Using OpenClaw — User Guide

This guide shows you how to get the most out of OpenClaw. From daily use to advanced configuration.

The Control UI

OpenClaw has a web-based dashboard for managing your assistant:

OpenClaw Control UI — web-based management dashboard

Accessing the Control UI

The Control UI is available at:

https://your-openclaw-domain.com
— or —
http://your-server-ip:3000

Dashboard Overview

The dashboard shows:

Connecting Messaging Platforms

OpenClaw supports multiple messaging platforms simultaneously.

Telegram

Telegram is the easiest to configure and is recommended for beginners.

Step 1: Create a bot

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send the command /newbot
3. Choose a name for your bot (e.g., "My AI Assistant")
4. Choose a username (must end with bot, e.g., "my_ai_bot")
5. You'll receive a bot token — keep it safe!

Step 2: Configure the token

openclaw config set telegram.token "your-bot-token"
openclaw restart

Step 3: Test

1. Find your bot in Telegram
2. Send /start
3. Start chatting!

OpenClaw Telegram chat — conversation with your AI assistant

Useful Telegram commands:

WhatsApp

For WhatsApp, you need a WhatsApp Business API account:

1. Go to business.facebook.com
2. Create a Meta Business account (or log in)
3. Navigate to WhatsApp → Getting Started
4. Create a WhatsApp Business app
5. Note your Phone Number ID and Permanent Access Token

openclaw config set whatsapp.phone_id "your-phone-number-id"
openclaw config set whatsapp.token "your-access-token"
openclaw restart

Discord

1. Go to discord.com/developers
2. Click "New Application"
3. Go to Bot → "Add Bot"
4. Copy the bot token
5. Go to OAuth2 → URL Generator
6. Select scopes: bot, applications.commands
7. Select permissions: Send Messages, Read Message History

openclaw config set discord.token "your-bot-token"
openclaw restart

Slack

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps
2. Click "Create New App" → "From scratch"
3. Go to OAuth & Permissions → add scopes:
   • chat:write, im:history, im:read, im:write
4. Install the app in your workspace
5. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token

openclaw config set slack.token "xoxb-your-token"
openclaw restart

Configuring Skills

Skills are modular capabilities that give your assistant extra powers.

OpenClaw skills configuration — managing modular capabilities

Available Skills

Managing Skills via CLI

# List all available skills
openclaw skills list

# Enable a skill
openclaw skills enable web-browsing

# Disable a skill
openclaw skills disable image-generation

Skills Configuration File

# /opt/openclaw/config/skills.yml
skills:
  web-browsing:
    enabled: true
    settings:
      max_pages: 10
      timeout: 30
      block_domains:
        - facebook.com

  file-management:
    enabled: true
    settings:
      allowed_directories:
        - /opt/openclaw/data/files
      max_file_size: 10MB

  command-execution:
    enabled: true
    settings:
      allowed_commands:
        - ls
        - cat
        - grep
      blocked_commands:
        - rm
        - sudo

Web Browsing

The web browsing skill enables your assistant to visit websites and retrieve information.

How It Works

1. Ask your assistant to fetch information from a website
2. OpenClaw opens a headless Chrome browser
3. The page is loaded and text is extracted
4. The assistant analyzes the content and gives you an answer

Example Conversations

You: What are the latest n8n release notes?
Bot: Let me look up the n8n release notes...
     [Visits docs.n8n.io/release-notes]
     The latest version is n8n 1.72.0, released on ...

You: Summarize this article: https://example.com/article
Bot: Let me read the article...
     Summary: ...

RAG: Searching Your Documents

With the RAG skill, your assistant can search through your own documents.

Uploading Documents

openclaw docs add /path/to/document.pdf
openclaw docs reindex

Supported Formats

PDF, Word (.docx), Text (.txt, .md), HTML, CSV, JSON

Advanced Configuration

Custom System Prompt

# /opt/openclaw/config/config.yml
assistant:
  name: "My AI Assistant"
  language: "en"
  system_prompt: |
    You are a friendly AI assistant.
    Your specialization is technical support.
    Be concise but thorough.

Multiple AI Models

models:
  default: "gpt-4o"
  available:
    - name: "gpt-4o"
      provider: "openai"
    - name: "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"
      provider: "anthropic"
    - name: "llama3.1:70b"
      provider: "ollama"

Switch via chat:

/model gpt-4o
/model claude-sonnet-4-5
/model llama3.1

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Bot not responding:

systemctl status openclaw
journalctl -u openclaw -f --since="5 minutes ago"
systemctl restart openclaw

Web browsing not working:

which chromium-browser
free -h
openclaw test web-browsing

Privacy & Security

Data Location

All data is stored in /opt/openclaw/data/:

• Conversations are stored locally
• Files are processed locally
• No telemetry — no usage data is collected

What Is Sent Externally?

Only messages to the AI provider (OpenAI/Anthropic) for generating responses. Use a local model via Ollama for complete privacy.

Security Tips

1. Keep software updated — Run openclaw update regularly
2. Limit skills — Only enable skills you need
3. Firewall — Keep UFW active
4. SSH keys — Use SSH keys instead of passwords
5. API keys — Rotate your API keys regularly

More Information

• OpenClaw Documentation: open-claw.org/docs
• GitHub Repository: github.com/openclaw/openclaw
• Community Discord: discord.gg/openclaw

Need help? Contact our support team via the chat window at the bottom right or send an email to support@maenda.media.