Clawdbot - Your Personal AI Assistant 2026 Setup Guide | Blog | Jan Mayer

Your phone buzzes. It's 8 AM, and your AI assistant has already checked your calendar, read your emails, and sent you a morning briefing through WhatsApp. While you slept, it monitored your home automation system and adjusted the thermostat. This isn't science fiction; it's what Clawdbot makes possible today.

Clawdbot is an open-source AI assistant platform created by Peter Steinberger that connects your choice of AI models (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, or any LLM provider) to your favorite messaging apps. Unlike ChatGPT or other AI assistants trapped in their own apps, Clawdbot lives where you already chat: WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, or iMessage.

What Clawdbot Can Do For You

Clawdbot transforms how you interact with AI by bringing powerful automation to your messaging apps:

Daily Automation

Email management: read, search, and compose messages
Calendar control: check availability and schedule meetings
Home automation: control lights, switches, and smart devices through natural language
Voice transcription: convert voice notes to text and respond intelligently

Advanced Capabilities

Browser automation: fill forms, scrape data, take screenshots
Scheduled tasks: set up recurring workflows and daily briefings
Custom skills: extend functionality with 50+ built-in modules
Multi-platform: use the same assistant across all your messaging apps

The real power comes from running Clawdbot 24/7 on your own server. This guide shows you how to deploy it on a Hetzner VPS with secure remote access.

Why Self-Host on a VPS?

Clawdbot needs to run continuously to be proactive. A VPS provides:

Always-on availability for scheduled tasks and notifications
Better performance than running on your laptop
Remote access from anywhere in the world
Cost-effective hosting starting at $5 per month
Full control over your data and privacy

Prerequisites

Before starting, you need:

A Hetzner account (or any VPS provider)
An API key for your preferred LLM provider (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, or others)
A messaging account: WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord
Basic command line knowledge
30 minutes for setup

Setting Up Your Hetzner VPS

Hetzner offers reliable and affordable VPS hosting perfect for Clawdbot. A basic server with 4GB RAM costs around $5 monthly and handles Clawdbot with room to spare.

Hetzner VPS Configuration

Create Your Server

Click "Add Server"
Choose a location close to you for better latency
Select Ubuntu 24.04 as your operating system
Pick the CX22 plan (4GB RAM, 2 vCPUs)
Add your SSH key for secure access
Name your server (e.g., "clawdbot-server")
Click "Create & Buy Now"

Wait 1-2 minutes for your server to provision. Copy the IP address from the dashboard.

Initial Server Setup

Connect to your server via SSH:

ssh root@your-server-ip

Create a dedicated user for security (never run services as root):

adduser clawdbot
usermod -aG sudo clawdbot
su - clawdbot

Update your system packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Node.js and Dependencies

Clawdbot requires Node.js 22 or higher. Install it using the official repository:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Verify the installation:

node --version
npm --version

Install pnpm, the package manager Clawdbot uses:

npm install -g pnpm

Securing Your VPS with Tailscale

Opening your Clawdbot dashboard to the internet is risky. Tailscale creates a secure private network, letting you access your server safely from anywhere without exposing ports.

Install Tailscale

Add the Tailscale repository:

curl -fsSL https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/ubuntu/jammy.noarmor.gpg | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/tailscale-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null
curl -fsSL https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/ubuntu/jammy.tailscale-list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tailscale.list

Install and start Tailscale:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y tailscale
sudo tailscale up

This displays an authentication URL. Open it in your browser and log in with your Tailscale account (create one at tailscale.com if needed).

Configure Tailscale for Clawdbot

Once authenticated, your server joins your private Tailscale network. Find your Tailscale IP:

tailscale ip -4

Save this IP (it starts with 100.x.x.x). You'll use it to access Clawdbot's dashboard securely.

Installing Clawdbot

Now the fun part: getting Clawdbot running.

Install Clawdbot CLI

Install the global package:

npm install -g clawdbot@latest

Verify it's working:

clawdbot --version

Run the Onboarding Wizard

The interactive wizard handles most configuration:

clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

The wizard asks several questions:

Gateway Mode: Choose "local" for VPS deployment

Authentication: Choose your preferred AI provider and provide your API key:

Copy the token and paste it when the wizard asks. For other providers, OAuth is also an option.

Messaging Providers: Select which services to connect:

WhatsApp: displays a QR code to scan
Telegram: requires a bot token from @BotFather
Discord: needs a bot token from Discord Developer Portal

Daemon Installation: Say yes to install Clawdbot as a system service. This ensures it runs automatically on boot.

Start the Service

Check if the daemon is running:

clawdbot daemon status

View logs to confirm everything works:

clawdbot daemon logs

You should see output indicating the gateway started successfully.

Access the Dashboard

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://your-tailscale-ip:18789

Replace your-tailscale-ip with the Tailscale address from earlier (100.x.x.x). You'll see the Clawdbot dashboard showing your connected providers and active sessions.

Connecting Your Messaging Apps

WhatsApp Setup

By default, Clawdbot only activates self-chat mode for security. This means you need to find yourself in your WhatsApp contacts list to chat with your assistant. Open WhatsApp, search for your own number in contacts, and start messaging yourself.

clawdbot providers login

Scan the QR code with WhatsApp (Settings → Linked Devices).

Telegram Setup

Telegram offers proper bot accounts, making it the recommended option:

Open Telegram and message @BotFather
Send /newbot and follow the prompts
Copy the bot token BotFather provides
Run clawdbot configure and add your token
Start a chat with your bot and send a test message

Test Your Connection

Send a message to your bot: "Hello, are you there?"

You should get a response from Clawdbot within seconds. Congratulations, your AI assistant is live!

Configuring Access Control

Lock down who can use your assistant. Edit the configuration:

nano ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json

Add allowlists for each provider:

{
  "whatsapp": {
    "allowFrom": ["+1234567890"]
  },
  "telegram": {
    "allowFrom": ["your_telegram_user_id"]
  }
}

Find your Telegram user ID by sending /start to @userinfobot.

Restart the daemon to apply changes:

clawdbot daemon restart

Customizing Your Assistant

Edit Agent Personality

Your agent's behavior is defined in ~/clawd/AGENTS.md:

nano ~/clawd/AGENTS.md

Customize it to match your needs:

# Your Personal Assistant

You are a helpful, efficient personal assistant. Your primary goals:

- Keep responses concise and actionable
- Always ask before sending emails or making posts
- Provide morning briefings at 8 AM with calendar and email summaries
- Monitor my smart home and alert me to unusual activity

## Preferred Style

- Use bullet points for lists
- Include relevant links when researching topics
- Summarize long emails in 2-3 sentences

Add Custom Skills

Create a custom skill by adding a folder to ~/clawd/skills/:

mkdir -p ~/clawd/skills/github-notifier
nano ~/clawd/skills/github-notifier/SKILL.md

Add your skill definition:

---
id: github-notifier
name: GitHub Notification Manager
description: Monitor GitHub repositories and send notifications
---

# GitHub Notifier Skill

When the user asks to monitor GitHub activity:

1. Use the GitHub API at ${GITHUB_API}
2. Authenticate with token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}
3. Check for new issues, PRs, and mentions
4. Send notifications through messaging apps
5. Provide daily summaries of repository activity

Enable your custom skill:

clawdbot skills enable github-notifier
clawdbot daemon restart

Maintenance and Monitoring

Check System Health

Run the diagnostic tool regularly:

clawdbot doctor

This auto-fixes common issues like stale locks, permission problems, and configuration errors.

Monitor Logs

Watch real-time logs:

clawdbot daemon logs -f

Look for errors or warnings that indicate problems.

Update Clawdbot

Keep your installation current:

clawdbot update

This downloads the latest version and restarts the daemon.

Backup Your Configuration

Back up your workspace and credentials:

tar -czf clawdbot-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ~/.clawdbot ~/clawd

Store backups securely off-server.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Gateway Won't Start

Run the diagnostic tool:

clawdbot doctor

Check if another process is using port 18789:

sudo lsof -i :18789

Can't Access Dashboard via Tailscale

Verify Tailscale is running:

sudo tailscale status

Confirm the gateway binds to the right interface:

clawdbot configure

Make sure gateway mode is set to "local" or "tailnet".

WhatsApp QR Code Won't Scan

QR codes expire after 60 seconds. Generate a fresh one:

clawdbot providers login

Ensure you're scanning with the correct phone (the dedicated number, not your personal device).

Bot Not Responding to Messages

Check if the daemon is running:

clawdbot daemon status

View recent logs for errors:

clawdbot daemon logs | tail -n 50

Verify your allowlist includes your phone number or user ID:

cat ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json | grep allowFrom

High Memory Usage

The browser skill consumes resources. Disable it if not needed:

nano ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json

Set browser to disabled:

{
  "browser": {
    "enabled": false
  }
}

Restart the daemon:

clawdbot daemon restart

Next Steps

You now have a fully functional AI assistant running 24/7 on your own infrastructure. Here's what to explore next:

Enhance Capabilities

Install the Home Assistant skill to control smart home devices
Enable calendar and email skills for productivity automation
Set up scheduled tasks for daily briefings and reminders

Improve Security

Configure stricter allowlists in your configuration
Set up automated backups to cloud storage
Enable Tailscale SSH for secure server access

Customize Behavior

Refine your agent's personality in AGENTS.md
Add long-term facts to MEMORY.md
Create custom skills for your specific workflows

Join the Community

Connect with other users on Discord
Share your custom skills and automations
Follow @steipete for updates