241 lines
9.1 KiB
Markdown
241 lines
9.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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summary: "Top-level overview of Moltbot, features, and purpose"
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read_when:
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- Introducing Moltbot to newcomers
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---
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# Moltbot 🦞
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> *"EXFOLIATE! EXFOLIATE!"* — A space lobster, probably
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<p align="center">
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<img src="whatsapp-clawd.jpg" alt="Moltbot" width="420" />
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<strong>Any OS + WhatsApp/Telegram/Discord/iMessage gateway for AI agents (Pi).</strong><br />
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Plugins add Mattermost and more.
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Send a message, get an agent response — from your pocket.
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<a href="https://github.com/moltbot/moltbot">GitHub</a> ·
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<a href="https://github.com/moltbot/moltbot/releases">Releases</a> ·
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<a href="/">Docs</a> ·
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<a href="/start/clawd">Moltbot assistant setup</a>
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</p>
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Moltbot bridges WhatsApp (via WhatsApp Web / Baileys), Telegram (Bot API / grammY), Discord (Bot API / channels.discord.js), and iMessage (imsg CLI) to coding agents like [Pi](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono). Plugins add Mattermost (Bot API + WebSocket) and more.
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Moltbot also powers [Clawd](https://clawd.me), the space‑lobster assistant.
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## Start here
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- **New install from zero:** [Getting Started](/start/getting-started)
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- **Guided setup (recommended):** [Wizard](/start/wizard) (`moltbot onboard`)
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- **Open the dashboard (local Gateway):** http://127.0.0.1:18789/ (or http://localhost:18789/)
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If the Gateway is running on the same computer, that link opens the browser Control UI
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immediately. If it fails, start the Gateway first: `moltbot gateway`.
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## Dashboard (browser Control UI)
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The dashboard is the browser Control UI for chat, config, nodes, sessions, and more.
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Local default: http://127.0.0.1:18789/
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Remote access: [Web surfaces](/web) and [Tailscale](/gateway/tailscale)
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## How it works
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```
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WhatsApp / Telegram / Discord / iMessage (+ plugins)
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│
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▼
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┌───────────────────────────┐
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│ Gateway │ ws://127.0.0.1:18789 (loopback-only)
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│ (single source) │
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│ │ http://<gateway-host>:18793
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│ │ /__moltbot__/canvas/ (Canvas host)
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└───────────┬───────────────┘
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│
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├─ Pi agent (RPC)
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├─ CLI (moltbot …)
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├─ Chat UI (SwiftUI)
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├─ macOS app (Moltbot.app)
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├─ iOS node via Gateway WS + pairing
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└─ Android node via Gateway WS + pairing
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```
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Most operations flow through the **Gateway** (`moltbot gateway`), a single long-running process that owns channel connections and the WebSocket control plane.
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## Network model
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- **One Gateway per host (recommended)**: it is the only process allowed to own the WhatsApp Web session. If you need a rescue bot or strict isolation, run multiple gateways with isolated profiles and ports; see [Multiple gateways](/gateway/multiple-gateways).
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- **Loopback-first**: Gateway WS defaults to `ws://127.0.0.1:18789`.
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- The wizard now generates a gateway token by default (even for loopback).
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- For Tailnet access, run `moltbot gateway --bind tailnet --token ...` (token is required for non-loopback binds).
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- **Nodes**: connect to the Gateway WebSocket (LAN/tailnet/SSH as needed); legacy TCP bridge is deprecated/removed.
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- **Canvas host**: HTTP file server on `canvasHost.port` (default `18793`), serving `/__moltbot__/canvas/` for node WebViews; see [Gateway configuration](/gateway/configuration) (`canvasHost`).
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- **Remote use**: SSH tunnel or tailnet/VPN; see [Remote access](/gateway/remote) and [Discovery](/gateway/discovery).
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## Features (high level)
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- 📱 **WhatsApp Integration** — Uses Baileys for WhatsApp Web protocol
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- ✈️ **Telegram Bot** — DMs + groups via grammY
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- 🎮 **Discord Bot** — DMs + guild channels via channels.discord.js
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- 🧩 **Mattermost Bot (plugin)** — Bot token + WebSocket events
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- 💬 **iMessage** — Local imsg CLI integration (macOS)
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- 🤖 **Agent bridge** — Pi (RPC mode) with tool streaming
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- ⏱️ **Streaming + chunking** — Block streaming + Telegram draft streaming details ([/concepts/streaming](/concepts/streaming))
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- 🧠 **Multi-agent routing** — Route provider accounts/peers to isolated agents (workspace + per-agent sessions)
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- 🔐 **Subscription auth** — Anthropic (Claude Pro/Max) + OpenAI (ChatGPT/Codex) via OAuth
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- 💬 **Sessions** — Direct chats collapse into shared `main` (default); groups are isolated
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- 👥 **Group Chat Support** — Mention-based by default; owner can toggle `/activation always|mention`
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- 📎 **Media Support** — Send and receive images, audio, documents
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- 🎤 **Voice notes** — Optional transcription hook
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- 🖥️ **WebChat + macOS app** — Local UI + menu bar companion for ops and voice wake
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- 📱 **iOS node** — Pairs as a node and exposes a Canvas surface
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- 📱 **Android node** — Pairs as a node and exposes Canvas + Chat + Camera
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Note: legacy Claude/Codex/Gemini/Opencode paths have been removed; Pi is the only coding-agent path.
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## Quick start
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Runtime requirement: **Node ≥ 22**.
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```bash
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# Recommended: global install (npm/pnpm)
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npm install -g moltbot@latest
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# or: pnpm add -g moltbot@latest
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# Onboard + install the service (launchd/systemd user service)
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moltbot onboard --install-daemon
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# Pair WhatsApp Web (shows QR)
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moltbot channels login
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# Gateway runs via the service after onboarding; manual run is still possible:
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moltbot gateway --port 18789
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```
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Switching between npm and git installs later is easy: install the other flavor and run `moltbot doctor` to update the gateway service entrypoint.
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From source (development):
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```bash
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git clone https://github.com/moltbot/moltbot.git
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cd moltbot
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pnpm install
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pnpm ui:build # auto-installs UI deps on first run
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pnpm build
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moltbot onboard --install-daemon
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```
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If you don’t have a global install yet, run the onboarding step via `pnpm moltbot ...` from the repo.
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Multi-instance quickstart (optional):
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```bash
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CLAWDBOT_CONFIG_PATH=~/.clawdbot/a.json \
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CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR=~/.clawdbot-a \
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moltbot gateway --port 19001
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```
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Send a test message (requires a running Gateway):
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```bash
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moltbot message send --target +15555550123 --message "Hello from Moltbot"
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```
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## Configuration (optional)
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Config lives at `~/.clawdbot/moltbot.json`.
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- If you **do nothing**, Moltbot uses the bundled Pi binary in RPC mode with per-sender sessions.
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- If you want to lock it down, start with `channels.whatsapp.allowFrom` and (for groups) mention rules.
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Example:
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```json5
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{
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channels: {
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whatsapp: {
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allowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
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groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } }
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}
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},
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messages: { groupChat: { mentionPatterns: ["@clawd"] } }
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}
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```
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## Docs
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- Start here:
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- [Docs hubs (all pages linked)](/start/hubs)
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- [Help](/help) ← *common fixes + troubleshooting*
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- [Configuration](/gateway/configuration)
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- [Configuration examples](/gateway/configuration-examples)
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- [Slash commands](/tools/slash-commands)
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- [Multi-agent routing](/concepts/multi-agent)
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- [Updating / rollback](/install/updating)
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- [Pairing (DM + nodes)](/start/pairing)
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- [Nix mode](/install/nix)
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- [Moltbot assistant setup (Clawd)](/start/clawd)
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- [Skills](/tools/skills)
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- [Skills config](/tools/skills-config)
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- [Workspace templates](/reference/templates/AGENTS)
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- [RPC adapters](/reference/rpc)
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- [Gateway runbook](/gateway)
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- [Nodes (iOS/Android)](/nodes)
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- [Web surfaces (Control UI)](/web)
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- [Discovery + transports](/gateway/discovery)
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- [Remote access](/gateway/remote)
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- Providers and UX:
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- [WebChat](/web/webchat)
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- [Control UI (browser)](/web/control-ui)
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- [Telegram](/channels/telegram)
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- [Discord](/channels/discord)
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- [Mattermost (plugin)](/channels/mattermost)
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- [iMessage](/channels/imessage)
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- [Groups](/concepts/groups)
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- [WhatsApp group messages](/concepts/group-messages)
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- [Media: images](/nodes/images)
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- [Media: audio](/nodes/audio)
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- Companion apps:
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- [macOS app](/platforms/macos)
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- [iOS app](/platforms/ios)
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- [Android app](/platforms/android)
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- [Windows (WSL2)](/platforms/windows)
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- [Linux app](/platforms/linux)
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- Ops and safety:
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- [Sessions](/concepts/session)
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- [Cron jobs](/automation/cron-jobs)
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- [Webhooks](/automation/webhook)
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- [Gmail hooks (Pub/Sub)](/automation/gmail-pubsub)
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- [Security](/gateway/security)
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- [Troubleshooting](/gateway/troubleshooting)
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## The name
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**Moltbot = CLAW + TARDIS** — because every space lobster needs a time-and-space machine.
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---
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*"We're all just playing with our own prompts."* — an AI, probably high on tokens
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## Credits
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- **Peter Steinberger** ([@steipete](https://twitter.com/steipete)) — Creator, lobster whisperer
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- **Mario Zechner** ([@badlogicc](https://twitter.com/badlogicgames)) — Pi creator, security pen-tester
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- **Clawd** — The space lobster who demanded a better name
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## Core Contributors
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- **Maxim Vovshin** (@Hyaxia, 36747317+Hyaxia@users.noreply.github.com) — Blogwatcher skill
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- **Nacho Iacovino** (@nachoiacovino, nacho.iacovino@gmail.com) — Location parsing (Telegram + WhatsApp)
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## License
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MIT — Free as a lobster in the ocean 🦞
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---
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*"We're all just playing with our own prompts."* — An AI, probably high on tokens
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