Get Started with OpenClaw — Install Guide (Mac & Linux)

Prerequisites

📦

Node.js 20+

OpenClaw runs on Node.js. Install from nodejs.org or use brew install node on Mac.

🔑

AI API Key

At least one: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google AI, or OpenRouter.

💬

Chat Platform

A Telegram bot token (from @BotFather), WhatsApp, or Discord bot for your agent to communicate through.

Installation Steps

Install OpenClaw globally

Use npm to install the OpenClaw CLI. This gives you the openclaw command globally.

$ npm install -g openclaw

Initialize your workspace

Run init to create the configuration directory and default config file at ~/.openclaw/.

$ openclaw init
✓ Created ~/.openclaw/config.yaml
✓ Created ~/.openclaw/workspace/

Configure your AI model

Edit ~/.openclaw/config.yaml and add your API key. Example with Claude:

models:
  default: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4
  providers:
    anthropic:
      apiKey: sk-ant...here
    openai:
      apiKey: ***
    google:
      apiKey: your-gemini-key

Connect a messaging channel

Add your Telegram bot token (or WhatsApp/Discord config) to the channels section:

channels:
  telegram:
    botToken: "123456:ABC-DEF..."
    allowedUsers:
      - your_telegram_id

Start the gateway

Launch OpenClaw. Your AI agent is now live and listening on your configured channels.

$ openclaw gateway start
⚡ Gateway running on port 3333
✓ Telegram bot connected
✓ Model: claude-sonnet-4 ready
# Send a message to your bot on Telegram — it works!

Your first automation

Once your agent is running, try these commands from your Telegram chat:

# Ask your agent to summarize a webpage

You: Summarize https://news.ycombinator.com

Agent: Here are today's top HN stories: ...

# Schedule a daily briefing

You: Every morning at 8am, check HN and summarize the top 5 stories

Agent: ✓ Scheduled daily HN briefing at 08:00

# Use it as a coding assistant

You: Review this PR: github.com/myrepo/pull/42

Agent: Reviewing... Found 3 issues: ...

Get started in 5 minutes