OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant
you run on your own devices.
It answers you on the channels you already use (WhatsApp, Telegram,
Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, iMessage, Microsoft Teams,
WebChat), plus extension channels like BlueBubbles, Matrix, Zalo, and
Zalo Personal. 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.
Preferred setup: run the onboarding wizard (openclaw onboard). It walks through gateway, workspace, channels, and skills. The CLI wizard is the recommended path and works on macOS, Linux, and Windows (via WSL2; strongly recommended).
Works with npm, pnpm, or bun.
New install? Start here: Getting started
Model note: while any model is supported, I strongly recommend Anthropic Pro/Max (100/200) + Opus 4.5 for long‑context strength and better prompt‑injection resistance. See Onboarding.
Default behavior on Telegram/WhatsApp/Signal/iMessage/Microsoft Teams/Discord/Google Chat/Slack:
DM pairing (dmPolicy="pairing" / channels.discord.dm.policy="pairing" / channels.slack.dm.policy="pairing"): unknown senders receive a short pairing code and the bot does not process their message.
Approve with: openclaw pairing approve <channel> <code> (then the sender is added to a local allowlist store).
Public inbound DMs require an explicit opt-in: set dmPolicy="open" and include "*" in the channel allowlist (allowFrom / channels.discord.dm.allowFrom / channels.slack.dm.allowFrom).
Run openclaw doctor to surface risky/misconfigured DM policies.
Highlights
Local-first Gateway — single control plane for sessions, channels, tools, and events.
Nodes — Canvas, camera snap/clip, screen record, location.get, notifications, plus macOS‑only system.run/system.notify.
Tailscale access (Gateway dashboard)
OpenClaw can auto-configure Tailscale Serve (tailnet-only) or Funnel (public) while the Gateway stays bound to loopback. Configure gateway.tailscale.mode:
off: no Tailscale automation (default).
serve: tailnet-only HTTPS via tailscale serve (uses Tailscale identity headers by default).
funnel: public HTTPS via tailscale funnel (requires shared password auth).
Notes:
gateway.bind must stay loopback when Serve/Funnel is enabled (OpenClaw enforces this).
Serve can be forced to require a password by setting gateway.auth.mode: "password" or gateway.auth.allowTailscale: false.
Funnel refuses to start unless gateway.auth.mode: "password" is set.
Optional: gateway.tailscale.resetOnExit to undo Serve/Funnel on shutdown.
It’s perfectly fine to run the Gateway on a small Linux instance. Clients (macOS app, CLI, WebChat) can connect over Tailscale Serve/Funnel or SSH tunnels, and you can still pair device nodes (macOS/iOS/Android) to execute device‑local actions when needed.
Gateway host runs the exec tool and channel connections by default.
Device nodes run device‑local actions (system.run, camera, screen recording, notifications) via node.invoke.
In short: exec runs where the Gateway lives; device actions run where the device lives.
The macOS app can run in node mode and advertises its capabilities + permission map over the Gateway WebSocket (node.list / node.describe). Clients can then execute local actions via node.invoke:
system.run runs a local command and returns stdout/stderr/exit code; set needsScreenRecording: true to require screen-recording permission (otherwise you’ll get PERMISSION_MISSING).
system.notify posts a user notification and fails if notifications are denied.
canvas.*, camera.*, screen.record, and location.get are also routed via node.invoke and follow TCC permission status.
Elevated bash (host permissions) is separate from macOS TCC:
Use /elevated on|off to toggle per‑session elevated access when enabled + allowlisted.
Gateway persists the per‑session toggle via sessions.patch (WS method) alongside thinkingLevel, verboseLevel, model, sendPolicy, and groupActivation.
Default: tools run on the host for the main session, so the agent has full access when it’s just you.
Group/channel safety: set agents.defaults.sandbox.mode: "non-main" to run non‑main sessions (groups/channels) inside per‑session Docker sandboxes; bash then runs in Docker for those sessions.
Set TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN or channels.telegram.botToken (env wins).
Optional: set channels.telegram.groups (with channels.telegram.groups."*".requireMention); when set, it is a group allowlist (include "*" to allow all). Also channels.telegram.allowFrom or channels.telegram.webhookUrl + channels.telegram.webhookSecret as needed.
Set DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN or channels.discord.token (env wins).
Optional: set commands.native, commands.text, or commands.useAccessGroups, plus channels.discord.dm.allowFrom, channels.discord.guilds, or channels.discord.mediaMaxMb as needed.