openclawOS is a self-hosted, multi-channel gateway that connects AI agents like Pi, Claude and GPT to messengers including WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, iMessage, Signal and Slack. It runs on your own hardware so your data never leaves your network.

Yes. openclawOS is MIT licensed and the Neul Labs distribution is free to download and self-host. You only pay your LLM provider for tokens.

How is openclawOS different from openclaw.ai?

openclawOS is the Neul Labs distribution of openclaw — same kernel-based architecture, same multi-channel support, with extra packaging, prebuilt Docker images and managed hosting on the way.

Which messaging apps are supported?

Production-ready: WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal and iMessage. Beta: Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, Matrix. Plus 15+ community channels including Mattermost, BlueBubbles, LINE, Twitch, and Nostr.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. The CLI walks you through onboarding. Power users get YAML config, hooks, sub-agents and a Lua-light binding language — but most people just run the installer and pair a channel.

v2026.x · MIT licensed · Star us on GitHub →

Your AI agent. Every chat app. Your hardware.

openclawOS is a self-hosted gateway that connects Claude, GPT and Gemini to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, iMessage, Signal, Slack and 30+ more channels — running on your own machine. No cloud middleman. No data egress. Just one Gateway, every messenger.

Install in 60 seconds View on GitHub

Runs on macOS · Linux · Windows (WSL2) · iOS · Android

30+

Channels supported
534k

Lines of TypeScript
MIT

Licensed, forever
100+

Contributors

Channels

One Gateway. Thirty+ messengers.

Set up once. Talk to the same agent across WhatsApp, iMessage, Telegram and the rest. Hand the device to your spouse — they'll never know it's the same Pi.

Browse all 30+ channels →

Self-hosted

Runs on your Mac, your Linux box, your home server. Sessions, memory and credentials never leave your network.

Multi-channel

Send a message in Telegram. Get the reply on WhatsApp. Same identity, same context — Gateway routes it all.

Agent-native

Pi ships in the box: tool use, vector memory, vision, multi-turn sessions, branching, compaction.

Open source

MIT licensed. Fork it, audit it, run a private build. We push releases weekly.

Get started

From zero to messaging in 60 seconds.

Pick your installer. Run one command. Pair your favourite messenger. Talk to Pi.

npm install -g openclawos@latest
openclawos onboard --install-daemon

Recommended for macOS & Linux. Requires Node 22+.

curl -fsSL https://openclawos.neullabs.com/install.sh | sh

One-line installer. Detects your OS and pulls the right binary.

docker run -d --name openclawos \
  -p 7777:7777 \
  -v openclawos-data:/data \
  ghcr.io/neullabs/openclawos:latest

Self-host on any server with Docker. Volumes preserve sessions.

brew tap neullabs/openclawos
brew install openclawos

macOS only. Daemon registers as launchd service.

1. Install

Pick npm, curl, Docker or Homebrew.

2. Pair a channel

openclaw apps install telegram

3. Say hi

Message your bot. Pi responds with tools, memory, context.

Architecture

The Gateway is the kernel. Channels are processes.

openclawOS borrows the OS metaphor: one daemon coordinates routing, sessions and memory; channels and agents are isolated apps you compose. Crash one, the rest keep humming.

Channels

WhatsApp app

Telegram app

Discord app

Slack app

iMessage app

Signal app

Gateway (kernel)

Routes messages, tracks sender identity, isolates sessions per user/group, persists context.

● Sessions & memory
● Bindings & routing
● Auth & secrets
● Hooks & cron
● Vector store (sqlite-vec)

core

Agents & providers

Pi (default)

Custom agent

Claude (Anthropic)

GPT (OpenAI)

Gemini (Google)

Any OpenAI-compatible

← inbound channels routing & sessions LLM providers →

Deep dive into the architecture →

Use cases

Real things people run on openclawOS.

It's not just a chatbot. Pi has tools — shell, browser, file system, vector memory. Bindings turn any messenger into a control surface for the rest of your stack.

Engineering

Code review from your bedroom

Pi reviews open PRs, summarises diffs, surfaces regressions — delivered to your Telegram while you're on the couch.
Home & IoT

Home automation, conversationally

Trigger Roborock, query Grafana, restart a Bambu print — all from a WhatsApp message. Tool use, not toy use.
Teams

Private group ops

Spin up an agent inside a Signal group chat. Standups, summaries, action items. End-to-end encrypted by Signal; self-hosted by you.
Research

Long-running research

Email-to-agent: forward a paper, get a structured summary. Sessions persist, citations linked, memory survives reboots.
Operations

Customer ops without SaaS

Route Slack DMs, escalate to a human, file a Linear issue, post back to the customer — all in one Pi binding.
Personal

Personal life-OS

Health stats from Oura, a Notion daily, weather, your calendar — Pi triages it into a single morning brief on iMessage.

Bring your own LLM

Claude (Anthropic)

Recommended: Opus 4.6+
GPT (OpenAI)

GPT-4, Codex, Responses
Gemini (Google)

Vision + long context
GLM

Self-hosted OK
MiniMax

Long context
Any OpenAI-compatible

Ollama, vLLM, Together…

Writing

Fresh from the lobster tank.

All articles →

cornerstone self-hostedai gateway

The complete guide to self-hosted AI gateways in 2026

What a self-hosted AI gateway is, why it matters, how openclawOS implements one, and a practical setup walkthrough — from zero to multi-channel agent in an afternoon.

May 22, 2026 14 min read

cornerstone architecturedeep dive

How multi-channel AI agents actually work under the hood

A deep dive into the openclawOS kernel: routing, sessions, identity, memory and the tricky parts of making one agent feel coherent across WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and the rest.

May 15, 2026 12 min read

cornerstone whatsapptutorial

How to build a self-hosted WhatsApp AI bot in 2026

A practical walkthrough of pairing WhatsApp to a self-hosted AI agent powered by Claude or GPT — using openclawOS, no Meta Business API, no cloud SaaS in the middle.

May 8, 2026 9 min read

Welcome to the lobster tank.

Star the repo, join Discord, ship your first agent before lunch.

Install openclawOS Join Discord