Claw-Curious Workshop · April 23, 2026 · Frontier Tower SF
Get Your OpenClaw Agent Running Tonight
  • You will leave with a working AI agent
  • Follow along on your laptop or watch the screen
  • Raise your hand any time we're here to help
Follow along: docs.openclaw.ai
What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant that runs on your own computer and talks to you through Telegram, Discord, or any chat app.

🖥️
Your hardware. Your data.
Runs locally on your computer. Your conversations never leave your machine.
💬
Any chat app
Works with Telegram, Discord, iMessage, and more.
⚡
Always available
Runs in the background like any other app. Ready when you are.
It's free and open source. You own it.
Before We Start

Pick your setup path. Both end up in the same place.

💻 Option 1 Local (Mac/Linux)
  • You need: Mac or Linux, 8GB RAM, Terminal app
  • Check RAM: Apple menu → About This Mac → Memory
  • Open Terminal: press Cmd+Space, type Terminal, press Enter
☁️ Option 2 Cloud (VPS)
✅ Either path: once you have a terminal open, the next steps are identical.
Cloud Setup: How to SSH

For people on the VPS path. Already SSH'd in? Skip this slide →

SSH is a way to securely connect your Terminal to a remote computer (your VPS) as if you were sitting in front of it.

  1. 1 Open Terminal on your Mac: press Cmd+Space, type Terminal, press Enter. A black or white window will appear that's it.
  2. 2 Type this command, replacing YOUR_SERVER_IP with your actual IP address:
ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP
  1. 3 Press Enter. You may see a question about fingerprints type yes and press Enter.
  2. 4 You'll be asked for a password. Type it (nothing will show on screen that's normal) and press Enter.
  3. 5 When you see a prompt like root@your-server:~# you're in. 🎉
🌐 Finding your server IP

Your server IP was shown when you created your DigitalOcean droplet. It looks like: 167.99.123.45
You can also find it in your DigitalOcean dashboard under Droplets.

✋ Never SSH'd before? Raise your hand we'll help you through it.
Step 1 Install Node.js

OpenClaw requires Node.js. Check if you have it first:

node --version

If you see a version number (like v22.x.x or v24.x.x), skip to Step 2 →

If you get an error, install Node.js:

→ nodejs.org/en/download

Download the LTS version. Run the installer. Come back here when done.

✋ Raise your hand if you need help with this step.
Step 2 Install OpenClaw

Open Terminal and run this command:

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

This takes about 1 minute. You'll see it download and install.

When it's done, you'll see a message that says OpenClaw is ready.

On a VPS via SSH, use the same command.

Having trouble? → docs.openclaw.ai/start/getting-started

Step 3 Run the Setup Wizard

Now run this command to configure your agent:

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard will ask you:

  1. 1Which AI provider? → Choose Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI
  2. 2Your API key → you'll need one (see below)
  3. 3Which chat app? → Choose Telegram for the fastest setup
🔑 Need an API key? Get one free at:

Create an account, go to API Keys, and create a new key. Copy it.

Step 4 Check It's Running

Run this to confirm your Gateway is up:

openclaw gateway status

You should see: Gateway running on port 18789

Open your dashboard:

openclaw dashboard

This opens a browser window. If you see a chat interface, you're done with setup.

✅ Type "Hello" in the chat. You should get a reply.

No response? → docs.openclaw.ai/help

⚡ Step 5 · Optional
Add Kalibr to OpenClaw

Kalibr gives OpenClaw self-healing pipelines and intelligent model routing. As your agent runs, it learns what works and automatically routes each task to the best model, getting more accurate and less expensive over time.

Free to start · No credit card required

1 · Run this in your terminal
pip install kalibr && kalibr prompt --openclaw --email YOUR_EMAIL

Replace YOUR_EMAIL with your email address.

2 · Paste the output into your OpenClaw chat

Your agent handles everything: account creation, plugin install, API key setup, routing config, and workspace file creation. Takes about 3 minutes. Zero manual steps.

3 · You're done

✅ Kalibr + OpenClaw setup complete.

📊 Dashboard: dashboard.kalibr.systems

🔑 Add provider keys anytime: OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek

kalibr.systems
Scan to learn more or get started
Connect via Telegram

Message your agent from your phone. Takes about 2 minutes.

Step 1. Open Telegram on your phone. Search for @BotFather (look for the blue checkmark — it's official).

Step 2. Send this message to BotFather:

/newbot

Step 3. Follow the prompts. When it asks for a name, call it anything (like 'My Agent'). BotFather will give you a bot token that looks like:

1234567890:ABCdefGhIJKlmNoPQRstuVWXyz

Step 4. When the OpenClaw setup wizard asks "Which channel?" — choose Telegram. Paste your bot token when it asks.

Step 5. Find your new bot in Telegram (search by the name you gave it). Send it a message. Your agent will reply.

Done with setup already? Run the wizard again:

openclaw configure --section channels

Full Telegram docs: docs.openclaw.ai/channels/telegram

Optional Add-Ons

Once your agent is running, these make it more capable.

Nebius: Token Factory Plugin

Add Nebius GPU compute as a model provider in OpenClaw. Faster, cheaper inference for heavy workloads.

Plugin: clawhub.ai/plugins/tokenfactory  |  Guide: github.com/opencolin/openclaw-nebius

Tavily: Web Search API

Gives your agent the ability to search the web. Ask it to research anything in real time.

Get a free API key at tavily.com

ClawHub: Skills and Plugins

ClawHub has a growing library of skills and plugins for OpenClaw. Browse what's available and add capabilities to your agent.

clawhub.ai

Memory Layer (Mem0 or Supermemory)

Gives your agent persistent memory across conversations.

mem0.ai or supermemory.ai

None of these are required. Your agent works great without them.

Cheat Sheet

Save this. When you get home and something isn't working, use these.

What you want to do Command to run in Terminal
Check if OpenClaw is running
openclaw gateway status
Restart OpenClaw
openclaw gateway restart
Open the dashboard in browser
openclaw dashboard
Diagnose problems automatically
openclaw doctor
See what's happening live
openclaw logs --follow
Check channel connections
openclaw channels status

Most problems are fixed by running: openclaw doctor
It finds issues and tells you how to fix them.

Full docs: docs.openclaw.ai

Sponsor: Nebius

$100 in free cloud credits for every attendee tonight.

Nebius

The ultimate cloud for AI explorers

Build, tune, and run your AI models and applications on top-notch NVIDIA GPUs. Nebius gives you the compute infrastructure to run the kind of agent pipelines you built tonight.

$100 Free Credit

Claim your free credits using the link below:

Claim $100 Nebius Credit

nebius.com/promo-code

You Did It.
Your agent is running.
Questions? Find us we're walking around. 👋
Kalibr · kalibr.systems