OpenClaw Guide

Master OpenClaw — the open-source, local-first AI assistant with 169K+ GitHub stars. From first install to multi-agent automation.

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant that runs on your own devices and performs real-world tasks through natural conversation. It connects to your chat apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage, and more), manages your inbox, calendar, files, and browser — all while keeping your data local.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your Chat Apps                                  │
│  WhatsApp · Telegram · Discord · Slack · Signal  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Gateway (daemon on your machine)                │
│  WebSocket API · Auth · Channels · Routing       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Agent Runtime                                   │
│  Tools · Skills · Memory · Browser · Nodes       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  LLM Providers                                   │
│  Claude (OAuth) · GPT-4 · Gemini · Local LLMs   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Start Here

5 min

Install & First Run

Install OpenClaw, run the onboarding wizard, and have your first conversation.

Essential

Workspace Config

Configure AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, and TOOLS.md to shape your assistant's behavior.

Multi-platform

Channels

Connect to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, and 10+ messaging platforms.

Core Features

Skills & ClawHub

Browse 565+ community skills, install from ClawHub, or create your own SKILL.md in minutes.

Built-in Tools

Exec, Browser, Web, apply_patch, Lobster, and more. Understand every tool OpenClaw ships with.

Go Further

Multi-Agent

Sub-agents, Agent Send, routing rules, and presence for coordinated workflows.

Automation

Cron jobs, hooks, webhooks, Gmail PubSub — make your agent proactive.

Architecture

Gateway daemon, Agent Runtime, sessions, memory compaction — how it all works under the hood.

Why learn OpenClaw on AgentWay?

OpenClaw is a production AI agent. Understanding its architecture — Gateway, Agent Loop, Memory, Skills — teaches you the same patterns you'll use to build your own agents. These tutorials double as agent development lessons.

Learn Agent Architecture Concepts