OpenClaw:Your AI Assistant That Gets Things Done

OpenClaw is an open-source multi-platform messaging bridge that connects AI agents to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, iMessage, and more. It operates through a single Gateway process as the central control hub, enabling users to interact with AI coding assistants directly from messaging apps. Self-hosted and privacy-first by design.

OpenClaw supports five major chat platforms: WhatsApp (using Baileys protocol), Telegram (via Bot API and grammY), Discord (using discord.js), iMessage (native macOS integration), and Mattermost (plugin-based). All platforms support streaming responses, group chats, and media handling.

Installing OpenClaw is simple. The recommended method is the one-liner: curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash. You can also install via npm (npm i -g clawdbot) or pnpm (pnpm add -g clawdbot). After installation, run openclaw onboard --install-daemon to start the setup wizard.

OpenClaw requires Node.js 22 or higher. For WhatsApp and Telegram integrations, you must use Node.js (Bun is not recommended). Windows users are strongly advised to use WSL2. For web search functionality, you'll also need a Brave Search API key.

OpenClaw supports multiple AI models including Anthropic Claude (with API key or Claude Code credentials) and OpenAI (OAuth recommended, API key also supported). It also supports local models via Ollama like Llama, enabling completely offline and privacy-preserving AI experiences.

Yes, OpenClaw is completely free and open-source under the MIT license. You can freely use, modify, and distribute the code. However, note that using commercial AI models like Claude or GPT requires their respective API fees or subscriptions. Using local models via Ollama is completely free.

OpenClaw uses a self-hosted architecture where all data and configurations are stored on your own device. Authentication configs are stored in the ~/.openclaw/ directory. Your chat history, preferences, and session data stay local and are never uploaded to any cloud server, ensuring complete data privacy and control.

OpenClaw supports group chat functionality with mention-based activation. Each group/channel session has isolated workspace sessions. Configure sandbox isolation via agents.defaults.sandbox.mode with per-agent override support. Use openclaw pairing approve for pairing verification, and manage access permissions through the DM approval system.

Yes, OpenClaw fully supports media handling capabilities. It can receive and process images, audio, documents, and other media types. A notable feature is voice note transcription, which automatically converts voice messages to text for processing. All major chat platforms support streaming responses and block chunking for reliable transmission of large files and long messages.

OpenClaw offers native app support. macOS users can download the Companion App (Beta), a menubar application that works alongside the CLI, requiring macOS 14+. Native iOS and Android apps are also in development. Of course, you can continue using the command-line tool, which supports macOS, Windows (WSL2 recommended), and Linux systems.