# 🦞 CLAWDBOT — Personal AI Assistant
EXFOLIATE! EXFOLIATE!
**Clawdbot** is a *personal AI assistant* you run on your own devices. It answers you on the surfaces you already use (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage, WebChat), can speak and listen on macOS/iOS/Android, and can render a live Canvas you control. The Gateway is just the control plane — the product is the assistant. If you want a personal, single-user assistant that feels local, fast, and always-on, this is it. Website: [https://clawdbot.com](https://clawdbot.com) · Docs: [https://docs.clawdbot.com](https://docs.clawdbot.com/) · Showcase: [https://docs.clawdbot.com/showcase](https://docs.clawdbot.com/showcase) · FAQ: [https://docs.clawdbot.com/faq](https://docs.clawdbot.com/faq) · Wizard: [https://docs.clawdbot.com/wizard](https://docs.clawdbot.com/wizard) · Nix: [https://github.com/clawdbot/nix-clawdbot](https://github.com/clawdbot/nix-clawdbot) · Docker: [https://docs.clawdbot.com/docker](https://docs.clawdbot.com/docker) · Discord: [https://discord.gg/clawd](https://discord.gg/clawd) Preferred setup: run the onboarding wizard (`clawdbot onboard`). It walks through gateway, workspace, providers, and skills. The CLI wizard is the recommended path and works on **macOS, Windows, and Linux**. Works with npm, pnpm, or bun. **Subscriptions (OAuth):** - **Anthropic** (Claude Pro/Max) - **OpenAI** (ChatGPT/Codex) Model note: while any model is supported, I strongly recommend **Anthropic Pro/Max (100/200) + Opus 4.5** for long‑context strength and better prompt‑injection resistance. See [Onboarding](https://docs.clawdbot.com/onboarding). ## Recommended setup (from source) Do **not** download prebuilt binaries. Build from source. ```bash # Clone this repo git clone https://github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot.git cd clawdbot pnpm install pnpm build pnpm ui:build pnpm clawdbot onboard ``` ## Quick start (from source) Runtime: **Node ≥22** + **pnpm**. ```bash pnpm install pnpm build pnpm ui:build # Recommended: run the onboarding wizard pnpm clawdbot onboard # Link WhatsApp (stores creds in ~/.clawdbot/credentials) pnpm clawdbot login # Start the gateway pnpm clawdbot gateway --port 18789 --verbose # Dev loop (auto-reload on TS changes) pnpm gateway:watch # Send a message pnpm clawdbot send --to +1234567890 --message "Hello from Clawdbot" # Talk to the assistant (optionally deliver back to WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack/Discord) pnpm clawdbot agent --message "Ship checklist" --thinking high ``` Upgrading? `clawdbot doctor`. If you run from source, prefer `pnpm clawdbot …` (not global `clawdbot`). ## Highlights - **[Local-first Gateway](https://docs.clawdbot.com/gateway)** — single control plane for sessions, providers, tools, and events. - **[Multi-surface inbox](https://docs.clawdbot.com/surface)** — WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage, WebChat, macOS, iOS/Android. - **[Voice Wake](https://docs.clawdbot.com/voicewake) + [Talk Mode](https://docs.clawdbot.com/talk)** — always-on speech for macOS/iOS/Android with ElevenLabs. - **[Live Canvas](https://docs.clawdbot.com/mac/canvas)** — agent-driven visual workspace with [A2UI](https://docs.clawdbot.com/refactor/canvas-a2ui). - **[First-class tools](https://docs.clawdbot.com/tools)** — browser, canvas, nodes, cron, sessions, and Discord/Slack actions. - **[Companion apps](https://docs.clawdbot.com/macos)** — macOS menu bar app + iOS/Android [nodes](https://docs.clawdbot.com/nodes). - **[Onboarding](https://docs.clawdbot.com/wizard) + [skills](https://docs.clawdbot.com/skills)** — wizard-driven setup with bundled/managed/workspace skills. ## Everything we built so far ### Core platform - [Gateway WS control plane](https://docs.clawdbot.com/gateway) with sessions, presence, config, cron, webhooks, [Control UI](https://docs.clawdbot.com/web), and [Canvas host](https://docs.clawdbot.com/refactor/canvas-a2ui). - [CLI surface](https://docs.clawdbot.com/agent-send): gateway, agent, send, [wizard](https://docs.clawdbot.com/wizard), and [doctor](https://docs.clawdbot.com/doctor). - [Pi agent runtime](https://docs.clawdbot.com/agent) in RPC mode with tool streaming and block streaming. - [Session model](https://docs.clawdbot.com/session): `main` for direct chats, group isolation, activation modes, queue modes, reply-back. Group rules: [Groups](https://docs.clawdbot.com/groups). - [Media pipeline](https://docs.clawdbot.com/images): images/audio/video, transcription hooks, size caps, temp file lifecycle. Audio details: [Audio](https://docs.clawdbot.com/audio). ### Surfaces + providers - [Providers](https://docs.clawdbot.com/surface): [WhatsApp](https://docs.clawdbot.com/whatsapp) (Baileys), [Telegram](https://docs.clawdbot.com/telegram) (grammY), [Slack](https://docs.clawdbot.com/slack) (Bolt), [Discord](https://docs.clawdbot.com/discord) (discord.js), [Signal](https://docs.clawdbot.com/signal) (signal-cli), [iMessage](https://docs.clawdbot.com/imessage) (imsg), [WebChat](https://docs.clawdbot.com/webchat). - [Group routing](https://docs.clawdbot.com/group-messages): mention gating, reply tags, per-surface chunking and routing. Surface rules: [Surface routing](https://docs.clawdbot.com/surface). ### Apps + nodes - [macOS app](https://docs.clawdbot.com/macos): menu bar control plane, [Voice Wake](https://docs.clawdbot.com/voicewake)/PTT, [Talk Mode](https://docs.clawdbot.com/talk) overlay, [WebChat](https://docs.clawdbot.com/webchat), debug tools, [remote gateway](https://docs.clawdbot.com/remote) control. - [iOS node](https://docs.clawdbot.com/ios): [Canvas](https://docs.clawdbot.com/mac/canvas), [Voice Wake](https://docs.clawdbot.com/voicewake), [Talk Mode](https://docs.clawdbot.com/talk), camera, screen recording, Bonjour pairing. - [Android node](https://docs.clawdbot.com/android): [Canvas](https://docs.clawdbot.com/mac/canvas), [Talk Mode](https://docs.clawdbot.com/talk), camera, screen recording, optional SMS. - [macOS node mode](https://docs.clawdbot.com/nodes): system.run/notify + canvas/camera exposure. ### Tools + automation - [Browser control](https://docs.clawdbot.com/browser): dedicated clawd Chrome/Chromium, snapshots, actions, uploads, profiles. - [Canvas](https://docs.clawdbot.com/mac/canvas): [A2UI](https://docs.clawdbot.com/refactor/canvas-a2ui) push/reset, eval, snapshot. - [Nodes](https://docs.clawdbot.com/nodes): camera snap/clip, screen record, [location.get](https://docs.clawdbot.com/location-command), notifications. - [Cron + wakeups](https://docs.clawdbot.com/cron); [webhooks](https://docs.clawdbot.com/webhook); [Gmail Pub/Sub](https://docs.clawdbot.com/gmail-pubsub). - [Skills platform](https://docs.clawdbot.com/skills): bundled, managed, and workspace skills with install gating + UI. ### Ops + packaging - [Control UI](https://docs.clawdbot.com/web) + [WebChat](https://docs.clawdbot.com/webchat) served directly from the Gateway. - [Tailscale Serve/Funnel](https://docs.clawdbot.com/tailscale) or [SSH tunnels](https://docs.clawdbot.com/remote) with token/password auth. - [Nix mode](https://docs.clawdbot.com/nix) for declarative config; [Docker](https://docs.clawdbot.com/docker)-based installs. - [Doctor](https://docs.clawdbot.com/doctor) migrations, [logging](https://docs.clawdbot.com/logging). ## How it works (short) ``` WhatsApp / Telegram / Slack / Discord / Signal / iMessage / WebChat │ ▼ ┌───────────────────────────────┐ │ Gateway │ ws://127.0.0.1:18789 │ (control plane) │ bridge: tcp://0.0.0.0:18790 └──────────────┬────────────────┘ │ ├─ Pi agent (RPC) ├─ CLI (clawdbot …) ├─ WebChat UI ├─ macOS app └─ iOS/Android nodes ``` ## Key subsystems - **[Gateway WebSocket network](https://docs.clawdbot.com/architecture)** — single WS control plane for clients, tools, and events (plus ops: [Gateway runbook](https://docs.clawdbot.com/gateway)). - **[Tailscale exposure](https://docs.clawdbot.com/tailscale)** — Serve/Funnel for the Gateway dashboard + WS (remote access: [Remote](https://docs.clawdbot.com/remote)). - **[Browser control](https://docs.clawdbot.com/browser)** — clawd‑managed Chrome/Chromium with CDP control. - **[Canvas + A2UI](https://docs.clawdbot.com/mac/canvas)** — agent‑driven visual workspace (A2UI host: [Canvas/A2UI](https://docs.clawdbot.com/refactor/canvas-a2ui)). - **[Voice Wake](https://docs.clawdbot.com/voicewake) + [Talk Mode](https://docs.clawdbot.com/talk)** — always‑on speech and continuous conversation. - **[Nodes](https://docs.clawdbot.com/nodes)** — Canvas, camera snap/clip, screen record, `location.get`, notifications, plus macOS‑only `system.run`/`system.notify`. ## Tailscale access (Gateway dashboard) Clawdbot can auto-configure Tailscale **Serve** (tailnet-only) or **Funnel** (public) while the Gateway stays bound to loopback. Configure `gateway.tailscale.mode`: - `off`: no Tailscale automation (default). - `serve`: tailnet-only HTTPS via `tailscale serve` (uses Tailscale identity headers by default). - `funnel`: public HTTPS via `tailscale funnel` (requires shared password auth). Notes: - `gateway.bind` must stay `loopback` when Serve/Funnel is enabled (Clawdbot enforces this). - Serve can be forced to require a password by setting `gateway.auth.mode: "password"` or `gateway.auth.allowTailscale: false`. - Funnel refuses to start unless `gateway.auth.mode: "password"` is set. - Optional: `gateway.tailscale.resetOnExit` to undo Serve/Funnel on shutdown. Details: [Tailscale guide](https://docs.clawdbot.com/tailscale) · [Web surfaces](https://docs.clawdbot.com/web) ## Remote Gateway (Linux is great) It’s perfectly fine to run the Gateway on a small Linux instance. Clients (macOS app, CLI, WebChat) can connect over **Tailscale Serve/Funnel** or **SSH tunnels**, and you can still pair device nodes (macOS/iOS/Android) to execute device‑local actions when needed. - **Gateway host** runs the bash tool and provider connections by default. - **Device nodes** run device‑local actions (`system.run`, camera, screen recording, notifications) via `node.invoke`. In short: bash runs where the Gateway lives; device actions run where the device lives. Details: [Remote access](https://docs.clawdbot.com/remote) · [Nodes](https://docs.clawdbot.com/nodes) · [Security](https://docs.clawdbot.com/security) ## macOS permissions via the Gateway protocol The macOS app can run in **node mode** and advertises its capabilities + permission map over the Gateway WebSocket (`node.list` / `node.describe`). Clients can then execute local actions via `node.invoke`: - `system.run` runs a local command and returns stdout/stderr/exit code; set `needsScreenRecording: true` to require screen-recording permission (otherwise you’ll get `PERMISSION_MISSING`). - `system.notify` posts a user notification and fails if notifications are denied. - `canvas.*`, `camera.*`, `screen.record`, and `location.get` are also routed via `node.invoke` and follow TCC permission status. Elevated bash (host permissions) is separate from macOS TCC: - Use `/elevated on|off` to toggle per‑session elevated access when enabled + allowlisted. - Gateway persists the per‑session toggle via `sessions.patch` (WS method) alongside `thinkingLevel`, `verboseLevel`, `model`, `sendPolicy`, and `groupActivation`. Details: [Nodes](https://docs.clawdbot.com/nodes) · [macOS app](https://docs.clawdbot.com/macos) · [Gateway protocol](https://docs.clawdbot.com/architecture) ## Agent to Agent (sessions_* tools) - Use these to coordinate work across sessions without jumping between chat surfaces. - `sessions_list` — discover active sessions (agents) and their metadata. - `sessions_history` — fetch transcript logs for a session. - `sessions_send` — message another session; optional reply‑back ping‑pong + announce step (`REPLY_SKIP`, `ANNOUNCE_SKIP`). Details: [Session tools](https://docs.clawdbot.com/session-tool) ## Skills registry (ClawdHub) ClawdHub is a minimal skill registry. With ClawdHub enabled, the agent can search for skills automatically and pull in new ones as needed. https://ClawdHub.com ## Chat commands Send these in WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack/WebChat (group commands are owner-only): - `/status` — health + session info (group shows activation mode) - `/new` or `/reset` — reset the session - `/think