OpenClaw¶

Open-source personal AI assistant that runs on your own devices and connects to any messaging platform. Created by Peter Steinberger (Austria), MIT licensed, 360k+ GitHub stars.

TL;DR

OpenClaw is a self-hosted AI gateway that connects 24+ messaging platforms to any LLM. It executes shell commands, automates browsers, manages files, schedules tasks, and runs complex workflows — all from the channels you already use (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, iMessage, etc.). Free and open-source; you pay only for API calls.

Overview¶

Property	Value
Repository	openclaw/openclaw
License	MIT
Language	TypeScript
Stars	360,000+ (as of April 2026)
Creator	Peter Steinberger
First Release	November 2025 (as Clawdbot)
Current Name	OpenClaw (since January 30, 2026)
Docs	docs.openclaw.ai
Wikipedia	OpenClaw

History & Naming¶

OpenClaw has had a turbulent naming history:

Clawd — Original AI assistant developed by Peter Steinberger, named after Anthropic's Claude.
Clawdbot — Published November 2025 as an open-source fork/evolution. Hit 100k GitHub stars in 48 hours.
Moltbot — Renamed January 27, 2026 following trademark complaints from Anthropic.
OpenClaw — Final rename on January 30, 2026 because "Moltbot never quite rolled off the tongue."

On February 14, 2026, Steinberger announced he was joining OpenAI and that a non-profit foundation would be established for project stewardship.

Key Features¶

Multi-Channel Messaging Gateway¶

Supported channels (24+): WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, iMessage, BlueBubbles, IRC, Microsoft Teams, Matrix, Feishu, LINE, Mattermost, Nextcloud Talk, Nostr, Synology Chat, Tlon, Twitch, Zalo, WeChat, QQ, WebChat, and more.

Agentic Capabilities¶

Shell command execution
File management
Browser automation
Task scheduling (cron)
Webhook-driven workflows
Canvas rendering (live, controllable)
Voice input/output on macOS/iOS/Android

Memory System¶

Three-tier local memory:

Tier	File	Scope
Long-term	`MEMORY.md`	Permanent facts and preferences, loaded every conversation
Daily	`memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md`	Today's and yesterday's notes, auto-loaded
Session	In-context	Current conversation state

Skills Marketplace (ClawHub)¶

53 official bundled skills (notes, email, social media, dev workflows)
13,700+ community-contributed skills on ClawHub
Skills are human-written and installed via the marketplace

MCP Support¶

Native Model Context Protocol server support for extending agent access to external tools (GitHub, Notion, databases, APIs).

LLM Agnostic¶

Works with any LLM provider: Claude, GPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, Ollama, Nemotron (local via NemoClaw).

Ecosystem (Claw Family)¶

See Claw Family Ecosystem for the full table. Key extensions:

NemoClaw (NVIDIA) — Secure runtime with managed inference and policy enforcement
claworc — Multi-instance orchestration dashboard
Lobster — Typed workflow engine for deterministic pipelines
AutoResearchClaw — 23-stage autonomous research pipeline
Paperclip — Enterprise management layer

Security Concerns¶

Security Track Record

OpenClaw's security history demands caution for production use.

CVE-2026-25253 — Remote code execution vulnerability disclosed January 2026.
March 2026 — 9 CVEs disclosed in 4 days, including one scoring CVSS 9.9.
135,000+ exposed instances found on public internet across 82 countries without proper firewall configuration.
341–900 malicious skills identified in ClawHub marketplace.
Prompt injection susceptibility documented by multiple security researchers.

Deployment Recommendation

Always run behind a firewall. Never expose the Gateway port directly. Use NemoClaw for confidential data. Audit ClawHub skills before installing.

Pricing¶

Tier	Cost
Self-hosted	Free + API costs ($15–80/month typical)
OpenClaw Cloud (managed)	$59/month

Sources¶

Questions¶

Open¶

How stable is the non-profit foundation governance model post-Steinberger?
What is the malicious skill detection rate on ClawHub — are the 341–900 flagged skills the tip of the iceberg?
Does Lobster's workflow engine scale for enterprise-grade automation, or is it still best for personal use?
How does OpenClaw's session crash rate (3–4/day reported) compare after the 2026 Q2 stability patches?