Tutorials

Set Up OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open-source personal AI assistant that runs on your own machine. It connects to chat apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, and Slack, has persistent memory, and can browse the web, run commands, and manage files. Running it on a VPS gives you 24/7 availability.

Requirements

  • A VPS running Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+
  • Root or sudo access
  • At least 2 GB RAM
  • An API key from an AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google)
  • Optional: a Telegram bot token, Discord bot token, or other chat integration

1. Connect to Your Server

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

Or use the web terminal in the Sitequest dashboard.

2. Create an OpenClaw User

Run OpenClaw under a dedicated user rather than root:

useradd -m -s /bin/bash openclaw

3. Install Node.js

OpenClaw requires Node.js 22.14 or later (Node 24 recommended):

su - openclaw
curl -fsSL https://fnm.vercel.app/install | bash
source ~/.bashrc
fnm install 24
fnm use 24
node --version

4. Install OpenClaw

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

This installs the OpenClaw CLI globally.

5. Run Onboarding

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard will ask you to:

  • Choose a model provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, etc.)
  • Enter your API key
  • Configure the Gateway

This takes about 2 minutes.

6. Verify the Gateway

openclaw gateway status

You should see the Gateway listening on port 18789.

7. Create a systemd Service

Exit back to root (exit) and create the service:

nano /etc/systemd/system/openclaw.service

[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw AI Assistant
After=network.target

[Service]
User=openclaw
WorkingDirectory=/home/openclaw
ExecStart=/home/openclaw/.local/bin/openclaw gateway start --foreground
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
Environment=NODE_ENV=production

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Adjust the ExecStart path if the CLI was installed elsewhere (check with which openclaw as the openclaw user).

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable openclaw
systemctl start openclaw

8. Open Firewall Ports

If you want to access the dashboard remotely, open TCP port 18789 in the Sitequest firewall.

With ufw:

ufw allow 18789/tcp

For production use, consider restricting access to your IP or putting it behind a reverse proxy with authentication.

9. Connect a Chat App

Set up a channel so you can talk to your assistant from anywhere:

  • Telegram: Create a bot via @BotFather, then run openclaw channel add telegram.
  • Discord: Create a bot in the Discord Developer Portal, then run openclaw channel add discord.
  • WhatsApp: Follow the WhatsApp Business API setup in the OpenClaw docs.

See the full list at docs.openclaw.ai/channels.

10. Test It

Send a message to your bot on Telegram, Discord, or through the dashboard at http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:18789. Your assistant should respond.

Next Steps

  • Explore and install community skills from ClawHub
  • Configure persistent memory and persona in the dashboard
  • Set up scheduled tasks and heartbeats for proactive assistance
  • Put the dashboard behind an Nginx reverse proxy with SSL for secure remote access