What to Do After Installing OpenClaw

You've installed OpenClaw. Now what? This guide walks you through the essential first steps: verifying your installation, connecting your first channel, configuring your agent, and running your first automation.

Prerequisites

• OpenClaw installed via npm install -g openclaw or another method
• A terminal with Node.js 18+ available
• An API key from Anthropic or OpenAI

Step 1: Verify the Installation

First, confirm OpenClaw is installed correctly:

openclaw --version

You should see output like openclaw 1.x.x. If you get "command not found", ensure your npm global bin is in your PATH:

# Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.)
export PATH="$PATH:$(npm config get prefix)/bin"
source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

Check the status

openclaw status

This shows whether the gateway daemon is running and your current configuration.

Step 2: Start the Gateway

The OpenClaw gateway is a background daemon that handles all communication between your agent and external services.

openclaw gateway start

You should see:

✓ Gateway started on http://localhost:8789

Verify it's running

openclaw gateway status

To stop or restart:

openclaw gateway stop
openclaw gateway restart

Step 3: Configure Your LLM Provider

OpenClaw needs an API key from Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI to function. Set it in your environment:

Option A: Environment variable (recommended)

# For Anthropic Claude (recommended)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

# Or for OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

Add this to your shell profile to persist it.

Option B: Config file

Create or edit ~/.openclaw/config.yaml:

llm:
  provider: anthropic  # or "openai"
  model: claude-sonnet-4-20250514
  # apiKey: sk-...  # Can also be set here, but env var is safer

Verify the connection

openclaw status

You should see your configured model listed.

Step 4: Create Your Agent Persona

OpenClaw uses a SOUL.md file to define your agent's personality and behavior. Create your workspace:

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace

Create SOUL.md:

# SOUL.md - Who You Are

You are a helpful assistant. You're direct, concise, and focused on getting things done.

## Core Principles

- Be helpful without being verbose
- Ask clarifying questions when needed
- Admit when you don't know something

## Boundaries

- Don't make up information
- Ask before taking irreversible actions
- Keep private information private

This is a starting point — customize it to match how you want your agent to behave.

Step 5: Connect Your First Channel

OpenClaw supports multiple communication channels. The easiest to start with is Telegram.

Telegram Setup

1. Create a bot with BotFather

1. Open Telegram
2. Search for @BotFather and start the chat
3. Send /newbot
4. Follow the prompts to name your bot
5. Copy the bot token (looks like 123456789:ABCdefGHI...)

2. Add the channel to OpenClaw

openclaw channels add --channel telegram --token YOUR_BOT_TOKEN

Replace YOUR_BOT_TOKEN with the token from BotFather.

3. Restart the gateway

openclaw gateway restart

4. Start chatting

Message your bot on Telegram — it should respond!

Note: By default, the bot will only respond after pairing. To pair, send any message to your bot and follow the pairing prompt, or configure allowedUsers in your config for specific Telegram user IDs.

Other Channels

Add other channels the same way:

# Discord
openclaw channels add --channel discord --token YOUR_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN

# Slack
openclaw channels add --channel slack --token YOUR_SLACK_BOT_TOKEN

See the Channels documentation for detailed setup instructions for each platform.

Step 6: Install Your First Skill

Skills extend what your agent can do. Browse the skills directory to find useful ones.

Install a skill

npx clawhub@latest install weather

Verify it's loaded

openclaw skills list

Try it out

Message your agent: "What's the weather in Denver?"

Popular starter skills

• weather — Current weather and forecasts
• web-search — Search the web via Brave API
• github — Interact with GitHub repos and issues
• calendar — Google Calendar integration

Step 7: Test Your Setup

Send a test message to your agent through your configured channel (Telegram, Discord, etc.):

Hello! Can you tell me what skills you have available?

Your agent should respond with a list of its capabilities.

Troubleshooting

Agent not responding?

openclaw gateway status  # Is the gateway running?
openclaw logs           # Check for errors

API key issues?

openclaw status         # Verify your LLM provider is configured

Channel not working?

• Double-check your bot token
• Ensure your user ID is in the allowedUsers list
• Check the logs: openclaw logs

Step 8: Set Up Persistence (Optional but Recommended)

For the agent to remember context across sessions, create a memory directory:

mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory

Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/AGENTS.md with instructions for how your agent should use memory:

# AGENTS.md

## Memory

- Write important information to `memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md`
- Read recent memory files at the start of each session
- Update `MEMORY.md` with long-term learnings

Step 9: Run on Startup (Optional)

To keep OpenClaw running 24/7, set up automatic startup:

macOS (LaunchAgent)

openclaw service install
openclaw service start

Linux (systemd)

sudo openclaw service install --system
sudo systemctl enable openclaw
sudo systemctl start openclaw

Verify it's running after reboot

Restart your machine, then:

openclaw gateway status

What's Next?

You now have a working OpenClaw setup. Here's where to go from here:

1. Browse skills — Find tools for your workflow
2. Security hardening — Lock down your agent for production
3. Docker deployment — Containerize your setup
4. Cloud deployment — Run OpenClaw on a VPS or cloud provider

Join the Community

• Discord: discord.gg/clawd
• GitHub: github.com/openclaw/openclaw
• Twitter: @opencloudio

Quick Reference

Questions? Join our Discord community or open an issue on GitHub.