Your Assistant. Your Machine. Your Rules.

OpenClaw aka (Clawdbot, MoltBot) is an open agent platform that runs on your machine and works from the chat apps you already use. WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Teams—wherever you are, your AI assistant follows.

Unlike SaaS assistants where your data lives on someone else’s servers, OpenClaw runs where you choose—laptop, homelab, or VPS. Your infrastructure. Your keys. Your data.

1. Open your Coolify Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Project > New.
3. Select Public Repository.
4. Enter the URL: https://github.com/essamamdani/openclaw-coolify
5. Click Continue.

Once the container is running and healthy:

1. Access the Dashboard:
   • Open the Service Logs in Coolify.
   • Look for: 🦞 OPENCLAW READY.
   • You will see a Dashboard URL with a token (e.g., https://.../?token=xyz).
   • Click that link to access your OpenClaw Gateway UI.
2. Approve Your Device:
   • You will see an "Unauthorized" or pairing screen (this is normal).
   • Open the Service Terminal in Coolify.
   • Run: openclaw-approve

   • [!WARNING]

   • Security Note: openclaw-approve is a break-glass utility that auto-accepts ALL pending pairing requests. Only run this immediately after accessing the URL yourself. Do not leave it running or use it when you don't recognize a request.

3. Guided Onboarding: To configure your agent's personality and skills:
   • In the terminal, run: openclaw onboard
   • Follow the interactive wizard.
4. Configure Channels: Go to the Channels tab in the dashboard to link WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.

OpenClaw lives where you work. You can connect it to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, etc.

Fastest setup.

1. Talk to @BotFather on Telegram.
2. Create a new bot (/newbot) and get the Token.
3. Add TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN to your Coolify Environment Variables.
4. Redeploy (or just restart).
5. DM your new bot. It will ask for a Pairing Code.
6. Go to your OpenClaw Dashboard > Pairing to approve it.
   • Docs: Telegram Channel Guide

Requires scanning a QR code.

1. Go to your OpenClaw Dashboard (from the logs).
2. Navigate to Channels > WhatsApp.
3. Open WhatsApp on your phone > Linked Devices > Link a Device.
4. Scan the QR code shown on the dashboard.
5. Done! You can now chat with OpenClaw.
   • Docs: WhatsApp Channel Guide

You can verify status or manage other channels (Discord, Slack) via the dashboard or CLI.

• CLI Docs: Channel Management

Think of this Docker container not as an app, but as an Office Building.

• The Manager (Gateway): The main openclaw process. It hires "staff" to do work.
• The Workers (Sandboxes): When you ask for a complex coding task, the Manager spins up isolated Docker containers (sub-agents).
  • They have their own Linux tools (Python, Node, Go).
  • They work safely in a sandbox, then report back.
  • Managed via: Docker Socket Proxy (Secure Sidecar).

Your office never forgets, thanks to a 3-tier memory architecture:

• The Filing Cabinet (openclaw-workspace): A persistent Docker Volume where agents write code, save files, and store heavy data. Survives restarts.
• The Brain (Internal SQLite): OpenClaw's native transactional memory for conversations and facts.
• Web Search (SearXNG): A private, tracking-free search engine (searxng:8080) for the agent's research.

Your agent can securely manage credentials without leaking them:

• Bitwarden (rbw): Securely fetch secrets from your Bitwarden vault.
• Pass: Local GPG-encrypted password storage for the agent's exclusive use.

Need to show a client your work?

• The agent can start a web server (e.g., Next.js on port 3000).
• It uses cloudflared to instantly create a secure public URL (e.g., https://project-viz.trycloudflare.com).
• No router port forwarding required.

• Universal Scraper: 5-stage fallback engine (Curl -> AI Browser -> Anti-Detect) to read any website.
• Research Tools: hackernews-cli, tuir (Reddit), newsboat (RSS), sonos control.

• Pre-installed Tools: gh (GitHub), vercel, bun, python, ripgrep.
• Office Suite: pandoc (Docs), marp (Slides), csvkit (Excel), qmd (Local AI Search).
• Secure: All sub-agents are firewalled.
• Self-Healing: Docker volumes ensure openclaw-config and openclaw-workspace persist forever.

• Authentication: Dashboard is token-protected. New chat users must be "paired" (approved) first.
• Docker Proxy: This setup uses a Sockety Proxy (Sidecar) pattern.
  • OpenClaw talks to a restricted Docker API proxy (tcp://docker-proxy:2375).
  • Blocked: Swarm, Secrets, System, Volumes, and other critical host functions.
  • Allowed: Only what's needed for sandboxing (Containers, Images, Networks).
• Isolation: Sub-agents run in disposable containers. SOUL.md rules forbid the agent from touching your other Coolify services.