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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openclaw.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The Gateway is fully supported on Linux. Node is the recommended runtime. Bun is not recommended for the Gateway (WhatsApp/Telegram bugs). Native Linux companion apps are planned. Contributions are welcome if you want to help build one.

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Beginner quick path (VPS)

  1. Install Node 24 (recommended; Node 22 LTS, currently 22.14+, still works for compatibility)
  2. npm i -g openclaw@latest
  3. openclaw onboard --install-daemon
  4. From your laptop: ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 <user>@<host>
  5. Open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ and authenticate with the configured shared secret (token by default; password if you set gateway.auth.mode: "password")
Full Linux server guide: Linux Server. Step-by-step VPS example: exe.dev

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Install

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Gateway

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Gateway service install (CLI)

Use one of these: 
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
Or: 
openclaw gateway install
Or: 
openclaw configure
Select Gateway service when prompted. Repair/migrate: 
openclaw doctor

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System control (systemd user unit)

OpenClaw installs a systemd user service by default. Use a system service for shared or always-on servers. openclaw gateway install and openclaw onboard --install-daemon already render the current canonical unit for you; write one by hand only when you need a custom system/service-manager setup. The full service guidance lives in the Gateway runbook. Minimal setup: Create ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway[-<profile>].service: 
[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw Gateway (profile: <profile>, v<version>)
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/openclaw gateway --port 18789
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
TimeoutStopSec=30
TimeoutStartSec=30
SuccessExitStatus=0 143
KillMode=control-group

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
Enable it: 
systemctl --user enable --now openclaw-gateway[-<profile>].service

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Memory pressure and OOM kills

On Linux, the kernel chooses an OOM victim when a host, VM, or container cgroup runs out of memory. The Gateway can be a poor victim because it owns long-lived sessions and channel connections. OpenClaw therefore biases transient child processes to be killed before the Gateway when possible. For eligible Linux child spawns, OpenClaw starts the child through a short /bin/sh wrapper that raises the child’s own oom_score_adj to 1000, then execs the real command. This is an unprivileged operation because the child is only increasing its own OOM kill likelihood. Covered child process surfaces include:
  • supervisor-managed command children,
  • PTY shell children,
  • MCP stdio server children,
  • OpenClaw-launched browser/Chrome processes.
The wrapper is Linux-only and is skipped when /bin/sh is unavailable. It is also skipped if the child env sets OPENCLAW_CHILD_OOM_SCORE_ADJ=0, false, no, or off. To verify a child process: 
cat /proc/<child-pid>/oom_score_adj
Expected value for covered children is 1000. The Gateway process should keep its normal score, usually 0. This does not replace normal memory tuning. If a VPS or container repeatedly kills children, increase the memory limit, reduce concurrency, or add stronger resource controls such as systemd MemoryMax= or container-level memory limits.