Run OpenClaw 24/7: Your Always-On Personal AI Assistant

OpenClaw is designed to run 24/7 as your personal AI assistant. The Gateway daemon keeps your assistant always available on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, and every channel you use.

The Always-On Architecture

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

The Gateway is the control plane. Once installed as a daemon, it runs in the background—no terminal needed.

Install the Daemon

# One command does it all
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

This installs the Gateway as:

• macOS: launchd user service
• Linux: systemd user service

The daemon starts automatically on boot.

Daemon Management

# Check status
openclaw gateway status

# Restart
openclaw gateway restart

# View logs
openclaw gateway logs

# Check health
openclaw doctor

Remote Gateway (Run on a Server)

It's perfectly fine to run the Gateway on a small Linux instance:

# On your server
openclaw gateway --port 18789 --hostname 0.0.0.0

Access Options

Tailscale (Recommended)

{
  gateway: {
    tailscale: {
      mode: "serve",  // Tailnet-only HTTPS
    },
  },
}

SSH Tunnel

ssh -L 18789:localhost:18789 your-server

Public (Funnel)

{
  gateway: {
    tailscale: {
      mode: "funnel",
    },
    auth: {
      mode: "password",
      password: "your-secure-password",
    },
  },
}

Details: Remote access

Voice Wake (macOS/iOS)

Your assistant can listen for a wake word and respond with voice.

Enable Voice Wake

1. Open the macOS menu bar app
2. Enable Voice Wake in settings
3. Say "Hey Molty" (or your custom wake word)
4. Start talking

Talk Mode

Once triggered, Talk Mode keeps the conversation going:

• You talk, it responds with voice
• Continuous back-and-forth until you stop
• Works on macOS, iOS, and Android

Full guide: Voice Wake · Talk Mode

Companion Apps

macOS App

• Menu bar control for Gateway health
• Voice Wake + push-to-talk overlay
• WebChat built-in
• Debug tools

iOS Node

• Pairs as a node via the Bridge
• Voice Wake + Canvas surface
• Camera and screen recording

Runbook: iOS connect

Android Node

• Same Bridge pairing as iOS
• Canvas, Camera, Screen capture
• Optional SMS gateway

Runbook: Android connect

Cron Jobs & Scheduled Tasks

OpenClaw supports scheduled tasks:

{
  automation: {
    cron: [
      {
        schedule: "0 9 * * *",  // 9am daily
        message: "Good morning! Here's your daily briefing...",
        channel: "telegram",
        to: "+1234567890",
      },
    ],
  },
}

Full guide: Cron jobs

Webhooks

Trigger your assistant from external services:

{
  automation: {
    webhook: {
      enabled: true,
      secret: "your-webhook-secret",
    },
  },
}

Endpoint: POST http://localhost:18789/webhook

Full guide: Webhooks

Gmail Pub/Sub

Get instant notifications when emails arrive:

Full guide: Gmail Pub/Sub

Reliability Checklist

• [ ] Daemon installed: openclaw onboard --install-daemon
• [ ] Auto-start on boot: Enabled by default with launchd/systemd
• [ ] Health monitoring: openclaw doctor
• [ ] Logs accessible: openclaw gateway logs
• [ ] Channels connected: openclaw channels status

Troubleshooting

Gateway not starting?

openclaw doctor

This checks for common issues.

Daemon not running on boot?

# macOS
launchctl list | grep openclaw

# Linux
systemctl --user status openclaw

Channels disconnecting?

Check token validity and network connectivity. Restart with:

openclaw gateway restart

Next Steps

• Voice Wake — Always-on speech
• Companion Apps — macOS, iOS, Android
• Tailscale — Remote access
• Discord — Join the community