 24/7 automated digital operator.