OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI personal assistant created by Peter Steinberger. It runs on your own machine (Mac, Windows, or Linux) and can execute real tasks—managing files, controlling browsers, sending messages, and automating workflows across apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, and iMessage.

OpenClaw requires Node.js 22 or higher. Install via npm: 'npm install -g openclaw@latest' or pnpm: 'pnpm add -g openclaw@latest'. Then run 'openclaw onboard --install-daemon' to complete setup. Platform guides for Windows (WSL2), Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android are available at docs.openclaw.ai.

Yes! OpenClaw runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Mac mini makes an excellent always-on host for OpenClaw, allowing it to be available 24/7 across all your devices and chat platforms.

OpenClaw is model-agnostic. It supports Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT models, and local models via Ollama. You bring your own API keys, giving you full control over costs and privacy. Note: Using Claude Pro/Max subscriptions violates Anthropic's TOS—you must use API keys with pay-as-you-go pricing.

OpenClaw software is completely free and open-source (MIT license). Your costs come from AI model APIs: light use runs $10-30/month, typical use $30-70/month, heavy automation can reach $100-150/month or more. You can reduce costs by using local models via Ollama, or use the Brave Search free tier (2,000 requests/month) for web search.

The official GitHub repository is at github.com/openclaw/openclaw with 310,000+ stars, 58,000+ forks, and 1,200+ contributors. It contains full source code, documentation, and issue tracker. The project is one of the fastest-growing open-source AI projects in history.

Skills are plugins that extend OpenClaw's capabilities. There are over 100 preconfigured AgentSkills available, allowing the AI to execute shell commands, manage file systems, perform web automation, and integrate with 50+ third-party services including smart home devices, productivity tools, and music platforms.

Yes! OpenClaw bridges WhatsApp (via Baileys), Telegram (Bot API/grammY), Discord (Bot API), iMessage, Slack, Signal, Microsoft Teams, Matrix, and more. It supports both DMs and group conversations with mention-based activation.

OpenClaw is designed for privacy—it runs entirely on your own machine or server, not on third-party infrastructure. Your data stays local, and you control what information is shared with AI model providers. For maximum privacy, use local models with memorySearch.provider set to 'local' for zero cloud dependencies.

Install OpenClaw via npm or pnpm (requires Node.js 22+), then run 'openclaw onboard --install-daemon'. The onboarding wizard guides you through API key setup, chat platform configuration, and optional skill installation. Full documentation is available at docs.openclaw.ai.

ChatGPT is a cloud-based conversational AI that suggests actions. OpenClaw is a self-hosted autonomous agent that executes actions on your computer. It has full system access, can control your browser, send messages, schedule tasks, and run automations proactively—even when you're not actively chatting with it.

Absolutely! OpenClaw welcomes contributions at github.com/openclaw/openclaw. Check CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines. You can contribute code, documentation, skills, or community support. AI-assisted PRs are welcome too!

Clawdbot was the original name of OpenClaw, created by Peter Steinberger in November 2025 as a playful pun on 'Claude'. After Anthropic's legal team raised trademark concerns, the project was renamed to Moltbot, then finally to OpenClaw on January 30, 2026. If you're searching for Clawdbot, you've found its successor!

Moltbot was the second name of the project, chosen during a community Discord brainstorm after the Clawdbot trademark issue. 'Molting' represents growth—lobsters shed their shells to become bigger. The mascot 'Molty' the space lobster was introduced during this phase. The project then 'molted' again into OpenClaw.

The official repository is github.com/openclaw/openclaw with 310,000+ stars, 58,000+ forks, and 1,200+ contributors. The openclaw organization on GitHub has 16 repositories total. It's one of the fastest-growing open-source projects in GitHub history.

Yes! Official documentation is at docs.openclaw.ai, covering architecture overview, configuration reference, platform guides (Windows/WSL2, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android), Control UI setup, remote access via SSH/Tailscale, and troubleshooting guides. The GitHub repo also has docs in the /docs folder.

The official Discord is at discord.com/invite/clawd for real-time chat and support. GitHub Discussions is used for technical Q&A. The project gained viral popularity across X (Twitter), TikTok, and Reddit in January 2026. Follow @steipete (creator) for updates.

soul.md is a Markdown file located at ~/.openclaw/soul.md that defines your agent's personality, tone, and behavioral rules. Think of it as your agent's character sheet. You can specify how formal or casual it should be, what topics to avoid, preferred languages, response style, and custom instructions. For example, you might write 'You are a concise technical assistant. Never use emojis. Always respond in English.' OpenClaw reads this file on startup and applies it as a system-level prompt to every conversation.

OpenClaw is self-hosted and fully open source, meaning you can audit every line of code. The project has an active security team that responds to vulnerability reports within 24 hours and runs a bug bounty program. ClawHub skills are scanned by VirusTotal before publication. That said, OpenClaw is a powerful tool with system-level access — always keep it updated to the latest version, review skills before installing them, and follow the security hardening guide at docs.openclaw.ai/security.

Yes! On iOS, the official OpenClaw Messenger and Voice Companion apps are available on the App Store — they connect to your self-hosted OpenClaw instance for real-time chat, push notifications, image attachments, and voice interaction. On Android, community apps like andClaw, MyClaw AI, and AnyClaw are available on Google Play, letting you run OpenClaw directly on your phone or connect to a remote gateway. You can also interact with your agent through chat platforms you already use — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Signal, iMessage, and others. For power users, running OpenClaw natively on Android via Termux with Node.js 22+ is also possible.

OpenClaw stores its data in ~/.openclaw/ by default. Key paths: ~/.openclaw/soul.md (agent personality), ~/.openclaw/.env (API keys and configuration), ~/.openclaw/skills/ (installed skill plugins), ~/.openclaw/data/ (conversation history and memory database), and ~/.openclaw/logs/ (runtime logs). The main executable is installed globally via npm. You can change the data directory by setting the OPENCLAW_HOME environment variable.

To uninstall OpenClaw, run 'npm uninstall -g openclaw' (or 'pnpm remove -g openclaw'). This removes the executable. To also remove all data, delete the ~/.openclaw/ directory: 'rm -rf ~/.openclaw' on macOS/Linux, or manually delete the folder on Windows. If you installed the daemon, stop it first with 'openclaw daemon stop'. On Docker, use 'docker rm -f openclaw' and optionally remove the image with 'docker rmi openclaw'.