Deploy OpenClaw: Your Multi‑Channel AI Agent Gateway Made Easy

What is OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an AI agent gateway that can send and receive messages through platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and can be extended with plugins for other channels like Mattermost. It acts like a 24‑hour assistant and has attracted 246K stars on GitHub.

Installation

On macOS or Linux the recommended quick‑install command is:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

System requirements: Node ≥ 22 and an operating system of macOS, Linux, or Windows via WSL2.

Initial Configuration

Run the onboarding wizard to register the gateway as a system service: openclaw onboard --install-daemon The wizard asks for configuration mode, model API key, chat platform selection, and whether to install optional Skills. After completion the web console is reachable at http://127.0.0.1:18789/?token=YOUR_TOKEN or via supported chat clients.

Supported Channels

Discord – Bot API + Gateway, supports servers, channels and DMs

Slack – Bolt SDK, workspace apps

Telegram – grammY Bot API, supports groups

Feishu (Lark) – robot plugin (separate install)

WebChat – WebSocket‑based UI

WhatsApp – Baileys library, requires QR‑code pairing

Skills System

OpenClaw loads Skills from three locations, with priority /skills → ~/.openclaw/skills → built‑in Skills. Each Skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md with YAML front‑matter that describes how the agent can use external tools.

Token‑Saving Skills

Five community‑contributed Skills reduce token consumption:

QMD – Developed by Shopify founder Tobi, avoids loading the entire memory file on each query.

Prompt‑guard – Injects defensive prompts, cuts token usage by ~70%.

Memory‑hygiene – Keeps vector memory lean to prevent waste.

token‑optimizer – Dynamic tool loading and cache, saves up to 90% on repeated workflow steps.

SecureClaw – Enterprise‑grade security plugin, reduces token cost to ~1150 tokens.

Operational Skills

Additional Skills for DevOps, SRE and general operations include Kubernetes assistants, ansible, terraform, logging‑observability, monitoring, and more, helping AI take over routine maintenance tasks.

Notes

Multiple channels can run concurrently; routing is based on chat source.

Telegram is the quickest to set up; WhatsApp requires QR pairing and stores more state.

Private‑message pairing and allow‑lists are enforced for security.