Guides

How to set up OpenClaw, connect the chat apps you already use, choose where your agent should live, and keep it secure.

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Getting a pod, or already have one? Start with these.

  1. 1What is OpenClaw? The open-source AI agent, explainedOpenClaw is free, open-source software that turns an AI model into a personal agent you message from WhatsApp or Telegram. What it does, how it works, and what it takes to run.
  2. 2Managed OpenClaw hosting vs self-hosting on a VPSRenting a server and doing it yourself versus paying someone to run OpenClaw for you: the work, the risks, and the costs, compared.
  3. 3Which AI models can a hosted OpenClaw agent use, and how do you switch?Essentially all of them: the latest from DeepSeek, Qwen, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more, switched with a sentence in chat. The two levers that work, and why a switch might seem not to land.
  4. 4Who can see your OpenClaw agent's conversations?OpenClaw stores everything locally, but every message still passes through a chat platform and a model provider. Who can technically read what, and the dials that change it.

Getting started43 guides

Read firstHow to install OpenClaw: the three commands, and what comes afterInstalling OpenClaw takes minutes with npm. What you need first, what each command does, and the setup decisions that actually matter.
All 43 guides

What OpenClaw is

Installing it

Models and sign-in

Your agent's memory and identity

Channels15 guides

Read firstConnecting OpenClaw to Telegram, step by stepTelegram is the easiest first channel for OpenClaw: a bot token from BotFather, one config block, no exposed ports. The full setup, including pairing.
All 15 guides

Connecting a chat app

Around the connection

Running & maintaining28 guides

Read firstHow to update OpenClaw without breaking your agentUpdates are where long-running agents get hurt. The safe ritual: know your version, read the release, back up state, update deliberately, verify after.
All 28 guides

Updating, backing up, restarting

When something breaks

Making it do more

Hosting choices25 guides

Read firstShould you run OpenClaw locally or on a VPS?Your laptop is fine for trying OpenClaw out, and wrong for living with it. How to decide where your agent should actually run.
All 25 guides

Where your agent should live

OpenClaw against the others

Other agents on a server

Security21 guides

Read firstWhy you should never put your OpenClaw Gateway on the public internetOpenClaw's own docs say never expose the Gateway unauthenticated. What can go wrong, and the right ways to reach your agent remotely.
All 21 guides

Keeping your agent private

The server side

Agents on the web14 guides

Read firstWhy websites block AI agents — and what an operator can do about itBot walls can't tell your personal agent from a scraper, and there's no passlist for it. How the defenses work, what's legitimate, and what to skip.
All 14 guides

Agents and the sites they visit

Your own site, and agents

The protocols

Your own cloud agent, set up for you.

Everpod runs OpenClaw on a private, always-on computer of its own: set up, secured and backed up, with model usage included. You name your agent, and say hello about fifteen minutes later.

Create your agent

First month half price, then $29/mo · model usage included · cancel anytime

Wondering what you’d do with one? See what a cloud agent can do