OpenClaw Review & Setup Guide: The AI Assistant with 120K GitHub Stars

# OpenClaw Review & Setup Guide: The AI Assistant with 120K GitHub Stars

If you've been anywhere near the developer Twitterverse in 2025, you've probably seen OpenClaw. The open-source AI assistant project went from zero to 120,000+ GitHub stars in roughly two months — making it one of the fastest-growing repositories in GitHub's history. But what is it, exactly? Is it just hype, or does it actually deliver?

We've been running OpenClaw daily for the past several weeks. This is our honest, in-depth review — plus a complete setup guide so you can try it yourself.

What Is OpenClaw, and Why Did It Explode?

OpenClaw (formerly known as Moltbot, then Clawdbot) is an open-source gateway that connects AI coding agents to your everyday messaging apps — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and iMessage. Created by Peter Steinberger ([@steipete](https://x.com/steipete)), a well-known figure in the iOS and developer tools community, OpenClaw turns your messaging app into a command center for an AI that can read your emails, manage your calendar, execute code, control your browser, and remember everything you tell it.

The tagline on the docs says it all: "Send a message, get an agent response — from your pocket."

Why It Went Viral

Several factors contributed to OpenClaw's meteoric rise:

1. The "AI in your pocket" promise — Instead of switching to yet another app, OpenClaw meets you where you already are: WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
2. Truly open source — No cloud lock-in. Your data stays on your machine. The entire codebase is on [GitHub](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw).
3. It actually works — This isn't a toy demo. It's a production-grade system with session management, memory, heartbeats, multi-agent routing, and plugin architecture.
4. Peter Steinberger's credibility — @steipete has a track record of building widely-used developer tools. When he tweets about it, people pay attention.

Reactions on X have been overwhelmingly positive:

> "OpenClaw is the first AI tool that actually replaced a workflow for me. I message it on WhatsApp and it handles my inbox. Wild." — Developer on X

> "120K stars in 2 months isn't hype — it's a paradigm shift in how we interact with AI." — AI researcher

Core Features: What Can OpenClaw Actually Do?

Let's break down the main capabilities. OpenClaw isn't just a chatbot wrapper — it's a full agent platform.

📱 Messaging Integration

OpenClaw bridges multiple messaging platforms simultaneously:

• WhatsApp — via Baileys (WhatsApp Web protocol). Uses a dedicated second phone number (recommended).
• Telegram — Bot API via grammY. Supports DMs and group chats with mention-based activation.
• Discord — Bot API via discord.js. Supports DMs and guild channels.
• iMessage — Local `imsg` CLI integration (macOS only).
• Mattermost — Available as a plugin with Bot API + WebSocket support.

You can run all of these simultaneously through a single Gateway process.

📧 Email Management

Through its agent workspace and tool integrations, OpenClaw can check your inbox, summarize unread emails, and draft responses. During heartbeat cycles (configurable proactive checks), it can alert you about urgent messages without you having to ask.

📅 Calendar Integration

Calendar checks are part of OpenClaw's proactive heartbeat system. It can scan upcoming events in the next 24–48 hours and remind you — all through your preferred messaging app.

⏱️ Cron Jobs & Heartbeats

One of OpenClaw's most distinctive features is its heartbeat system. By default, it runs a heartbeat every 30 minutes, checking a `HEARTBEAT.md` file in the workspace for tasks. You can also set up dedicated cron jobs for precise timing — "remind me at 9 AM every Monday" style tasks.

The difference: heartbeats batch multiple checks together (email + calendar + notifications), while cron jobs are isolated, precisely-timed tasks.

🌐 Browser Control

OpenClaw includes a browser control tool that can:

• Navigate to URLs
• Take snapshots (accessibility tree or screenshot)
• Click, type, hover, drag, and interact with web pages
• Run JavaScript in the page context
• Manage tabs and profiles

This isn't just "fetch a webpage" — it's full Playwright-powered browser automation, accessible from your phone via a text message.

📁 File Operations & Code Execution

The underlying Pi agent can:

• Read and write files in the workspace
• Execute shell commands
• Edit files with surgical precision
• Manage git repositories

All from your messaging app. You literally text "commit and push the changes" and it does it.

🧠 Memory System

OpenClaw's memory is refreshingly simple: plain Markdown files.

• `memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md` — Daily logs (today + yesterday loaded at session start)
• `MEMORY.md` — Curated long-term memory (only loaded in private sessions for security)

There's also a vector memory search feature that builds a semantic index over your memory files, so the agent can find related notes even when wording differs. It supports OpenAI embeddings, Gemini, or local models.

The pre-compaction memory flush is clever: when a session is about to hit context limits, OpenClaw triggers a silent turn that reminds the agent to write durable memories before the context is compacted.

Installation Guide: macOS, Linux & Windows

Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 22 (required)
• pnpm (optional, recommended for building from source)
• A Brave Search API key (recommended for web search capabilities)

macOS / Linux

The fastest path is the install script:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.bot/install.sh | bash

Or install via npm/pnpm globally:

npm install -g openclaw@latest
# or
pnpm add -g openclaw@latest

Then run the onboarding wizard:

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard walks you through:

• Choosing local vs. remote gateway
• Setting up authentication (API keys or OAuth)
• Configuring messaging channels
• Installing the background service (launchd on macOS, systemd on Linux)

Windows (WSL2 Recommended)

OpenClaw strongly recommends WSL2 on Windows. Native Windows is untested and has poorer tool compatibility.

1. Install WSL2 with Ubuntu:

wsl --install

1. Inside WSL2, follow the Linux steps:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.bot/install.sh | bash
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

There's also a PowerShell installer for adventurous users:

iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex

From Source (Development)

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw
pnpm install
pnpm ui:build
pnpm build
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Verify Installation

openclaw status
openclaw health
openclaw security audit --deep

Connecting Telegram

1. Create a bot via [@BotFather](https://t.me/botfather) on Telegram and get your bot token.
2. During `openclaw onboard`, select Telegram and enter the token — or configure it manually in `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json`.
3. Start the gateway: `openclaw gateway`
4. Send a DM to your bot. You'll receive a pairing code on first contact.
5. Approve it:

openclaw pairing list telegram
openclaw pairing approve telegram 

openclaw channels login

{
  "channels": {
    "whatsapp": {
      "allowFrom": ["+15555550123"]
    }
  }
}