OpenClaw — How-to Guide (set up, use & best practices)

Step by step

Follow along

1

Install OpenClaw

On macOS or Linux run 'curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash'. On Windows (PowerShell) run 'iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex'. Node.js 22.19 or higher is required (Node 24 recommended).
2

Run the onboarding wizard

Execute 'openclaw onboard --install-daemon' in your terminal. The wizard walks you through choosing a model provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, etc.), setting an API key, and installing the Gateway as a background service. It takes about 2 minutes.
3

Verify the Gateway is running

Run 'openclaw gateway status' to confirm the Gateway is listening on its default port (18789). If it is not running, start it with 'openclaw gateway start'.
4

Open the control dashboard

Run 'openclaw dashboard' to open the Control UI in your browser. Type a message in the chat box and you should receive an AI reply, confirming everything is connected.
5

Connect a messaging channel

Follow the channel-specific guide at docs.openclaw.ai/channels to pair OpenClaw with Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, or another supported platform. Telegram is the fastest to set up — you only need a bot token from BotFather.
6

Chat with your assistant on your phone

Once a channel is connected, send a message from that app (e.g., Telegram) to your bot. OpenClaw routes the message to your configured AI model and replies back in the same thread.
7

Run 'openclaw doctor' to check your setup

At any time, run 'openclaw doctor' in the terminal to surface misconfigured DM policies, missing API keys, or other setup issues before they cause problems.

Do it like a pro

✦ Use 'openclaw onboard --install-daemon' rather than running the Gateway in the foreground so your assistant stays available even after you close the terminal.

✦ Leave the default 'pairing' DM policy enabled on all channels — it requires unknown senders to provide a pairing code before the assistant processes their messages.

✦ Run 'openclaw doctor' after any config change to catch security misconfigurations early.

✦ Keep OpenClaw updated with 'npm install -g openclaw@latest' and then 'openclaw doctor' to verify the upgrade.

✦ For team or group-channel use, enable sandbox mode ('agents.defaults.sandbox.mode: non-main') so untrusted sessions cannot run arbitrary shell commands on your host.

✦ Read the Gateway exposure runbook at docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/security/exposure-runbook before making your Gateway reachable from the public internet.