OpenClaw
- Quick start
- Web search and fetch
- Configure without launching
- Non-interactive (headless) mode
- Connect messaging apps
- Stopping the gateway
OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant that runs on your own devices. It bridges messaging services (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, iMessage, and more) to AI coding agents through a centralized gateway.
Quick start
ollama launch openclaw
Ollama handles everything automatically:
- Install — If OpenClaw isn't installed, Ollama prompts to install it via npm
- Security — On the first launch, a security notice explains the risks of tool access
- Model — Pick a model from the selector (see supported local and cloud models here)
- Onboarding — Ollama configures the provider, installs the gateway daemon, sets your model as the primary, and enables OpenClaw's bundled Ollama web search
- Gateway — Starts in the background and opens the OpenClaw TUI
OpenClaw requires a larger context window. It is recommended to use a context window of at least 64k tokens if using local models. See Context length for more information.
Previously known as Clawdbot. ollama launch clawdbot still works as an alias.
Web search and fetch
OpenClaw ships with a bundled Ollama web_search provider that lets local or cloud-backed Ollama setups search the web through the configured Ollama host.
ollama launch openclaw
Ollama web search is enabled automatically when launching OpenClaw through Ollama. To configure it manually:
openclaw configure --section web
Ollama web search for local models requires ollama signin.
Configure without launching
To change the model without starting the gateway and TUI:
ollama launch openclaw --config
To use a specific model directly:
ollama launch openclaw --model kimi-k2.5:cloud
If the gateway is already running, it restarts automatically to pick up the new model.
Non-interactive (headless) mode
Run OpenClaw without interaction for use in Docker, CI/CD, or scripts:
ollama launch openclaw --model kimi-k2.5:cloud --yes
The --yes flag auto-pulls the model, skips selectors, and requires --model to be specified.
Connect messaging apps
openclaw configure --section channels
Link WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, or iMessage to chat with your local models from anywhere.
Stopping the gateway
openclaw gateway stop