The most reliable setup is to run OpenClaw as the always-on Gateway and use Claude Code as the engineering workspace around it. Install and verify OpenClaw first, then let Claude Code generate configuration, write Skills, inspect logs, and test changes. Claude Code can create and edit the configuration, but it does not keep the OpenClaw agent running; a logged-in computer, server, VPS, or managed host must provide that runtime.
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What a Claude Code and OpenClaw workflow actually is
OpenClaw supplies the Gateway, channels, sessions, and agent runtime. Claude Code is the development interface you use to change that system: it can draft nested configuration, create Skills, review files, and help diagnose failures. Treat the two as separate layers:
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- OpenClaw Gateway: the process that stays available, receives messages, routes them, and runs the configured agent.
- Claude Code: the assistant you invoke when you want to build, modify, test, or debug the OpenClaw setup.
- Host operating system: the machine or service that keeps the Gateway alive. Closing Claude Code does not keep OpenClaw running.
There are three practical arrangements. The first installs the normal OpenClaw runtime and uses Claude Code to maintain it. The second opens Claude Code in the OpenClaw workspace and optionally connects the two through an MCP bridge. The third replaces OpenClaw’s runtime with a community OpenClaw-style project that runs inside Claude Code. The first arrangement is the best default when you need dependable, continuously available channels.
Choose the workflow that matches your goal
| Workflow | What runs continuously | Best for | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenClaw runtime plus Claude Code | OpenClaw Gateway | Production-like bots, scheduled work, and multiple chat channels | Claude Code is a separate development tool; it does not replace the Gateway |
| Claude Code in the OpenClaw workspace | OpenClaw Gateway, started independently | Generating configuration, writing Skills, and tracing logs | The workspace can contain channel credentials, so unrestricted file access is risky |
| MCP connection | OpenClaw Gateway plus an MCP server or bridge | Sending routed conversations to Claude Code as tools | Some commands and bridges are community documented rather than confirmed in official documentation |
| ClaudeClaw | The Claude Code session or a process supervising it | Experimenting with an OpenClaw-style experience without OpenClaw’s Gateway | Events arrive only while the session is open unless you add a persistent process |
Path 1: install OpenClaw, then use Claude Code to extend it
1. Confirm the machine and runtime plan
Decide where the Gateway will live before you install anything. A laptop is convenient for development but stops serving messages when it sleeps, loses connectivity, or the user session ends. A server or VPS is more appropriate for continuous operation. A managed OpenClaw host removes some operating-system work but gives you less control over the underlying environment.
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Node.js requirements and installer behavior change frequently. One third-party guide reports Node.js 24.16 or later, or 26.1 or later, with 26 recommended; that requirement was not confirmed in the official excerpt available for this guide. Check the current installation documentation at docs.openclaw.ai before choosing a Node version.
2. Install OpenClaw with your package manager
The official installation choices are npm, pnpm, and Bun. Use the command currently shown on the official install page for your package manager. On npm 12 (or npm 11.16 and newer), the official form includes the script-permission flag:
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsnpm install -g openclaw --allow-scripts=openclawIf you use pnpm or Bun, use their corresponding global-install command from the same page rather than copying an old blog example. Installer syntax and required Node versions are volatile.
3. Run onboarding and install the daemon
After installation, start the guided setup:
openclaw onboard --install-daemonFor a scripted machine build, the onboarding reference shows this non-interactive form:
openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk --install-daemon--accept-risk is required for that non-interactive mode; without it, onboarding exits with an error. Read each prompt in interactive mode if you are configuring credentials, channels, or permissions for the first time.
The onboarding flow may detect an existing Claude Code login, a Codex CLI login, or an API key. That automatic detection is described by a third-party guide, not confirmed in the official excerpt, so be prepared to select or enter the provider manually.
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4. Verify before asking Claude Code to edit anything
Run the three basic checks in this order:
openclaw --versionconfirms that the executable on your PATH is the version you just installed.openclaw doctorchecks for configuration problems and reports repairs or missing settings.openclaw gateway statustells you whether the Gateway is running.
Do not begin generating Skills while these checks are failing. A configuration generated for a stopped or partially initialized Gateway makes later errors difficult to distinguish from application bugs.
5. Understand what “install daemon” means on each operating system
| Platform | Service mechanism | Important behavior |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | LaunchAgent | A logged-in user session is required. Logging out can stop the service. |
| Linux and WSL2 | systemd user unit | Onboarding attempts to enable lingering so the Gateway can survive logout. Confirm that your distribution permits this. |
| Native Windows | Scheduled Task, with a Startup-folder fallback | Task-start behavior and user permissions can affect whether the Gateway starts after a reboot. |
These are service-registration behaviors, not guarantees that the host is always reachable. Test a reboot, logout, sleep, and network interruption on the machine you intend to rely on.
6. Hand the workspace to Claude Code safely
Once the Gateway is healthy, open Claude Code from the OpenClaw workspace. A commonly used location is ~/.openclaw, but confirm the actual workspace path in your installation. Working from that directory lets Claude Code see the files the Gateway watches and keeps Skills, configuration, and diagnostics together.
The same workspace can contain channel credentials and tokens. Before starting Claude Code:
- Make a timestamped backup of the configuration and record the last known-good version.
- Give Claude Code access only to the OpenClaw project directory, not your entire home directory.
- Do not paste tokens into prompts, issue trackers, or generated Skill documentation.
- Ask Claude Code to show a diff before it writes a configuration or changes a permission.
- Restart or reload the Gateway only after validating the edited file and preserving the backup.
Use Claude Code to generate configuration without guessing the schema
OpenClaw configuration is nested JSON. Hand-writing deeply nested JSON is error-prone, particularly when provider, channel, context, and routing settings interact. Claude Code is useful here as a structured editor, not as an authority on undocumented keys.
A repeatable configuration prompt
Give Claude Code a constrained task that identifies the desired behavior and the files it may touch:
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- State the model provider, chat platform, response style, context limits, and whether the Gateway is local or remote.
- Ask it to inspect the installed OpenClaw version and the configuration schema available to that version.
- Request a proposed diff, with every new key explained and every secret represented by an environment-variable reference rather than a literal token.
- Validate the JSON and run the OpenClaw diagnostic command before applying the change.
- Apply one logical change at a time, then check Gateway status and send a test message through the intended channel.
This process avoids a common failure mode: copying a configuration example written for an older release whose model names or key names no longer exist.
Model routing: treat examples as policy choices, not defaults
A third-party configuration guide suggests routing heartbeat work to Haiku, interactive conversations to Sonnet, and using DeepSeek as a fallback if Anthropic is unavailable. That is a workload policy, not an official OpenClaw requirement. Model IDs, provider names, and routing-key syntax change, so ask Claude Code to confirm the identifiers supported by your installed release before adding this pattern. Test each route independently; a fallback that is syntactically valid can still fail because the provider lacks credentials, supports a different context size, or is unavailable in your region.
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Build and debug OpenClaw Skills with Claude Code
Writing a Skill
Describe a Skill in terms of inputs, allowed tools, expected output, and failure behavior. Have Claude Code create the smallest working version first. Ask it to include:
- Input validation and a clear response when required data is missing.
- Explicit limits on files, commands, network destinations, and destructive operations.
- Structured logging that excludes message content and secrets.
- A short test fixture or manual test procedure that does not contact a real user channel.
Install or enable the Skill only after reviewing the generated files. A Skill can inherit the permissions of the Gateway process, so “it only formats text” is not a security boundary unless the runtime enforces one.
Tracing an agent failure
When an interaction fails, give Claude Code the error, the OpenClaw version, the relevant timestamp, and a redacted log excerpt. Do not provide an entire log directory by default. Ask Claude Code to classify the failure as one of four layers:
- Process: the Gateway is stopped or restarting.
- Configuration: JSON, provider, channel, or permission settings are invalid.
- Transport: a chat platform, WebSocket, DNS, or firewall connection is failing.
- Skill or model: the request reaches the agent but the tool, prompt, or provider call fails.
Fix the lowest failing layer first. Changing prompts while the Gateway cannot authenticate to a channel only obscures the original problem.
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Optional bridge: connect Claude Code through MCP
Third-party documentation describes openclaw mcp serve as a stdio MCP server that connects to the Gateway over WebSocket and exposes routed conversations as MCP tools. The same guide describes openclaw attach as launching Claude Code bound to a Gateway session, but it does not provide attach flags. Official documentation for these two commands was not confirmed here. Check the command help and current documentation at docs.openclaw.ai before using them in a production script.
Because the bridge can expose live conversations, start with a disposable session and a read-only test account. Confirm which direction data flows, which tools are exposed, how the Gateway authenticates the connection, and how a session is terminated. Never assume that an MCP server is isolated merely because it uses standard input and output.
The community bridge in the opposite direction
A community project called openclaw-mcp lets Claude Code call OpenClaw agents. Its README shows this registration command:
claude mcp add openclaw -- npx openclaw-mcpIt requires a Gateway token found under gateway.token in the OpenClaw configuration. This is not an official integration. Treat the token as a password, review the bridge source and permissions, pin a known package version for repeatable builds, and rotate the token if it appears in shell history, logs, or a prompt.
Path 3: run an OpenClaw-style agent inside Claude Code with ClaudeClaw
ClaudeClaw is a lightweight community project built as a Claude Code plugin. Its setup wizard covers the model, heartbeat behavior, Telegram, Discord, Slack, and security settings. This path is useful when your priority is experimenting with an OpenClaw-like interaction inside Claude Code rather than operating the OpenClaw Gateway.
What changes compared with OpenClaw
- The Claude Code session becomes the active runtime instead of OpenClaw’s Gateway.
- Events arrive only while the session is open, according to the project’s write-up.
- An always-on deployment therefore needs a persistent terminal such as
tmux, or a supervisor such as a systemd service.
Use ClaudeClaw for prototypes and controlled personal workflows first. If you need predictable restarts, independent channel connectivity, and a runtime that is not tied to an interactive terminal, the normal OpenClaw Gateway is the clearer architecture.
Make the workflow always-on
| Runtime location | Advantages | Risks to test |
|---|---|---|
| Developer laptop | Fast iteration, direct access to Claude Code, easy log inspection | Sleep, logout, changing networks, and reboots interrupt service |
| Server or VPS | Stable uptime and predictable networking | You must patch the OS, protect SSH, manage secrets, and monitor disk and memory |
| Managed OpenClaw host | Deployment and some maintenance are handled for you | Provider-specific limits, access controls, backups, and data-location policies require review |
Whichever host you choose, define what “always-on” means for your use case. A bot that can miss a few minutes of chat has different requirements from one that must process scheduled jobs. Test startup after reboot, behavior during provider downtime, log rotation, backup restoration, and how you revoke a compromised channel token.
Security rules for Claude Code and OpenClaw
- Separate development and production: use a test Gateway, test channel, and non-production credentials while Claude Code is changing files.
- Minimize file scope: open Claude Code in the workspace rather than granting broad access to personal documents.
- Protect credentials: redact tokens from logs and diffs; never commit them to a repository.
- Require review for dangerous tools: shell execution, network access, file deletion, and account-management actions deserve explicit approval.
- Keep rollback material: retain the last working configuration and a record of the OpenClaw version used to produce it.
- Audit community components: MCP bridges and ClaudeClaw are not equivalent to official OpenClaw commands. Review their permissions and update practices before connecting real channels.
Troubleshoot the common failure points
Onboarding stops in non-interactive mode
Check that the command includes --accept-risk. The documented scripted form requires it. If the process still exits, run interactive onboarding once so you can see which provider, channel, or permission prompt is missing.
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Run openclaw gateway status, then openclaw doctor. On macOS, confirm that the expected user is logged in. On Linux or WSL2, verify that the user systemd unit and lingering are enabled. On Windows, inspect the Scheduled Task and its trigger; the Startup-folder fallback may be used instead.
Claude Code edits the wrong files
Print the current working directory before making changes and identify the OpenClaw workspace used by your installation. Ask for a diff, compare it with the backup, and avoid allowing Claude Code to search the whole home directory when the task only requires the workspace.
A copied configuration uses an unknown model or key
Older examples may contain obsolete model names, including examples based on Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Ask Claude Code to inspect the schema and supported model identifiers for the installed version. Do not “fix” the error by guessing a new key; validate with the CLI and a test conversation.
An MCP connection exposes nothing
Confirm which side is the MCP server, whether the Gateway is reachable over the expected WebSocket, and whether the token has the required scope. Because the mcp serve and attach details are not confirmed in the official documentation excerpt, use the installed command’s help output and current docs before adding flags or automation.
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ClaudeClaw stops receiving events
That behavior is expected when the Claude Code session closes. Keep the session in a persistent terminal or run a supervised background process, and add restart and log monitoring before treating it as an always-on service.
A maintainable operating routine
- Record the OpenClaw version, operating system, Node version, and active provider configuration.
- Back up the working configuration before every Claude Code edit.
- Make one change, validate the JSON, run
openclaw doctor, and check Gateway status. - Exercise one test conversation per connected channel.
- Review logs for authentication failures, repeated retries, unexpected tool calls, and leaked sensitive values.
- Promote the change from the test environment to production only after the rollback copy is confirmed.
For most readers, the durable design is therefore straightforward: install OpenClaw and its daemon on the machine that must stay online; use Claude Code from a restricted OpenClaw workspace to generate configuration, build Skills, and investigate logs; and add MCP or ClaudeClaw only when their specific interaction model justifies the extra moving parts.
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