Create an OpenClaw Agent

This guide walks through creating a managed OpenClaw agent on OpenComputer, connecting it to Telegram, and chatting with it. By the end you’ll have a personal AI agent running Claude via OpenRouter, reachable from your phone. OpenClaw is a multi-channel AI gateway with a rich plugin SDK, native MCP support, and hot-reload configuration. It supports Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, WhatsApp, and more out of the box.

Prerequisites

An OpenComputer API key from app.opencomputer.dev
The oc CLI installed and configured
Telegram installed on your phone or desktop (download here)

Install the CLI

Install the oc binary from the CLI installation guide.

oc config set api-key YOUR_API_KEY

Step 1: Create the agent

oc agent create my-claw --core openclaw

This creates the agent, provisions an OpenClaw sandbox with Node 22 and the OpenRouter LLM provider pre-configured, and starts the OpenClaw gateway. Check that the agent is running:

oc agent get my-claw

ID:        my-claw
Name:      my-claw
Core:      openclaw
Channels:  -
Packages:  -
Instance:  inst_... (running)

Wait for the status to show running before proceeding. Provisioning typically takes 20-30 seconds.

Step 2: Create a Telegram bot

Open this link to BotFather in Telegram (or search for @BotFather in the app). Then:

Tap Start if it’s your first time
Send /newbot
Enter a display name when prompted (e.g. “My OpenClaw Agent”)
Enter a username — must end in bot (e.g. my_claw_test_bot)
BotFather replies with a token like 110201543:AAHdqTcvCH1vGWJxfSeofSAs0K5PALDsaw — copy it

Step 3: Connect Telegram

oc agent connect my-claw telegram

The CLI will prompt you to paste the bot token. Alternatively, use the API directly:

curl -X POST https://api.opencomputer.dev/v1/agents/my-claw/channels/telegram \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"bot_token": "YOUR_BOT_TOKEN"}'

This registers a webhook with Telegram and configures OpenClaw’s built-in Telegram channel. OpenClaw hot-reloads the config automatically — no gateway restart needed. Verify it worked:

oc agent get my-claw

Channels:  telegram

Step 4: Chat with your agent

Open Telegram, find your bot by its username, and send a message. The agent responds using Claude (via OpenRouter).

Shell access

You can shell into the agent’s sandbox at any time:

oc shell my-claw

This opens an interactive terminal inside the agent’s environment. Some useful commands:

# Check the gateway health
curl -s http://localhost:18789/health

# View the config
cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

# List MCP servers (packages wired as tool providers)
openclaw mcp list

# Check channel status
openclaw channels status

# View gateway logs
cat /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-*.log

See the OpenClaw docs for the full feature set: plugins, canvas, voice, browser tools, and more.

Cleanup

Disconnect the channel and delete the agent:

oc agent disconnect my-claw telegram
oc agent delete my-claw

Disconnecting removes the Telegram channel config. Deleting the agent tears down the sandbox.

OpenClaw vs Hermes

Both cores support the same user journey (create / connect / install). The differences are under the hood:

	Hermes	OpenClaw
Config format	YAML	JSON5
Config reload	Gateway restart	Hot-reload (file watcher)
Channel support	One at a time, adapter-configured	6 built-in + 20 plugin channels
Plugin model	Skills (files) + MCP	Rich plugin SDK with manifests
MCP support	`mcp_servers` in YAML	`mcp.servers` in JSON5

Choose Hermes for its self-improving skill loop and built-in memory. Choose OpenClaw for its breadth of channels and native plugin ecosystem.

What’s next

Install gbrain for persistent memory: oc agent install my-claw gbrain
Create a Hermes Agent — try the other managed core
Custom cores — bring your own agent runtime with oc shell and the raw sandbox API

Getting Started

Sandboxes

Reserved Capacity

Agent SDK

Hosted Agents

CLI

Guides

TypeScript SDK

Python SDK

CLI Reference

API Reference

Resources

Create an OpenClaw Agent

Prerequisites

Install the CLI

Step 1: Create the agent

Step 2: Create a Telegram bot

Step 3: Connect Telegram

Step 4: Chat with your agent

Shell access

Cleanup

OpenClaw vs Hermes

What’s next

​Prerequisites

​Install the CLI

​Step 1: Create the agent

​Step 2: Create a Telegram bot

​Step 3: Connect Telegram

​Step 4: Chat with your agent

​Shell access

​Cleanup

​OpenClaw vs Hermes

​What’s next

Prerequisites

Install the CLI

Step 1: Create the agent

Step 2: Create a Telegram bot

Step 3: Connect Telegram

Step 4: Chat with your agent

Shell access

Cleanup

OpenClaw vs Hermes

What’s next