What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is a self-hosted gateway that connects chat apps — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, iMessage — to AI agents.

Full OpenClaw documentation: docs.openclaw.ai GitHub repository: github.com/openclaw/openclaw

Key Facts

Open source — MIT licensed, community-driven
50,000+ developers using it worldwide
Self-hosted — runs on your hardware, your rules
Multi-channel — one Gateway serves all messaging apps simultaneously
Agent-native — built for AI agents with tool use, sessions, memory, and routing

Capability	Description
Multi-channel gateway	WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, iMessage from one process
Plugin channels	Add Mattermost and more with extension packages
Multi-agent routing	Isolated sessions per agent, workspace, or sender
Media support	Send and receive images, audio, and documents
Web Control UI	Browser dashboard for chat, config, and sessions
Mobile nodes	Pair iOS and Android with Canvas support
Memory & sessions	Persistent conversation state and context

npm install -g openclaw@latest
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
openclaw channels login
openclaw gateway --port 18789

Requirements: Node 22+, an API key (Anthropic recommended), and 5 minutes.