OpenClaw FAQ 2026: 50 Most Common Questions Answered for Beginners

Q1 What exactly is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw (openclaw.ai) is an open-source personal AI assistant that runs on your own computer or server. Unlike cloud AI tools, it lives locally, connects to your messaging apps (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp), and can execute tasks 24/7 — even when you're asleep. Think of it as hiring a digital employee who works around the clock.

Q2 Is OpenClaw free?

Yes — OpenClaw software is 100% free and open-source on GitHub. However, you'll need an API key from an AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google) which costs money based on usage. The software itself has no subscription fee.

Q3 What AI models does OpenClaw support?

OpenClaw supports Claude (Anthropic), GPT-4 / GPT-4o (OpenAI), and Gemini (Google). Most power users prefer Claude for its longer context window and better instruction-following. You can switch models at any time in the config file.

Q4 What are the minimum system requirements?

Q5 How do I install OpenClaw for the first time?

Q6 Which messaging platform should I start with?

For absolute beginners, start with Telegram — it has the best OpenClaw integration, most community documentation, and fewest setup headaches. WhatsApp is also popular but requires a Meta Business account. Discord is great for team deployments.

Q7 Can I run OpenClaw on a Raspberry Pi?

Yes! Many users run OpenClaw 24/7 on Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM model). It handles lightweight automation perfectly. For heavy multi-skill deployments, consider a VPS or dedicated server instead.

Q8 Does OpenClaw work on Windows?

Officially, OpenClaw is optimized for macOS and Linux. On Windows, you need WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux). Install WSL2 first, then follow the Linux installation guide. Native Windows support is on the roadmap.

Q9 What is a "skill" in OpenClaw?

Skills are modular capabilities you add to your agent — like Gmail integration, calendar management, web search, or file operations. Each skill extends what your agent can do. There are 100+ community-built skills available in the ClawHub marketplace.

Q10 How many skills can I install?

There's no hard limit, but performance degrades with too many active skills simultaneously. Most power users run 8–15 skills. Start with 3–5 essential ones and add more as needed.

Q11 Is OpenClaw safe? Does it store my data?

OpenClaw stores data locally on your machine — not on any company's cloud. Your conversations, tasks, and memories stay on your hardware. The only data leaving your machine is the API calls to your chosen AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.).

Q12 Do I need programming skills to use OpenClaw?

No coding required for basic use. You interact with your agent purely through chat. However, building custom skills or advanced workflows requires basic JavaScript knowledge. The community provides many pre-built skills so non-developers can get full value from day one.

Q13 How do I install a skill from ClawHub?

Q14 What are the most useful skills to install first?

Q15 How do I change which AI model OpenClaw uses?

Q16 Can I give my agent a custom name and personality?

Absolutely. OpenClaw has a persona system — you can define your agent's name, personality, communication style, and area of expertise through the system prompt configuration. Many users name their agents "Jarvis", "Friday", or custom names.

Q17 What are "heartbeats" in OpenClaw?

Heartbeats are scheduled proactive check-ins your agent sends you without being asked. Example: every morning at 8 AM, your agent sends a briefing of today's calendar, unread emails, and task reminders. Configure them in config/heartbeats.json.

Q18 How does OpenClaw's memory work?

OpenClaw has two types of memory: (1) Short-term — the last N messages in the current conversation, and (2) Long-term — facts your agent has explicitly stored about you, your preferences, and past decisions. Long-term memory persists across restarts and conversations.

Q19 Can I connect multiple messaging platforms simultaneously?

Yes. OpenClaw supports running Telegram, Discord, and WhatsApp connectors simultaneously. Your agent appears in all three and shares the same memory/context. Messages in Telegram can reference information from previous Discord conversations.

Q20 How do I set up scheduled tasks (cron jobs)?

Q21 Can OpenClaw access the internet and browse websites?

Yes, with the web-search and browser skills installed. OpenClaw can search the web, read articles, extract data from pages, and even fill out forms using browser automation. This enables powerful research automation workflows.

Q22 How do I update OpenClaw to the latest version?

Q23 Can I run multiple agents on one machine?

Yes. Run each agent in its own directory with different ports. Many users run a "personal" agent and a "work" agent on the same machine, each with different skills and API keys. Use Docker for clean isolation between agents.

Q24 How does OpenClaw handle rate limits from AI providers?

OpenClaw has built-in rate limit handling — it queues requests, retries with exponential backoff, and notifies you when limits are hit. You can configure fallback models so your agent switches to a cheaper model during peak usage.

Q25 What is the VirusTotal partnership OpenClaw announced?

OpenClaw partnered with VirusTotal to scan all community skills before installation. Every skill published to ClawHub is now automatically scanned for malware. This significantly reduces the risk of installing malicious skills from unknown authors.

Q26 My agent isn't responding to messages. What's wrong?

Q27 I get "ECONNRESET" errors. How do I fix this?

This is a network connectivity issue — usually caused by ISP throttling, firewalls, or geographic restrictions on AI API endpoints. The solution is using a reliable VPN. VPN07 (vpn07.com) provides 1000Mbps bandwidth specifically optimized for AI API connections, eliminating ECONNRESET errors entirely.

Q28 My agent keeps forgetting things between restarts. Why?

Long-term memory must be explicitly enabled in your config. Check that ENABLE_LONG_TERM_MEMORY=true is set in your .env file and that your storage path is correctly configured and writable.

Q29 Skills aren't working after installation. What should I do?

Q30 My AI API costs are too high. How do I reduce them?

Q31 How do I fix "Cannot connect to Anthropic API" errors?

This usually means your network is blocking or throttling Anthropic's API endpoints. Common in corporate networks, certain ISPs, and restricted regions. Solution: route your OpenClaw through VPN07 — it provides a clean 1000Mbps connection to all major AI provider APIs without throttling.

Q32 The agent crashes randomly after a few hours. Why?

Memory leaks from third-party skills are the most common cause. Try running with fewer skills to isolate the problem. Use Docker with a restart policy (--restart unless-stopped) to auto-recover from crashes automatically.

Q33 How do I back up my agent's memory and configuration?

Q34 Can I migrate my agent to a new machine?

Yes. Copy your entire agent directory to the new machine, install Node.js, run npm install, and start. Your memory, skills, and config transfer completely. For Docker deployments, just move the container volume.

Q35 My responses are very slow (30+ seconds). How do I speed this up?

Slow responses are typically caused by: (1) too many active skills processing simultaneously, (2) large context windows consuming processing time, or (3) network latency to AI provider APIs. For the network issue, VPN07's 1000Mbps connection with optimized routing significantly reduces API response times.

Q36 How do I reset my agent's memory completely?

Q37 Why does my agent ignore some instructions?

This usually happens when instructions conflict with the system prompt, or the context window is too full for the agent to "see" all the relevant context. Try being more explicit, breaking complex instructions into steps, or clearing old conversation history.

Q38 The agent is sending duplicate messages. How do I stop this?

Duplicate messages are caused by running multiple agent instances or a messaging webhook being registered twice. Check your process list for duplicate instances (ps aux | grep openclaw) and kill all but one.

Q39 Should I use a VPN with OpenClaw?

Strongly recommended for production deployments. A VPN encrypts all traffic between your agent and AI providers, prevents ISP throttling of API calls, and ensures your agent can reach all services from any location. For 24/7 reliability, this is essential.

Q40 How do I configure OpenClaw to use a VPN?

The simplest approach: install VPN07 on the machine running OpenClaw, connect to a server, and OpenClaw automatically routes all traffic through the VPN. No additional configuration in OpenClaw needed — it works at the OS network level.

Q41 Is it safe to give OpenClaw access to my email?

Yes, when configured correctly. OpenClaw uses OAuth 2.0 (not your password) to access Gmail. You can limit permissions to read-only or specific labels. Your email data is processed locally — it's only sent to the AI API for summarization/action, not stored by any third party.

Q42 Can someone hack into my OpenClaw agent?

Risk is low if you follow best practices: (1) Never expose OpenClaw's port to the public internet, (2) Use strong, unique bot tokens, (3) Keep OpenClaw updated, (4) Enable network encryption via VPN07. The local-first design means there's no central server to hack.

Q43 Does OpenClaw send my data to any third-party servers?

Only to your configured AI provider (OpenAI/Anthropic/Google) for processing requests. OpenClaw itself doesn't have telemetry or data collection. Your message history and memories stay local. Use local models (Ollama) for complete data sovereignty.

Q44 Can OpenClaw access my computer's files and camera?

Only if you explicitly install and authorize those skills. OpenClaw's permissions system is opt-in — no skill gains system access without your explicit approval. Review what each skill requests before installing from unknown authors.

Q45 How do I prevent my agent from sending sensitive data to AI providers?

Use data filtering middleware in your config to automatically redact sensitive patterns (SSNs, credit card numbers, passwords) before they're sent to the AI API. Configure with regex patterns matching your sensitivity requirements.

Q46 How do I use OpenClaw with local AI models (no internet)?

Install Ollama and pull a local model (Llama 3, Mistral, etc.), then configure OpenClaw to use the Ollama provider. This enables completely offline operation with zero data leaving your machine — ideal for maximum privacy scenarios.

Q47 What's the difference between OpenClaw and Manus AI?

Key differences: OpenClaw is open-source, self-hosted, and free software while Manus is a closed, commercial platform. OpenClaw runs on your hardware; Manus runs on their servers. OpenClaw is infinitely customizable; Manus offers a polished UI with less flexibility. Both use AI agents for automation.

Q48 Can I use OpenClaw for my business or team?

Yes. OpenClaw supports multi-user setups where a team shares one agent through a shared Discord/Slack channel. For enterprise use, deploy on a shared server with role-based access and dedicated VPN connectivity through VPN07 for reliability.

Q49 How do I get help when I'm stuck?

Q50 What's the single best thing I can do to improve OpenClaw reliability?

Run OpenClaw in Docker with VPN07. Docker ensures automatic restarts and clean isolation. VPN07's 1000Mbps connection with 70+ country coverage and 10 years of uptime stability eliminates the #1 cause of agent failures: network connectivity problems. At $1.5/month, it's the highest-ROI upgrade you can make for your OpenClaw setup.