Skip to main content
Back to Blog
OpenClaw
AI Agents
Open Source

What is OpenClaw? The Open-Source AI Agent Platform

Discover OpenClaw — the open-source platform that lets you run AI agents on your own infrastructure. Learn what it does, how it works, and why it matters.

February 26, 2026Luca Berton

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent platform that runs on your own infrastructure. Unlike cloud-only AI assistants, OpenClaw gives you full control over your AI agents — where they run, what they access, and how they behave.

Think of it as your personal AI assistant framework: it connects to messaging platforms (Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal), executes tasks, browses the web, manages files, and remembers context across conversations.

Why OpenClaw?

You Own Everything

Your data stays on your machine. Your conversations, memories, and workflows never leave your infrastructure unless you explicitly allow it.

Extensible by Design

OpenClaw uses a skills system — modular packages that teach your agent new capabilities. Need weather updates? Install the weather skill. Want Discord management? There's a skill for that.

Multi-Channel

One agent, many surfaces. Your OpenClaw agent can respond on Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal, Slack, and more — all from a single instance.

Core Concepts

The Agent

Your agent is defined by a set of files in its workspace:

  • SOUL.md — personality and behavior guidelines
  • USER.md — information about the person it helps
  • MEMORY.md — long-term curated memories
  • AGENTS.md — operating conventions and rules

Skills

Skills are packaged capabilities with their own SKILL.md instructions, scripts, and references. They're shareable on ClawhHub.

Memory

OpenClaw agents maintain continuity through file-based memory. Daily notes capture what happened, while MEMORY.md stores distilled long-term knowledge.

Getting Started

bash
# Install OpenClaw
npm install -g openclaw

# Initialize a new agent
openclaw init

# Start the gateway
openclaw gateway start

Visit the OpenClaw docs for the full setup guide.

Who Is OpenClaw For?

  • Developers who want AI assistance integrated into their workflow
  • Teams that need a shared AI agent with institutional knowledge
  • Privacy-conscious users who want AI without cloud dependency
  • Tinkerers who love building and customizing

OpenClaw is open source and available on GitHub.

Ready to Learn by Doing?

Go beyond blog posts with hands-on video courses. Build real projects with Docker, Ansible, Node.js, and more.

Browse CoursesView Pricing