docs: reorganize documentation structure
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Peter Steinberger
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docs/start/clawd.md
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docs/start/clawd.md
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---
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summary: "End-to-end guide for running Clawdbot as a personal assistant with safety cautions"
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read_when:
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- Onboarding a new assistant instance
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- Reviewing safety/permission implications
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---
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# Building a personal assistant with CLAWDBOT (Clawd-style)
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CLAWDBOT is a WhatsApp + Telegram + Discord gateway for **Pi** agents. This guide is the “personal assistant” setup: one dedicated WhatsApp number that behaves like your always-on agent.
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## ⚠️ Safety first
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You’re putting an agent in a position to:
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- run commands on your machine (depending on your Pi tool setup)
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- read/write files in your workspace
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- send messages back out via WhatsApp/Telegram/Discord
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Start conservative:
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- Always set `whatsapp.allowFrom` (never run open-to-the-world on your personal Mac).
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- Use a dedicated WhatsApp number for the assistant.
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- Heartbeats now default to every 30 minutes. Disable until you trust the setup by setting `agent.heartbeat.every: "0m"`.
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## Prerequisites
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- Node **22+**
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- CLAWDBOT available on PATH (recommended during development: from source + global link)
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- A second phone number (SIM/eSIM/prepaid) for the assistant
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From source (recommended while the npm package is still settling):
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```bash
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pnpm install
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pnpm build
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pnpm link --global
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```
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## The two-phone setup (recommended)
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You want this:
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```
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Your Phone (personal) Second Phone (assistant)
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┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐
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│ Your WhatsApp │ ──────▶ │ Assistant WA │
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│ +1-555-YOU │ message │ +1-555-CLAWD │
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└─────────────────┘ └────────┬────────┘
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│ linked via QR
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▼
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┌─────────────────┐
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│ Your Mac │
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│ (clawdbot) │
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│ Pi agent │
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└─────────────────┘
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```
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If you link your personal WhatsApp to CLAWDBOT, every message to you becomes “agent input”. That’s rarely what you want.
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## 5-minute quick start
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1) Pair WhatsApp Web (shows QR; scan with the assistant phone):
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```bash
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clawdbot login
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```
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2) Start the Gateway (leave it running):
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```bash
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clawdbot gateway --port 18789
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```
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3) Put a minimal config in `~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json`:
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```json5
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{
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whatsapp: {
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allowFrom: ["+15555550123"]
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}
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}
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```
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Now message the assistant number from your allowlisted phone.
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## Give the agent a workspace (AGENTS)
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Clawd reads operating instructions and “memory” from its workspace directory.
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By default, Clawdbot uses `~/clawd` as the agent workspace, and will create it (plus starter `AGENTS.md`, `SOUL.md`, `TOOLS.md`, `IDENTITY.md`, `USER.md`) automatically on setup/first agent run. `BOOTSTRAP.md` is only created when the workspace is brand new (it should not come back after you delete it).
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Tip: treat this folder like Clawd’s “memory” and make it a git repo (ideally private) so your `AGENTS.md` + memory files are backed up.
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```bash
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clawdbot setup
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```
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Full workspace layout + backup guide: [`docs/agent-workspace.md`](/agent-workspace)
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Optional: choose a different workspace with `agent.workspace` (supports `~`).
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```json5
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{
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agent: {
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workspace: "~/clawd"
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}
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}
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```
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If you already ship your own workspace files from a repo, you can disable bootstrap file creation entirely:
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```json5
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{
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agent: {
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skipBootstrap: true
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}
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}
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```
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## The config that turns it into “an assistant”
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CLAWDBOT defaults to a good assistant setup, but you’ll usually want to tune:
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- persona/instructions in `SOUL.md`
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- thinking defaults (if desired)
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- heartbeats (once you trust it)
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Example:
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```json5
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{
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logging: { level: "info" },
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agent: {
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model: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5",
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workspace: "~/clawd",
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thinkingDefault: "high",
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timeoutSeconds: 1800,
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// Start with 0; enable later.
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heartbeat: { every: "0m" }
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},
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whatsapp: {
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allowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
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groups: {
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"*": { requireMention: true }
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}
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},
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routing: {
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groupChat: {
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mentionPatterns: ["@clawd", "clawd"]
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}
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},
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session: {
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scope: "per-sender",
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resetTriggers: ["/new", "/reset"],
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idleMinutes: 10080
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}
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}
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```
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## Sessions and memory
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- Session files: `~/.clawdbot/agents/<agentId>/sessions/{{SessionId}}.jsonl`
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- Session metadata (token usage, last route, etc): `~/.clawdbot/agents/<agentId>/sessions/sessions.json` (legacy: `~/.clawdbot/sessions/sessions.json`)
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- `/new` or `/reset` starts a fresh session for that chat (configurable via `resetTriggers`). If sent alone, the agent replies with a short hello to confirm the reset.
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- `/compact [instructions]` compacts the session context and reports the remaining context budget.
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## Heartbeats (proactive mode)
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By default, CLAWDBOT runs a heartbeat every 30 minutes with the prompt:
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`Read HEARTBEAT.md if exists. Consider outstanding tasks. Checkup sometimes on your human during (user local) day time.`
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Set `agent.heartbeat.every: "0m"` to disable.
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- If the agent replies with `HEARTBEAT_OK` (optionally with short padding; see `agent.heartbeat.ackMaxChars`), CLAWDBOT suppresses outbound delivery for that heartbeat.
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- Heartbeats run full agent turns — shorter intervals burn more tokens.
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```json5
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{
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agent: {
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heartbeat: { every: "30m" }
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}
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}
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```
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## Media in and out
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Inbound attachments (images/audio/docs) can be surfaced to your command via templates:
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- `{{MediaPath}}` (local temp file path)
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- `{{MediaUrl}}` (pseudo-URL)
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- `{{Transcript}}` (if audio transcription is enabled)
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Outbound attachments from the agent: include `MEDIA:<path-or-url>` on its own line (no spaces). Example:
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```
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Here’s the screenshot.
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MEDIA:/tmp/screenshot.png
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```
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CLAWDBOT extracts these and sends them as media alongside the text.
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## Operations checklist
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```bash
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clawdbot status # local status (creds, sessions, queued events)
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clawdbot status --deep # also probes the running Gateway (WA connect + Telegram)
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clawdbot health --json # gateway health snapshot (WS)
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```
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Logs live under `/tmp/clawdbot/` (default: `clawdbot-YYYY-MM-DD.log`).
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## Next steps
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- WebChat: [WebChat](/webchat)
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- Gateway ops: [Gateway runbook](/gateway)
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- Cron + wakeups: [Cron jobs](/cron-jobs)
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- macOS menu bar companion: [Clawdbot macOS app](/macos)
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- iOS node app: [iOS app](/ios)
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- Android node app: [Android app](/android)
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- Windows status: [Windows app](/windows)
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- Linux status: [Linux app](/linux)
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- Security: [Security](/security)
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