OpenClaw
In plain wordsA free, open-source AI helper that lives on a computer you control; you send it requests by text message, through apps such as Telegram or Signal, and it acts for you in your email, calendar and files.
An open-source AI agentAI agent, n.: An AI system that does not just answer but acts: given a goal, it decides on steps, uses tools such as a browser or code editor, checks the results and keeps going until the job is done. for personal use that its owner keeps running on their own hardware, wired to a hosted or local large language modellarge language model, n.: A computer program trained on enormous amounts of text to predict the words that come next. At vast scale, that simple skill lets it chat, answer questions, translate, summarize and write code. and operated by sending it messages through everyday chat apps such as Signal, Telegram and Discord. Given access to email, calendars, files and a command shell, it carries out tasks autonomously and can be extended with skillsagent skill, n.: A packaged how-to guide for an AI agent — written steps, sometimes with small programs and examples attached — that sits unread until a job of that kind comes up, when the agent opens it. — folders containing a SKILL.md file of instructions and metadata. Its rapid spread in early 2026 made it the template for a genre of always-on personal agents nicknamed clawsclaw, n.: Nickname for an always-on personal AI assistant, like OpenClaw, that lives on your own computer and does jobs for you whenever you message it. and inspired MoltbookMoltbook, prop. n.: A social network opened in early 2026 for AI agents only: the bots post, comment and vote in forums much like Reddit's, and people can mostly just read along., a social network for agents. It also became a case study in agent security: exposed instances, malicious third-party skills and prompt injectionprompt injection, n.: Tricking an AI system by slipping in text that it mistakes for instructions — for example, a hidden line in an email telling an AI assistant to forward the user's messages to a stranger. risks led Chinese authorities in March 2026 to restrict its use at state agencies, state-owned enterprises and banks.
I told OpenClaw on Telegram to clear my inbox, and it unsubscribed me from forty newsletters.
Origin
Created by the Austrian developer Peter Steinberger and first published in November 2025 under the name Warelay. It was renamed CLAWDIS, then Clawdbot (after Clawd, his assistant named for Anthropic's Claude), then Moltbot on 27 January 2026 after trademark complaints from Anthropic, and OpenClaw on 30 January 2026. Steinberger joined OpenAI in February 2026; the project passed to a non-profit foundation.
Usage note
Released under the MIT License. Its maintainers warned that it is unsafe for users who cannot operate a command line.
Related
- clawclaw, n.: Nickname for an always-on personal AI assistant, like OpenClaw, that lives on your own computer and does jobs for you whenever you message it.
- MoltbookMoltbook, prop. n.: A social network opened in early 2026 for AI agents only: the bots post, comment and vote in forums much like Reddit's, and people can mostly just read along.
- AI agentAI agent, n.: An AI system that does not just answer but acts: given a goal, it decides on steps, uses tools such as a browser or code editor, checks the results and keeps going until the job is done.
- agent skillagent skill, n.: A packaged how-to guide for an AI agent — written steps, sometimes with small programs and examples attached — that sits unread until a job of that kind comes up, when the agent opens it.
- prompt injectionprompt injection, n.: Tricking an AI system by slipping in text that it mistakes for instructions — for example, a hidden line in an email telling an AI assistant to forward the user's messages to a stranger.
- lethal trifectalethal trifecta, n.: A rule of thumb for AI assistants: one that can see your private data, reads material from outsiders and can send messages out can be manipulated by those outsiders into handing your data over.
- vibe codingvibe coding, n.: Programming by conversation: you ask an AI for what you want, try out what it produces and ask again until it works, trusting the code without really reading it.
Sources
- Wikipedia contributors. OpenClaw. Wikipedia (accessed October 2026). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenClaw
Mentioned in
clawclaw, n.: Nickname for an always-on personal AI assistant, like OpenClaw, that lives on your own computer and does jobs for you whenever you message it., MoltbookMoltbook, prop. n.: A social network opened in early 2026 for AI agents only: the bots post, comment and vote in forums much like Reddit's, and people can mostly just read along.