OpenClaw Setup Skill

Deploy and configure OpenClaw — the open-source personal AI assistant (145k+ GitHub stars) — safely and correctly. This skill handles the full lifecycle: installation, Anthropic model auth, channel wiring (Telegram + iMessage), security hardening, cost control, and deployment to either a local Mac mini or a Hostinger VPS.

• Source: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
• Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
• Created by: Peter Steinberger (founder of PSPDFKit)

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is a self-hosted, conversation-first AI assistant built on LLMs. Originally launched as "Clawdbot" (November 2025), renamed to "Moltbot" (January 27, 2026) after Anthropic trademark concerns, then became "OpenClaw" (January 30, 2026). It runs a local Gateway (WebSocket control plane) on your machine or server and connects to messaging channels you already use — Telegram, iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, and 50+ others. The assistant responds through those channels using models from Anthropic, OpenAI, or other providers.

Key facts:

• Runtime: Node.js ≥22.12.0, TypeScript, pnpm monorepo
• Architecture: Gateway (control plane) → Pi agent (RPC) → LLM provider
• Recommended model: Anthropic Claude Opus 4.5 via OAuth (Pro/Max subscription) for best prompt-injection resistance and long-context strength
• Install method: curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash then openclaw onboard --install-daemon
• Config location: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (JSON5 format)
• Default port: 18789 (WebSocket + HTTP multiplexed)
• Minimum context window: 64K tokens
• License: MIT

⚠️ CRITICAL SECURITY PREREQUISITES

Before ANY installation, these four steps are non-negotiable:

1. Set API spending limits FIRST — Go to console.anthropic.com → Settings → Limits → set a monthly cap ($30-50/month is achievable with smart routing). A misconfigured cron job or heartbeat can cost $750+/month. Do this BEFORE pasting any API key anywhere.

2. Version must be 2026.1.29 or later — CVE-2026-25253 (CVSS 8.8) affects all earlier versions. It enabled 1-click remote code execution through the Control UI. After installation, verify with openclaw --version.

3. Gateway must bind to 127.0.0.1, NEVER 0.0.0.0 — Security researcher Maor Dayan found 42,665 publicly exposed OpenClaw instances via Shodan. 93.4% had critical auth bypasses. The root cause: Docker's default port publishing binds to 0.0.0.0 on VPS instances.

4. DM policy must be "pairing" or "allowlist" — Never use dmPolicy: "open" unless you fully understand the risk.

See references/security-defaults.md for the complete security guide.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Install OpenClaw from scratch on macOS or Linux
• Deploy OpenClaw to a Hostinger VPS using Docker
• Configure Anthropic as the model provider
• Connect Telegram or iMessage as a messaging channel
• Apply safe security defaults to a new or existing OpenClaw installation
• Run post-setup health checks (openclaw doctor, openclaw security audit)
• Troubleshoot common OpenClaw setup issues
• Understand OpenClaw costs and optimize spending

When NOT to Use This Skill

Do not use this skill for:

• WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Signal, or other channel setup (not covered here)
• Advanced multi-agent routing or Canvas/A2UI configuration
• iOS/Android node pairing or voice wake setup
• OpenClaw skills/plugins development
• Browser control configuration
• Ollama/local model setup

Setup Workflow

Follow this order. Each step links to its reference file.

Step 0: Set API Spending Limits

Before touching anything else, go to your LLM provider's console and set a monthly spending cap. See references/anthropic-auth.md for details.

Step 1: Choose a Deployment Path

Path	Best For	Reference
Mac mini (local)	Personal use, always-on home server, iMessage support, safest for non-technical users	references/mac-local-setup.md
Hostinger VPS	24/7 cloud availability, Telegram-focused, Docker isolation, requires active hardening	references/hostinger-vps-setup.md

If the user wants iMessage, they must use the Mac path (iMessage requires macOS with Messages signed in).

Step 2: Set Up Anthropic Auth

Configure Anthropic as the primary model provider during or after onboarding.

→ Read references/anthropic-auth.md

Step 3: Connect Channels

Channel	Platform Requirement	Reference
Telegram	Any (Mac or VPS)	references/telegram-channel.md
iMessage	macOS only	references/imessage-channel.md

Step 4: Apply Security Defaults

Harden the installation with safe defaults before going live.

→ Read references/security-defaults.md

Step 5: Verify

openclaw --version              # Must be 2026.1.29+
openclaw doctor
openclaw security audit --deep
openclaw gateway status
openclaw channels status --probe
openclaw status --all

On VPS, verify the gateway is NOT bound to 0.0.0.0:

ss -tlnp | grep 18789
# Must show 127.0.0.1:18789, NOT 0.0.0.0:18789

Interactive Setup Mode

When running commands for the user, Claude Code should:

1. Set spending limits first — Walk the user through setting API caps at console.anthropic.com
2. Check prerequisites — Verify Node.js ≥22.12.0, Xcode CLI tools (macOS), and gather credentials
3. Run the install script — Execute the curl installer or npm global install
4. Verify version — Confirm openclaw --version shows 2026.1.29+
5. Launch the onboarding wizard — Run openclaw onboard --install-daemon and guide the user through each interactive prompt
6. Generate secure config — Produce a ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json with safe defaults
7. Warn about skills — During the wizard's skills step, advise installing only bundled skills. ClawHub community skills should be treated with extreme caution (Cisco found 26% contain vulnerabilities; 341 malicious skills found including macOS malware installers)
8. Warn about heartbeat costs — If heartbeat is enabled, recommend switching it to Haiku model or disabling it. Default Opus heartbeat costs ~$54/month.
9. Configure channels — Set up Telegram bot token and/or iMessage
10. Run health checks — Execute openclaw doctor and openclaw security audit --deep
11. Verify binding — On VPS, run ss -tlnp | grep 18789 to confirm loopback binding
12. Test connectivity — Send a test message or open the dashboard

For each interactive prompt in the wizard, explain what the option means and recommend the safe choice. Non-technical users need plain-language explanations; developers can get the concise version.

Non-Interactive Setup (for scripting)

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local --auth-choice apiKey \
  --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  --gateway-port 18789 --gateway-bind loopback \
  --install-daemon --daemon-runtime node --skip-skills

Key Config Structure

Minimal safe config (Anthropic + Telegram + secure defaults):

{
  agent: {
    model: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5"
  },
  gateway: {
    bind: "loopback",
    port: 18789,
    auth: { mode: "token", token: "<auto-generated>" }
  },
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "<from-botfather>",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } }
    }
  },
  discovery: {
    mdns: { mode: "minimal" }
  }
}

Troubleshooting Quick Reference

Issue	Fix
openclaw --version < 2026.1.29	Update immediately: openclaw update --channel stable — critical RCE vulnerability
node --version < 22	Install Node 22+ via nvm, Homebrew, or system package manager
Gateway won't start	Check port 18789 not in use; run openclaw doctor --fix
Gateway bound to 0.0.0.0	Fix Docker port binding to "127.0.0.1:18789:18789" and restart
Telegram 401 Unauthorized	Regenerate bot token in BotFather; update config and restart
"plugin not found: telegram"	Telegram is a CHANNEL, not a plugin — config goes under channels.telegram
Pairing code not working	openclaw pairing approve telegram <code> — codes expire after 1 hour
iMessage not connecting	Verify Messages signed in; consider BlueBubbles for better reliability
High API costs ($100+/mo)	Set spending limits; switch heartbeat to Haiku; use tiered model routing
Heartbeat costing $54+/month	Switch heartbeat model to Haiku with 1-hour intervals (~$0.30/month)
Security audit warnings	openclaw security audit --fix to auto-apply safe defaults
WhatsApp status=515 error	Click Update in Control UI or restart gateway
ClawHub skill suspicious	Do NOT install. 26% contain vulnerabilities per Cisco research

Reference Files

File	Content
references/mac-local-setup.md	Complete Mac mini local deployment walkthrough
references/hostinger-vps-setup.md	Hostinger VPS Docker deployment guide
references/anthropic-auth.md	Anthropic auth, cost control, and smart model routing
references/telegram-channel.md	Telegram bot creation and channel configuration
references/imessage-channel.md	iMessage channel setup — BlueBubbles (recommended) + legacy
references/security-defaults.md	CVE-2026-25253, safe defaults, hardening, incident response