OpenClaw Setup

OpenClaw is the agent runtime that manages your AI assistant. It handles API calls to Anthropic, tool execution, session history, and the dashboard UI.

Requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 (tested on both)
• 2+ vCPU, 4GB+ RAM recommended
• Node.js v22+ (OpenClaw requires it)
• A domain pointed at your server

Install

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

This installs OpenClaw to /opt/openclaw and creates a openclaw system user.

Environment File

Create /opt/openclaw.env with your API key and version:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
OPENCLAW_VERSION=2026.2.17

Systemd Service

OpenClaw runs as a systemd service. The installer creates this automatically, but if you need to recreate it:

[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw Agent Runtime
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=openclaw
EnvironmentFile=/opt/openclaw.env
ExecStart=/opt/openclaw/openclaw
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

systemctl enable openclaw
systemctl start openclaw

Configuration

The main config is at /home/openclaw/.openclaw/openclaw.json. A minimal working config:

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": { "primary": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6" },
      "sandbox": { "mode": "off", "workspaceAccess": "rw" }
    },
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "main",
        "name": "Your Agent",
        "workspace": "/home/openclaw/.openclaw/workspaces/main",
        "model": { "primary": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6" }
      }
    ]
  },
  "gateway": {
    "mode": "local",
    "bind": "loopback",
    "auth": {
      "mode": "token",
      "token": "your-random-token-here"
    },
    "trustedProxies": ["127.0.0.1", "::1"]
  }
}

Generate a gateway token: openssl rand -hex 32

Caddy Configuration

Caddy proxies requests to OpenClaw's gateway and serves the dashboard:

reef.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:18789
}

yourdomain.com {
    root * /home/openclaw/yoursite/public
    file_server
    handle /api/chat {
        reverse_proxy localhost:18789
    }
}

Important: OpenClaw's trustedProxies must include both 127.0.0.1 and ::1 — Caddy may connect via IPv6 loopback.

Workspace Setup

Create the workspace directory for each agent and add a SOUL.md:

mkdir -p /home/openclaw/.openclaw/workspaces/main
chown -R openclaw:openclaw /home/openclaw/.openclaw/workspaces/

See Writing a SOUL.md for what to put in it.

Verify

systemctl status openclaw
curl -s http://localhost:18789/health

Then open reef.yourdomain.com in a browser — you should see the OpenClaw dashboard.