OpenClaw Quickstart: Deploy Your Personal AI Assistant

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, and more—plus voice on macOS/iOS/Android.

The Gateway is the control plane. The product is your always-on personal assistant.

Quick Install

Runtime: Node ≥22

npm install -g openclaw@latest
# or: pnpm add -g openclaw@latest

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard installs the Gateway daemon (launchd/systemd user service) so it stays running.

Quick Start

# Run the onboarding wizard
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

# Start the Gateway
openclaw gateway --port 18789 --verbose

# Send a message
openclaw message send --to +1234567890 --message "Hello from OpenClaw"

# Talk to the assistant
openclaw agent --message "Ship checklist" --thinking high

Full beginner guide: Getting started

How It Works

WhatsApp / Telegram / Slack / Discord / Signal / iMessage / Teams / WebChat
               │
               ▼
┌───────────────────────────────┐
│            Gateway            │
│       (control plane)         │
│     ws://127.0.0.1:18789      │
└──────────────┬────────────────┘
               │
               ├─ Pi agent (RPC)
               ├─ CLI (openclaw …)
               ├─ WebChat UI
               ├─ macOS app
               └─ iOS / Android nodes

Supported Channels

• WhatsApp — Via Baileys, link your device
• Telegram — Set your bot token
• Slack — Bolt integration
• Discord — discord.js integration
• Signal — Via signal-cli
• iMessage — macOS only
• Microsoft Teams — Bot Framework
• Google Chat — Chat API
• WebChat — Built-in web interface

Key Features

Local-First Gateway

Single control plane for sessions, channels, tools, and events.

Voice Wake + Talk Mode

Always-on speech for macOS/iOS/Android with ElevenLabs. Say a wake word and start talking.

Live Canvas

Agent-driven visual workspace with A2UI.

First-Class Tools

Browser control, canvas, nodes, cron, sessions, and Discord/Slack actions.

Companion Apps

• macOS: Menu bar control plane, Voice Wake, Talk Mode overlay
• iOS: Canvas, Voice Wake, camera, screen recording
• Android: Canvas, Talk Mode, camera, screen recording

Model Recommendations

While any model works, Anthropic Pro/Max (100/200) + Opus 4.5 is strongly recommended for:

• Long-context strength
• Better prompt-injection resistance

Supported auth:

• Anthropic (Claude Pro/Max)
• OpenAI (ChatGPT/Codex)

Minimal Configuration

Create ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  agent: {
    model: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
  },
}

Full configuration: Configuration reference

Security (Important)

OpenClaw connects to real messaging surfaces. Treat inbound DMs as untrusted input.

Default behavior on all channels:

• DM pairing (dmPolicy="pairing"): Unknown senders receive a pairing code
• Approve with: openclaw pairing approve <channel> <code>
• Public DMs require explicit opt-in via dmPolicy="open"

Run openclaw doctor to check for risky configurations.

Full security guide: Security

Next Steps

• Getting Started — Full beginner guide
• Channels — Connect WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.
• Wizard — Guided onboarding flow
• Discord — Join the community