Quick Start

Build a production-ready OpenClaw stack in under 5 minutes. This guide walks you through installing the CLI, generating your first project, and starting your services.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed:

Requirement	Minimum Version	Check
Node.js	20.0+	`node --version`
Docker	24.0+	`docker --version`
Docker Compose	v2.20+	`docker compose version`

Tip: Docker Desktop includes Docker Compose by default. On Linux, install the docker-compose-plugin package.

Install the CLI

Choose your preferred package manager. No global install is needed — npx, pnpm dlx, and bunx all work out of the box.

Using pnpm (recommended)

pnpm create better-openclaw@latest my-stack

Using npx

npx create-better-openclaw@latest my-stack

Using bun

bun create better-openclaw@latest my-stack

This will launch the interactive wizard and guide you through selecting services, skill packs, and configuration options.

Using a Preset

Presets are curated configurations for common use cases. Skip the wizard entirely with --preset and --yes:

# Research stack: OpenClaw + Qdrant + SearXNG + Browserless
npx create-better-openclaw my-stack --preset researcher --yes

# DevOps stack: OpenClaw + n8n + Grafana + monitoring
npx create-better-openclaw my-stack --preset devops --yes

# Full stack: everything enabled
npx create-better-openclaw my-stack --preset full --yes

Available presets:

Preset	Services	Use Case
`minimal`	OpenClaw + Redis	Lightweight experimentation
`researcher`	OpenClaw + Qdrant + SearXNG + Browserless	Web research and RAG
`devops`	OpenClaw + n8n + Grafana + Prometheus	Automation and monitoring
`local-ai`	OpenClaw + Ollama + Whisper + Redis	Fully local, air-gapped AI
`full`	All services	Kitchen sink

Start Your Stack

cd my-stack

# Copy and edit the environment file
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)

# Start all services
docker compose up -d

# Watch OpenClaw boot
docker compose logs -f openclaw-gateway

Direct Install: During the wizard, you can choose to install OpenClaw directly on your host instead of Docker. This generates a scripts/install-openclaw.sh that runs the official installer via curl. Companion services still run in Docker. See the direct install guide.

What Gets Generated

The CLI generates a complete project directory with everything you need:

my-stack/
├── docker-compose.yml    # All services orchestrated
├── .env.example          # All configuration variables
├── .env                  # Your local secrets (git-ignored)
├── Caddyfile             # Reverse proxy config (if selected)
├── configs/
│   ├── openclaw/
│   │   └── config.yaml   # OpenClaw gateway configuration
│   ├── qdrant/           # Qdrant settings
│   └── grafana/          # Grafana dashboards
├── data/                 # Persistent volume mounts
├── scripts/
│   ├── start.sh          # Start with health checks
│   ├── stop.sh           # Graceful shutdown
│   ├── update.sh         # Pull latest images
│   ├── backup.sh         # Backup all volumes
│   └── status.sh         # Service status overview
└── README.md             # Project-specific docs

Verify Everything Works

# Check all services are healthy
docker compose ps

# Test the OpenClaw gateway
curl http://localhost:8080/healthz

# Open the web UI (if enabled)
open http://localhost:3000

Next Steps

Detailed installation guide — global installs, troubleshooting
CLI reference — all flags and options
Service catalog — browse all 58+ services
Skill packs — curated bundles for common tasks
Deployment guides — Docker, bare-metal (native + Docker), direct install, VPS, homelab
MCP Server — let AI agents generate stacks via natural language