OpenClaw 🦞

OpenClaw 🦞 (formerly Clawdbot, Moltbot) is a personal AI assistant that runs locally and connects to multiple messaging platforms via a WebSocket-based Gateway architecture.

⚠️ This template uses ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:2026.1.30. OpenClaw 🦞 is in rapid development, so there may be undiscovered bugs. Changing versions may also cause stability issues.

⚠️ If you encounter any issues, feel free to check the GitHub issues for solutions or to report new ones. For Zeabur platform-related issues, please contact Zeabur support.

⚠️ macOS-specific software and packages (e.g. Homebrew) are not supported in this container environment. Please look for alternative solutions.

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Recommended Resources

OpenClaw 🦞 is CPU-intensive. Resource requirements may vary depending on the tools and features you use.

• Dedicated Server: 2+ vCPU, 2+ GB - highly recommended for stable performance

Feature Extensions

• Browser: If you need browser features (web browsing, screenshots, etc.), deploy the Browser Template

Usage

1. After deployment, copy "Web UI (with token)" URL from the Instructions tab and paste it into your browser (first login requires token, after that you can access directly)
2. Configure AI model (choose one):
   • Zeabur AI Hub: If you entered the API Key during deployment, go directly to step 3. You can also add ZEABUR_AI_HUB_API_KEY later via Variables tab in Zeabur dashboard (restart service after adding).
   • Other providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.): Go to Settings to add your API key
3. Go to the Chat page to test if your AI model is working
4. (Optional) Set up messaging platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp, etc.

For AI model configuration, see the official documentation.

Telegram Bot Setup

Getting your bot token from BotFather:

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot to create a new bot
3. Follow the prompts to set a name and username for your bot
4. BotFather will send you a token (e.g., 123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz)

Adding the token to Zeabur:

1. Go to your service's Environment Variables tab in Zeabur dashboard
2. Add TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN with your bot token
3. Restart the service

Pairing your Telegram account:

1. Send /start to your bot in Telegram
2. The bot will reply with a pairing code (e.g., JN4MSY23)
3. Approve the pairing using one of these methods:
   • Web Chat: In the OpenClaw web interface chat box, type openclaw pairing approve telegram <code>
   • Terminal: Open Command in Zeabur dashboard, run openclaw pairing approve telegram <code>
4. You'll see: Approved telegram sender <user-id>.
5. Now you can chat with the bot!

WhatsApp Setup

Step 1: Configure WhatsApp channel Add the following configuration via OpenClaw Web UI (Settings → Config) or paste it to chat:

"channels": {
  "whatsapp": {
    "selfChatMode": true,
    "dmPolicy": "allowlist",
    "allowFrom": ["+15551234567"]
  }
}

Replace +15551234567 with your WhatsApp phone number (with country code). Restart the service after saving.

Step 2: Link WhatsApp

1. Open Command in Zeabur dashboard to access the container terminal
2. Run: openclaw channels login
3. A QR code will appear - scan it with WhatsApp on your phone
4. Connection complete! You can now message yourself on WhatsApp to chat with OpenClaw

For other messaging platforms (Discord, Slack, etc.), see the Channels documentation.

AI Model Configuration

Switch model for current conversation (via chat commands):

• /models - View available models
• /model <model-id> - Switch model for this conversation only

Change default model (via Web UI Settings):

• Go to Settings → Agents → Default model to set the default model for all new conversations

Add AI providers (via Web UI Settings or environment variables):

• Add API keys for other AI providers (e.g., Anthropic, OpenAI)

For detailed configuration, see the official documentation.

Data Persistence

All data is stored under /home/node:

• /home/node/.openclaw - Configuration, sessions, devices, and credentials
• /home/node/.openclaw/workspace - Workspace and memory files

Backup & Restore

💡 Tip: We recommend creating a backup after completing your initial setup or making significant configuration changes.

Backup Methods (both produce compressed files):

• Method 1: Zeabur Backup Service (Recommended) - Use Zeabur's built-in backup feature. See Zeabur Backup Documentation. File structure: data/data/.openclaw/...
• Method 2: Manual Backup - Open Command → Run cd /home/node && tar -czvf backup.tar.gz .openclaw → Download from Files tab

Restore:

• From Method 1 (e.g. backup-6980cebef9b407ee4e87d608.tar.gz):
  1. Drag compressed file to /home/node folder in Files tab, file will appear in the list when upload is complete
  2. Run cd /home/node in Command
  3. tar -xzvf <backup-file> --strip-components=2 -C /home/node
  4. rm <backup-file> to delete backup file
  5. Restart service
• From Method 2:
  1. Drag compressed file to /home/node folder in Files tab, file will appear in the list when upload is complete
  2. Run cd /home/node in Command
  3. tar -xzvf backup.tar.gz
  4. rm backup.tar.gz to delete backup file
  5. Restart service

⚠️ Restore will overwrite existing configuration and data on the new service. Remember to also restore related environment variables (e.g. TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN). Channel backup/restore has only been tested with Telegram and WhatsApp.

Migrating from Clawdbot / Moltbot

Old version data locations:

• Clawdbot: config ~/.clawdbot, workspace ~/clawd
• Moltbot: config ~/.moltbot or ~/.clawdbot, workspace ~/clawd

New OpenClaw location: /home/node/.openclaw (includes config and workspace)

OpenClaw has backward compatibility and will automatically read from .clawdbot and .moltbot folders, so you can extract directly without renaming.

Migration steps:

1. Backup data on your old service:
   • Open Command in old service
   • cd /home/node && tar -czvf backup.tar.gz .clawdbot .moltbot clawd 2>/dev/null (ignores missing folders)
   • Download backup.tar.gz from Files tab
2. Deploy this new OpenClaw template
3. Restore backup to new service:
   • Drag backup.tar.gz to /home/node folder in Files tab
   • Open Command: cd /home/node && tar -xzvf backup.tar.gz && rm backup.tar.gz
   • Restart service
4. Your configuration, sessions, and credentials will be preserved

The clawdbot and moltbot CLI commands are still available for backward compatibility.

Zeabur-Specific Configuration

This template disables mDNS/Bonjour (OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BONJOUR=1) because Zeabur container hostnames can exceed the 63-byte DNS label limit. mDNS is only used for local network discovery (like AirPlay/Chromecast) and is not needed in cloud environments where services connect via internal DNS.

Documentation

• Documentation: https://docs.openclaw.ai
• GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw

Changelog

2026/2/2

• Add AI model configuration section (global vs conversation settings)
• Add migration guide from Clawdbot / Moltbot with data paths
• Add backup & restore section with Zeabur backup service
• Add tip to backup after initial setup
• Remove Google Gemini CLI patch (fixed upstream)
• Remove ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and OPENAI_API_KEY from deployment variables to prevent OpenClaw from detecting empty API keys and failing (can be configured later via Web UI or environment variables)

To change the image version, go to Settings tab → Service Image Source → modify ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:<tag>.