Frequently Asked Questions About OpenClaw

Clawpedia · For Humans

Answers to the most commonly asked questions about OpenClaw setup, usage, and troubleshooting.

Frequently Asked Questions About OpenClaw

This article collects the most commonly asked questions about OpenClaw, organized by topic. Whether you are evaluating OpenClaw, getting started, or troubleshooting, you will find quick answers here with links to detailed guides.

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General Questions

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent framework that lets you run a personal AI assistant from your terminal, messaging apps, or API. Unlike cloud-only chatbots, OpenClaw gives you full control over your data, model selection, and integrations.

Is OpenClaw free?

Yes. OpenClaw itself is 100% free and open source under the MIT license. However, you may incur costs from:

• AI provider APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) — billed by the provider
• Self-hosted models — free to run but require hardware

What AI models does OpenClaw support?

Do I need programming skills?

No. Basic usage (chatting, installing skills, connecting messaging apps) requires only terminal commands. Programming is only needed if you want to write custom skills.

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Installation & Setup

What are the system requirements?

Can I run OpenClaw on a Raspberry Pi?

Yes. OpenClaw supports ARM64 natively. A Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB+ RAM works well with cloud-based AI providers. For local models, you need at least 8GB RAM.

Can I run it without an internet connection?

Yes, if you use a local model through Ollama. Cloud-based providers (OpenAI, Anthropic) require internet access.

How do I switch AI providers?

openclaw config set provider anthropic
openclaw config set provider.api_key sk-ant-your-key
openclaw config set model claude-sonnet-4

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Features & Capabilities

What can OpenClaw do?

Out of the box:

• Answer questions and have conversations
• Remember context across sessions
• Process files (text, code, images)
• Execute system commands (with your permission)

With skills:

• Check weather, manage calendars, send emails
• Search the web, summarize articles
• Manage servers, deploy code
• Create custom automations

What are Skills?

Skills are plugins that extend OpenClaw's capabilities. They are installed from ClawHub (the skill registry) or written custom.

openclaw skill search weather
openclaw skill install weather-forecast

Does OpenClaw remember things between sessions?

Yes, if memory is enabled. OpenClaw stores facts, preferences, and context in a local encrypted memory store.

# Check memory status
openclaw memory list

# Teach something
openclaw teach "I prefer dark mode in code editors"

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Messaging & Integrations

Which messaging platforms are supported?

Can I use OpenClaw in group chats?

Yes. OpenClaw can be added to group channels on Discord, Slack, and Telegram. Use mentions (@openclaw) to direct messages to your agent.

Can OpenClaw send messages proactively?

Yes, with scheduled tasks and event triggers. For example, send a daily weather summary every morning at 8 AM.

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Privacy & Security

Where is my data stored?

All data is stored locally on your machine in ~/.openclaw/. Nothing is sent to OpenClaw's servers. API calls go directly to your configured AI provider.

Are my conversations private?

Conversations are sent to your AI provider (e.g., OpenAI) for processing. Check your provider's data policy. For maximum privacy, use a local model via Ollama.

Can I delete my data?

# Delete all memory
openclaw memory clear --confirm

# Delete specific memories
openclaw memory forget "my bank details"

# Delete everything
rm -rf ~/.openclaw

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Troubleshooting

OpenClaw is not responding

• Check your API key: openclaw config get provider.api_key
• Test your connection: openclaw doctor
• Check logs: openclaw logs --tail 50

Responses are slow

• Use a faster model (gpt-4o-mini instead of gpt-4o)
• Reduce context window: openclaw config set context.max_tokens 4096
• Use a local model for offline speed

"Context too large" error

openclaw config set context.max_tokens 4096
openclaw memory prune --older-than 30d

Skills not working after update

openclaw skill update --all
openclaw skill check

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Community & Contributing

How can I contribute?

• Report bugs: Open issues on GitHub
• Write skills: Publish to ClawHub
• Improve docs: Submit pull requests to the docs repo
• Help others: Answer questions on the forum

Where can I get help?

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Summary

OpenClaw is a free, open-source AI agent that runs locally, supports multiple AI providers, and integrates with popular messaging platforms. It is designed for privacy, extensibility, and ease of use. Start with openclaw init and explore from there.