How to Download OpenClaw: Every Installation Method Explained

OpenClaw reached 500,000 deployed instances across 82 countries by April 2026, up from near zero five months earlier. That growth created a fragmented installation landscape: the official docs list npm, a shell installer script, Docker, and a native macOS app, while the community ships at least three standalone GUI installers. Most download pages only cover npm install. This guide compares every method side by side.

Six paths exist, each with different trade-offs. The installer script is the fastest: it auto-detects your OS, handles Node.js, and runs the onboarding wizard on macOS, Linux, or Windows. The npm global install gives developers full control over their Node environment and requires Node 24 or 22.19+.

Docker bundles everything in a container image, ideal for servers and reproducible deployments where you do not want to manage system-level packages. The native macOS app (macOS 15+) offers a graphical setup wizard for users who prefer to skip the terminal entirely.

Community GUI installers provide point-and-click setup across platforms. And building from source is the path for contributors and custom builds.

All six methods produce the same result: a running OpenClaw Gateway with a browser-based Control UI. The sections below walk through each one with platform notes and trade-offs.

The official installer script is the quickest way to go from nothing to a running Gateway. It auto-detects your operating system, checks for Node.js (installing it if missing), and launches the OpenClaw onboarding wizard. The official install page has the one-line command for each platform: a curl pipe on macOS, Linux, and WSL2, and a PowerShell equivalent on Windows.

The script accepts flags to skip interactive onboarding if you prefer to configure manually later. After it finishes, run the built-in version check and diagnostics to confirm everything installed correctly. The diagnostics command verifies that Node, npm, and the Gateway binary are all reachable, and prints exactly what to fix if anything is missing.

One thing to watch: piping a remote script into a shell means you trust the source. If that makes you uncomfortable, download the script first, read it, then run it locally. The script is short enough to audit in a few minutes.

For users who want a middle ground between the fully automated script and manual npm installation, the OpenClaw repository also includes a local-prefix installer that keeps the entire installation under a single directory in your home folder. This avoids touching your system Node installation, which can matter if you manage multiple Node versions for other projects.

Persist OpenClaw agent output in one shared workspace

generous storage, no credit card, MCP-ready endpoint. Agents upload files and hand off to humans through branded portals with previews, search, and version history.

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If you already have Node.js installed, the npm global install gives you the most control. OpenClaw requires Node 24 (recommended) or Node 22.19+. Check your version first:

node --version

Then install globally:

npm install -g openclaw@latest

After installation, run the onboarding command to configure your AI provider and install the daemon service (launchd on macOS, systemd on Linux):

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The daemon keeps OpenClaw running in the background so messaging channels stay connected even when you close the terminal.

pnpm and bun alternatives

pnpm works but has one extra step. After installing, you need to approve build scripts explicitly:

pnpm add -g openclaw@latest
pnpm approve-builds -g

bun supports CLI installation, though the OpenClaw team recommends Node for the Gateway runtime itself since it handles long-running processes more reliably.

Release channels

OpenClaw ships three release channels:

• Stable: Tagged releases in vYYYY.M.D format, published to the latest npm dist-tag. This is what you get by default.
• Beta: Prerelease builds tagged vYYYY.M.D-beta.N, available via the beta dist-tag.
• Dev: Tracks the head of the main branch, available via the dev dist-tag.

Switch channels at any time by reinstalling with the target dist-tag:

npm install -g openclaw@beta

March 2026 alone saw 13 releases on the stable channel, roughly one every two days. If you need reliability, stick with stable. If you want early access to features, beta is well-tested enough for non-production use.

Installing from source

For contributors or custom builds, clone the repository and build:

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw
pnpm install
pnpm build

You can also install the main branch directly via npm without cloning:

npm install -g github:openclaw/openclaw#main

The local prefix installer (install-cli.sh in the repo) keeps OpenClaw and its Node dependency entirely under ~/.openclaw, which avoids touching your system Node installation.

Docker is the recommended path for server deployments. It bundles Node and all dependencies inside the container, so you do not need to manage system-level packages. The trade-off is more resource overhead: plan for at least 2 GB of RAM during the image build phase, since pnpm can be OOM-killed on 1 GB hosts.

Using pre-built images

Pre-built images are published to the GitHub Container Registry. Pull the latest:

export OPENCLAW_IMAGE="ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest"
./scripts/docker/setup.sh

Specific version tags follow the YYYY.M.D format (for example, 2026.2.26). Pin to a version if you need reproducible deployments.

Manual Docker setup

If you prefer more control over the build:

docker build -t openclaw:local -f Dockerfile .
docker compose run --rm --no-deps --entrypoint node openclaw-gateway \
  dist/index.js onboard --mode local --no-install-daemon
docker compose up -d openclaw-gateway

Docker Compose mounts three directories to persist data across container restarts:

• Config: /home/node/.openclaw
• Workspace: /home/node/.openclaw/workspace
• Auth secrets: /home/node/.config/openclaw

The Control UI opens in your browser once the container starts.

Connecting to local AI providers

If you run LM Studio, Ollama, or another local inference server, use Docker's host networking:

• LM Studio: http://host.docker.internal:1234
• Ollama: http://host.docker.internal:11434

Health checks

The container exposes liveness (/healthz) and readiness (/readyz) endpoints for health monitoring. Point your orchestrator or load balancer at those paths to detect restarts and slow starts.

Beyond Docker Compose, the community maintains deployment configs for Kubernetes, Fly.io, Render, Railway, Hetzner, GCP, and Azure. The OpenClaw repo includes fly.toml and render.yaml out of the box.

Not everyone wants a terminal. OpenClaw ships a native macOS app, and the community has built several cross-platform GUI installers for users who prefer a graphical setup flow.

Official macOS app

OpenClaw.app provides a visual onboarding experience: install the app, grant permissions, and activate the Gateway through a setup wizard. The app can also install the CLI tools globally via npm, pnpm, or bun (it auto-detects which package manager is available, preferring npm).

The macOS app requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later. It runs the same Gateway process as the CLI version, so skills and channels work identically.

OpenClawInstaller

OpenClawInstaller is a cross-platform graphical installer that supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. It auto-detects your environment, checks for Node.js 22+ and Docker, provides download links for missing dependencies, and offers both npm-based and Docker-based installation modes through a point-and-click interface.

openclaw-easy-desktop

openclaw-easy-desktop targets users who want zero terminal interaction. Available for macOS and Windows, it bundles everything into a standalone download. Launch the app, connect your AI provider, scan a QR code for messaging channels, and you are running. No config files, no environment variables, no dependency management.

OpenClaw Manager

OpenClaw Manager is built with Tauri 2.0, React, and Rust, which gives it native performance on every desktop platform. It handles installation, updates, and Gateway management through a single GUI.

OpenClaw Desktop (Windows)

OpenClaw Desktop packages the OpenClaw runtime into a standard Windows .exe installer. Download, finish the setup wizard, and run OpenClaw from a native Windows shell.

Which GUI installer should you pick?

If you are on macOS 15+, start with the official app. It has the best integration with the onboarding flow and stays current with releases. On Windows, OpenClaw Desktop and openclaw-easy-desktop both work well for non-technical users. OpenClaw Manager is the most feature-rich option if you want ongoing Gateway management beyond initial setup. OpenClawInstaller covers all three platforms if you want one tool regardless of OS.

One caveat: community GUI installers can lag behind the official release cadence. OpenClaw shipped 13 stable releases in March 2026 alone. If you need the latest version, verify that your GUI installer tracks the stable channel, or reinstall via npm install -g openclaw@latest after initial setup.

Once OpenClaw is running, agents start generating files: reports, datasets, images, code artifacts, conversation logs. By default, these live in the local workspace directory (~/.openclaw/workspace for CLI installs, or the mounted volume for Docker). That works for solo use, but breaks down once you need to share output with teammates, hand off work to a client, or run agents on a server where local storage is ephemeral.

Local storage options like the default workspace directory or a synced folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) handle basic persistence. Google Drive offers 15 GB free with Google account integration. Dropbox provides 2 GB free with selective sync. S3 or similar object storage gives you unlimited capacity with pay-per-use pricing, though it requires API configuration.

Fastio approaches the problem differently. It is a workspace platform built for agent-to-human handoff. Agents interact through the Fastio MCP server or API, and humans access the same files through a browser UI with previews, comments, and version history. Intelligence Mode auto-indexes uploaded files for semantic search, so you can find "Q3 revenue projections" by meaning rather than filename.

The Business Trial includes 50 GB storage, included credits, and 5 workspaces with no credit card required. Agents can create organizations, build workspaces, upload files, and then transfer ownership to a human when the work is ready for review. The human gets a branded portal with everything organized, not an email with attachments.

For OpenClaw specifically, the Fastio ClawHub skill installs in one command and gives agents tools for file management, sharing, AI queries, and event tracking. Once installed, agents can push their output to a shared workspace where teammates, clients, or other agents can access it without touching the terminal.

To get started, install the skill from any OpenClaw instance:

npx clawhub@latest install fast-io

The first agent tool call triggers browser authentication. After that, all file operations route through Fastio automatically.