OpenClaw Frequently Asked Questions

OpenClaw is an open-source local AI assistant for messaging automation, browser-based Control UI, voice workflows, and skills. Clawdbot remains the legacy brand and search alias, but OpenClaw is the primary product name.

Yes. OpenClaw is MIT-licensed and free to run. Your ongoing cost depends on the model provider or local infrastructure you choose for the workflows you enable.

You do not need to write code, but you should be comfortable following terminal steps from the install guides. After installation, the official onboarding command is 'openclaw onboard --install-daemon'.

The current docs recommend Node.js 24 and support Node.js 22.14+ for local installs on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Telegram is the fastest starter channel in the official getting-started flow because it only needs a bot token.

Use 'openclaw channels add --channel <name>' for token-based or config-driven channels. Use 'openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp' for the interactive WhatsApp Web QR flow.

Install OpenClaw, run 'openclaw onboard --install-daemon', then use 'openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp' to complete the QR login flow. The WhatsApp setup guide walks through the full sequence.

Use 'openclaw skills search' to browse the catalog and 'openclaw skills install <slug>' to add a skill. ClawHub is the public registry for discovery and sharing.

Yes. OpenClaw runs on your own machine, so you decide which channels, providers, and workflows can access your data. Hosted model calls only go to the providers you explicitly configure.

Yes. OpenClaw supports local model setups such as Ollama as well as hosted and OpenAI-compatible providers documented by the project.

Run 'openclaw dashboard' to open the browser-based Control UI served by the Gateway.

Run 'openclaw gateway status' to check Gateway status, then open 'openclaw dashboard' if you want the browser-based view.

No. Install OpenClaw once, then add the channels and skills you need from the same local runtime.

Use 'openclaw skills update --all' to refresh installed skills in one pass.

First confirm 'openclaw gateway status'. Then reopen 'openclaw dashboard' and review the setup guide for the affected channel to verify credentials, permissions, or interactive login steps are still valid.