OpenClaw Quickstart Checklist

Download the Telegram app on your phoneSign in to or create the Telegram account you want to use with your bot.

Open BotFather and create the botIn Telegram, search for @BotFather, send /newbot, choose a bot name, then choose a unique username ending in bot.

Create a Brave Search API accountSign up for an account at brave.com/search/api/. Once signed up, go to API Keys in the left navigation and generate an API key. We will use this when setting up your OpenClaw.

Sign up for $8 or $20/month ChatGPT accountUse the normal personal ChatGPT account. The pricing page is here: chatgpt.com/pricing/. Use $20 if you expect to do more coding.

Create your AWS accountSign up for a free AWS account at aws.amazon.com, and select the free 6-month account when the option comes up. You can continue easily once your free resources are used up. You won't ever be charged this way. At the end of your free trial, your resources will be deactivated but will be saved for 90-days for you to upgrade to paid, so you'll never lose what you've built.

Type EC2 in the top AWS search barOnce logged into aws.amazon.com, type EC2 in the top search bar and click the result.

Click Launch InstanceOn the resulting page, click Launch Instance.

Click Launch without a walkthroughOn the next page, click Launch without a walkthrough. This checklist is your walkthrough.

Type any name you wantIt does not need to be unique worldwide, so just name it whatever you want. Something like Roberts OpenClaw is fine.

Choose Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server 24.xxChoose Ubuntu (oo-boon-too). Then in the Amazon Machine Image dropdown, select Ubuntu Server 24.xx and click Confirm Changes on the pop-up. This version is not the newest, so it has fewer bugs and is more stable.

Choose the instance type t3.smallChoose t3.small and leave architecture at x86. After 6 free months, this will cost about $15/month. This option is totally fine and just requires one extra step later. If money is not a factor, c7i-flex.large is stronger, but it will use up the free allotment faster and cost about $65/month after around 2 months.

Skip Key PairSkip the Key Pair step. If AWS shows a warning, choose Proceed without key pair. This can be done later if needed.

Leave network settings alone and keep SSH from AnywhereLeave Create security group selected and leave Allow SSH traffic from set to Anywhere. You are still protected because outsiders would need a passcode to access your virtual computer, which only you have as the AWS account owner. You want SSH so that we can log into the computer in the next step and install OpenClaw.

Set storage to 20 GiB and keep gp3Under Configure storage, set this to 20 GiB and leave the default gp3 type. If you leave it at 8, your virtual computer will fill up and OpenClaw will stop working.

Leave file systems at None and skip Advanced detailsFile systems can stay at None. This just means the files stay inside the computer and not somewhere else on AWS. It is also the quickest, cheapest, and easiest option. Skip Advanced details.

Click Launch instanceThen click Launch instance. Once that is done, you are ready for the OpenClaw install step next.

1. Click View all instancesAfter you create your instance, there will be a yellow box in the bottom right of the confirmation page that says View all instances. Click that. If needed, you can also use the AWS search bar to search for EC2 and get back to your instance list.

2. Select your instance and click ConnectOn the resulting page, check the box next to your new instance and click Connect at the top of the screen. If you do not have a name for yours, that is fine. You do not need one. Still check the box next to your instance and click Connect at the top.

3. Leave the settings alone and click Connect againOn the following screen, leave all the settings as they are and click Connect in the bottom right.

4. Use the terminal window that opensThis will open a new window for you to talk to your computer in the terminal. The screen will be all black with white letters.

5. Wait for the Ubuntu prompt after each commandYou are going to run some commands now. Some will take a bit of time and some will be instantaneous. Whenever you see ubuntu@ip-xxx-yyy, you know the command is done running and you can continue onto the next step. If you run into errors, use a different browser window and ask chatgpt.com what the errors mean and what you are trying to accomplish.

6. Update the system softwareClick at the end of all the white text, paste this command, and click enter to update the system software.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -yCopy

7. Install the Node.js setup packagePaste this command into the command line and click enter.

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -Copy

8. Install Node.jsThen paste this command and click enter to finish installing Node.js.

sudo apt install -y nodejsCopy

9. Increase space for OpenClawPaste this command and click enter to increase space for OpenClaw. This part is important.

echo 'export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=1536"' >> ~/.bashrcCopy

10. Reload your shell settingsPaste this command and click enter.

source ~/.bashrcCopy

11. Install OpenClawNow install OpenClaw.

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bashCopy

12. Rerun onboarding if you get stuckIf you ever get stuck, or the terminal stops letting you paste text after the initial OpenClaw download, refresh the browser page by pressing CMD or CTRL + R. Then type this command, click enter, and go through Quickstart again until you get back to the part you were at before.

openclaw onboardCopy

13. Choose Yes at the personal-by-default promptWhen you see I understand this is personal-by-default and shared/multi-user use requires lock-down. Continue?, click the up or left arrow to select Yes, then click enter. Then wait a second while it works.

14. Select QuickstartClick enter to select Quickstart.

15. Select OpenAIClick the down arrow to OpenAI and click enter.

16. Select ChatGPT LoginClick enter to select ChatGPT Login.

17. Open the long login URL in a new browser tabPay attention to these next 4 steps carefully, because the last one gets people. Copy the huge long URL it gives you, open a new browser tab with CMD + T or CTRL + T, paste the URL in the top URL box in your browser, and click enter to go to that page.

18. Sign in to your paid ChatGPT accountSign in to ChatGPT with the same email/account you just signed up and paid for in the earlier steps.

19. Click Continue when it mentions signing in to CodexClick Continue when it mentions signing in to Codex.

20. EASY TO MISS THIS PART!! Paste the localhost callback URL back into the terminalThis part gets most people because it looks broken but is not. You will see a page that says the webpage is not working. Click in the URL at the top, or copy the URL from the page body, go back to the terminal, paste that whole localhost callback URL, and click enter. Example: http://localhost:1455/auth/callback?code=ac_Vhnm_3OjrM9ucb2wnn7BLTSch67WrOF1tA.bHffqhHrBgcIRn8UfJBlsaFyxbFDvMFcKakgGH2z85A&scope=openid+profile+email+offline_access&state=750825decee2d8ab308eb19

21. Keep the current default modelFor Default model, click enter to keep current.

22. Select Telegram as the channelFor the option Select channel, click the down arrow until you are at Telegram and click enter to select it.

23. Select Enter Telegram bot tokenClick enter again to select Enter Telegram bot token.

24. Open BotFather in web Telegram and copy the orange tokenThe OpenClaw setup tells you what to do to get your token, but log into your existing Telegram account on your computer by going to web.telegram.org and going to the BotFather channel. When you created your bot in Step 1, you should still have an orange token. Click it and it will copy the token to your clipboard. Example: 88856153:AAFHmfHTRUTtM2O43rM9UU5cTrwY

25. Paste the Telegram token into the terminalPaste this token back in your terminal and click enter.

26. Select Brave as the search providerFor Search provider, select Brave, most likely the top option.

27. Copy the Brave API keyGo to your Brave API account, select API Keys in the left navigation to get to the API keys, then copy your API key to your clipboard.

28. Paste the Brave API key into the terminalPaste it in the terminal and click enter.

29. Select No for Configure skills nowSelect No by using the right arrow and clicking enter when No is selected.

30. Select Skip for now for Enable hooksPress the space bar to select Skip for now, then click enter.

31. Select Restart if you see Gateway service already installedThis is a possible option. If you see Gateway service already installed, select Restart.

32. Select Hatch laterFor How do you want to hatch?, select Hatch later.

33. Open your bot chat from the BotFather linkGo back to your Telegram window where you have BotFather open, and click the link at the beginning of the message with the token. Example: Done! Congratulations on your new bot. You will find it at t.me/OCcheck

34. Click START in the new Telegram chatThis will open up a new chat. Click START at the bottom.

35. Copy the pairing approval messageCopy the whole bottom message. It will look something like openclaw pairing approve telegram VJQ.

36. Paste the pairing approval message into the terminalGo back to your terminal and where it says ubuntu@ip-xxx-yyy, paste the whole message and click enter to run the command.

37. Restart the OpenClaw gatewayThen type the following without quotes and press enter.

openclaw gateway restartCopy

38. Wait for the reboot to finishThis will restart OpenClaw with all the new settings, especially the Telegram connection. Once that finishes rebooting, in the terminal you will see ubuntu@ip-xxx-yyy show up again.

39. Say hello to your bot in TelegramOnce that finishes rebooting, go to your Telegram chat and say hello. It may take a minute, but your bot will talk back in Telegram and you are good to go.

40. Tell it who you are and what you want it forYou've done it!!! Talk to it, describe who you are, and tell it what you want to use it for. All from your phone Telegram app or your computer.