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Install

The fastest way to install. It detects your OS, installs Node if needed, installs OpenClaw, and launches onboarding. 
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
To install without running onboarding: 
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --no-onboard
For all flags and CI/automation options, see Installer internals.

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System requirements

  • Node 24 (recommended) or Node 22.16+ — the installer script handles this automatically
  • macOS, Linux, or Windows — both native Windows and WSL2 are supported; WSL2 is more stable. See Windows.
  • pnpm is only needed if you build from source

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Alternative install methods

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npm or pnpm

If you already manage Node yourself: 
npm install -g openclaw@latest
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
If sharp fails due to a globally installed libvips:
SHARP_IGNORE_GLOBAL_LIBVIPS=1 npm install -g openclaw@latest

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From source

For contributors or anyone who wants to run from a local checkout: 
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw
pnpm install && pnpm ui:build && pnpm build
pnpm link --global
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
Or skip the link and use pnpm openclaw ... from inside the repo. See Setup for full development workflows.

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Install from GitHub main

npm install -g github:openclaw/openclaw#main

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Containers and package managers

Docker

Containerized or headless deployments.

Podman

Rootless container alternative to Docker.

Nix

Declarative install via Nix flake.

Ansible

Automated fleet provisioning.

Bun

CLI-only usage via the Bun runtime.

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Verify the install

openclaw --version      # confirm the CLI is available
openclaw doctor         # check for config issues
openclaw gateway status # verify the Gateway is running

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Hosting and deployment

Deploy OpenClaw on a cloud server or VPS:

VPS

Any Linux VPS

Docker VM

Shared Docker steps

Kubernetes

K8s

Fly.io

Fly.io

Hetzner

Hetzner

GCP

Google Cloud

Azure

Azure

Railway

Railway

Render

Render

Northflank

Northflank

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Update, migrate, or uninstall

Updating

Keep OpenClaw up to date.

Migrating

Move to a new machine.

Uninstall

Remove OpenClaw completely.

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Troubleshooting: openclaw not found

If the install succeeded but openclaw is not found in your terminal: 
node -v           # Node installed?
npm prefix -g     # Where are global packages?
echo "$PATH"      # Is the global bin dir in PATH?
If $(npm prefix -g)/bin is not in your $PATH, add it to your shell startup file (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc): 
export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"
Then open a new terminal. See Node setup for more details.