From Zero to AI Agent in Minutes: Installing OpenClaw the Right Way

🚀 Want to spin up your own AI agent in minutes? Here’s how I installed OpenClaw the clean way — straight from the official docs 👇

💡 Step 1: Check your environment

Before anything else, make sure you’ve got:

Node.js 22+ (the installer can handle this for you)

macOS / Linux / Windows (WSL2 recommended for Windows)

⚡ Step 2: One-line install (recommended)

This is the fastest way — literally one command:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

That’s it. The script:

Detects your system

Installs dependencies (including Node if missing)

Installs OpenClaw globally

Launches the onboarding wizard automatically

🧠 Step 3: Run onboarding

If it doesn’t launch automatically, just run:

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

You’ll configure:

API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)

Gateway settings

Optional integrations like Discord or Telegram

🔍 Step 4: Verify everything works

Run these commands:

openclaw doctor
openclaw status
openclaw dashboard

If all looks good, your dashboard will open in the browser 🎉

🌐 Step 5: Access your agent

By default, your local UI runs at:

http://127.0.0.1:18789/

From here, you can start building agents, automating workflows, and plugging into real tools.

🔥 Pro tip

Skip sketchy “one-click” marketplace images — use a clean OS install (like Ubuntu LTS) and run the official script yourself for better security and stability.

That’s it — from zero to a working AI agent in minutes. Low friction, surprisingly powerful, and dangerously addictive.

Who else is building with OpenClaw right now? 👀