Raspberry Pi

Run a persistent, always-on OpenClaw Gateway on a Raspberry Pi. Since the Pi is just the gateway (models run in the cloud via API), even a modest Pi handles the workload well -- typical hardware cost is $35-80 one-time, no monthly fees.

Hardware compatibility

Minimum: 1 GB RAM, 1 core, 500 MB free disk, 64-bit OS. Recommended: 2 GB+ RAM, 16 GB+ SD card (or USB SSD), Ethernet.

Prerequisites

• Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with 2 GB+ RAM (4 GB recommended)
• MicroSD card (16 GB+) or USB SSD (better performance)
• Official Pi power supply
• Network connection (Ethernet or WiFi)
• 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS (required -- do not use 32-bit)
• About 30 minutes

Setup

ssh user@gateway-host

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -ysudo apt install -y git curl build-essential # Set your timezone (important for cron and reminders).# Replace America/Chicago with your own IANA zone (`timedatectl list-timezones`).sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | sudo -E bash -sudo apt install -y nodejsnode --version

sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfilesudo chmod 600 /swapfilesudo mkswap /swapfilesudo swapon /swapfileecho '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab # Reduce swappiness for low-RAM devicesecho 'vm.swappiness=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.confsudo sysctl -p

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --no-onboard

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

openclaw statussystemctl --user status openclaw-gateway.servicejournalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway.service -f

ssh user@gateway-host 'openclaw dashboard --no-open'

ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@gateway-host

Performance tips

Use a USB SSD -- SD cards are slow and wear out. A USB SSD dramatically improves performance and survives more write cycles; use it for OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR if you keep the OS on SD. See the Pi USB boot guide.

Enable module compile cache -- Speeds up repeated CLI invocations on lower-power Pi hosts. OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1 keeps routine Gateway restarts in-process, avoiding extra process handoffs and keeping PID tracking simple on small hosts:

grep -q 'NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache' ~/.bashrc || cat >> ~/.bashrc <<'EOF'export NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cachemkdir -p /var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cacheexport OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1EOFsource ~/.bashrc

Use /var/tmp, not /tmp -- some distros clear /tmp on boot, which drops the warmed cache. The Gateway main thread stays uncached to avoid synchronous cache writes delaying startup or shutdown. Workers retain the cache; see the Gateway cache policy.

Reduce memory usage -- For headless setups, free GPU memory and disable unused services:

echo 'gpu_mem=16' | sudo tee -a /boot/config.txtsudo systemctl disable bluetooth

systemd drop-in for host-specific startup tuning -- The managed unit owns the generic restart policy (Restart=always, RestartSec=5). If this Pi is mostly running OpenClaw, add a service drop-in for host-specific startup settings only:

systemctl --user edit openclaw-gateway.service

[Service]Environment=OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1Environment=NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cacheTimeoutStartSec=90

Then systemctl --user daemon-reload && systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service. On a headless Pi, also enable lingering once so the user service survives logout: sudo loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)".

Recommended model setup

Since the Pi only runs the gateway, use cloud-hosted API models -- do not run local LLMs on a Pi, even small models are too slow to be useful:

{  "agents": {    "defaults": {      "model": {        "primary": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",        "fallbacks": ["openai/gpt-5.4-mini"]      }    }  }}

ARM binary notes

Most OpenClaw features work on ARM64 without changes (Node.js, Telegram, WhatsApp/Baileys, Chromium). The binaries that occasionally lack ARM builds are typically optional Go/Rust CLI tools shipped by skills. Verify architecture with uname -m (should show aarch64), then check a missing binary's release page for linux-arm64 / aarch64 artifacts before falling back to building from source.

Persistence and backups

OpenClaw state lives under:

• ~/.openclaw/ -- openclaw.json, shared and per-agent SQLite auth stores, channel/provider state, sessions.
• ~/.openclaw/workspace/ -- agent workspace (SOUL.md, memory, artifacts).

These survive reboots and benefit from SSD over SD card for both performance and longevity. Create a backup archive with:

openclaw backup createopenclaw backup restore <archive.tar.gz> --target <fresh-directory>

Absolute symbolic links keep their original target locations, including links to separately backed-up config or credentials. Review these links before activating state on another host or at another path; see the backup symbolic-link caveat. Restore verifies and extracts into a fresh staging directory; activation is a separate offline step. See Restore a full archive for the rollback warnings and activation sequence.

Troubleshooting

Out of memory -- Verify swap is active with free -h. Disable unused services (sudo systemctl disable cups bluetooth avahi-daemon). Use API-based models only.

Slow performance -- Use a USB SSD instead of an SD card. Check for CPU throttling with vcgencmd get_throttled (should return 0x0).

Service will not start -- Check logs with journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway.service --no-pager -n 100 and run openclaw doctor --non-interactive. If this is a headless Pi, also verify lingering is enabled: sudo loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)".

ARM binary issues -- If a skill fails with "exec format error", check whether the binary has an ARM64 build. Verify architecture with uname -m (should show aarch64).

WiFi drops -- Disable WiFi power management: sudo iwconfig wlan0 power off.

Next steps

• Channels -- connect Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, and more
• Gateway configuration -- all config options
• Updating -- keep OpenClaw up to date

Related

• Install overview
• Linux server
• Platforms