OpenClaw Installation & Configuration Guide

OpenClaw is a powerful AI automation platform that lets you deploy intelligent agents to automate various tasks. This guide covers the complete installation and configuration process.

System Requirements

Hardware Requirements

Spec	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	2 cores	4+ cores
RAM	4GB	8GB+
Disk	20GB	50GB+ SSD
Network	Stable internet	High bandwidth

Software Requirements

• OS: Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+), macOS, Windows (WSL2)
• Node.js: v18.0 or higher
• NPM: v9.0 or higher
• Git: Latest version

Installation Steps

Step 1: Install Node.js

Ubuntu/Debian:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Verify
node --version
npm --version

macOS:

brew install node@20

Step 2: Install OpenClaw CLI

npm install -g openclaw@latest

# Verify
openclaw --version

Step 3: Initialize Configuration

openclaw onboard

Step 4: Start Gateway

# Foreground mode (debug)
openclaw gateway

# Background mode (production)
openclaw gateway --daemon

# Check status
openclaw gateway status

Configuration

Main Config File

Create ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "gateway": {
    "port": 18789,
    "host": "0.0.0.0",
    "auth": {
      "enabled": true,
      "token": "your-secure-token"
    }
  },
  "agent": {
    "model": "openai/gpt-4",
    "temperature": 0.7,
    "max_tokens": 4000
  }
}

API Keys

Create ~/.openclaw/credentials/llm_keys.json:

{
  "openai_api_key": "sk-your-openai-key",
  "anthropic_api_key": "sk-ant-your-anthropic-key",
  "google_api_key": "your-gemini-key"
}

Skills System

Installing Skills

# List available skills
openclaw skills list

# Install skills
openclaw skills install file-manager
openclaw skills install web-search
openclaw skills install code-executor

Top Skills Recommendations

1. File Manager - AI file operations
2. Web Search - Real-time information
3. Code Executor - Safe code execution
4. Git Helper - Version control assistance
5. Database Query - Natural language SQL

Docker Deployment

# Pull image
docker pull openclaw/openclaw:latest

# Run container
docker run -d \
  --name openclaw \
  -p 18789:18789 \
  -v ~/.openclaw:/root/.openclaw \
  openclaw/openclaw:latest

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Learn more at docs.openclaw.ai