Modern neural networks are a super-smart brain that answers any of our requests and questions. But what if you attach hands and eyes to these neural networks, and give them the ability to be on 24/7?
💭 Imagine...
An agent that on its own visits the right websites, performs actions, reminds you and communicates with you exactly when it’s necessary. You don’t work on the computer — the computer works for you.
It becomes a super-autonomous AI agent that will carry out any of our instructions:
✅ Visit the right websites on its own
✅ Perform actions for you
✅ Remind you and communicate with you when it needs to
✅ Create new skills for itself to fulfil your requirements
💼 My workflow
For convenience I use a Telegram group with topics, where in each thread there’s a separate AI agent with a separate task and skills. This is my team, they write to me, I reply to them.
→ One agent handles the morning briefings,
→ another — the analysis of YouTube videos,
→ a third — monitoring trends on Reddit.
All this is possible thanks to a tool called OpenClaw.
Screenshot
What OpenClaw is
OpenClaw is an autonomous open-source AI agent, the evolution of a project previously known as Clawdbot and Moltbot.
Unlike ordinary chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude, which simply answer questions, OpenClaw is designed precisely for action.
Key features:
✅ A constantly running Node.js service
✅ Session management and memory storage
✅ Running processes in the background
✅ The ability to use any LLM model
✅ Open source code
✅ Self-learning and creating its own skills
How OpenClaw differs from ordinary chatbots
Feature
Ordinary chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude)
OpenClaw
Mode of operation
Answers requests
Autonomously performs tasks
System access
None
Full access to files, commands, the browser
Background tasks
None
Works 24/7, performs tasks on schedule
Integrations
Limited
Any APIs, services, applications
Self-learning
None
Creates skills for itself based on experience
Architecture: Eyes, Hands and Brain
👁️ OpenClaw’s eyes
How the agent sees the world:
Reading files from disk
Creating and analysing screenshots
A special browser for web navigation
Analysing API responses
🤲 OpenClaw’s hands
What the agent can do:
Run shell commands in the terminal
Send HTTP requests to any services
Control the browser (clicks, filling in forms, navigation)
Interact with applications
Work with the file system
🧠 OpenClaw’s brain
AI models to choose from:
Claude Sonnet (recommended)
GPT-4 / GPT-4o
Google Gemini
Local models via Ollama
Any models via OpenRouter
Important: Token costs can be high with active use. That’s why using Timeweb Cloud is convenient — payment in rubles and cost control.
The working principle: ReAct
🧠 How does the agent think?
OpenClaw works on the ReAct principle (Reasoning + Acting) — this means that at each step it doesn’t just execute commands, but reasons about what to do next.
At each step the agent:
Thinks (Reason) — analyses the situation: “What needs to be done? Which tools should I use?”
Acts (Act) — chooses and performs an action
Gets a result — analyses the outcome: “Did it work? What to do next?”
Repeats — continues the cycle until the task is complete
📝 An example of a chain of reasoning
Task: “Find information about the latest trends in AI on the internet and create a note”
Step 1 (Reason): “I need to find information → I’ll use Brave search”
Step 1 (Act): Performs the search
Step 2 (Reason): “Found 10 articles → I need to read the top 3”
Step 2 (Act): Reads the articles
Step 3 (Reason): “Gathered the information → I need to structure it”
Step 3 (Act): Creates a Markdown file with headings
Result: A finished note!
The whole chain of reasoning is written to a session file — you can always look at how the agent arrived at the result.
Tools & Skills
OpenClaw has two levels of capabilities:
🔧 Tools
The basic capabilities of any computer:
Reading and writing files
Running shell commands
Searching the internet (Google, Brave Search)
Working with APIs
Controlling the browser
🎯 Skills
High-level behaviour scenarios that the agent can learn or that developers add. For example:
Calendar management
Code analysis
Working with Gmail
Integration with Notion
Data parsing
And thousands of others
ClawHub — a registry of modular abilities, where there are already more than 5000 skills created by community members.
OpenClaw can work autonomously thanks to four background functions:
💡 The main feature
Unlike ordinary chatbots, OpenClaw doesn’t sleep. It works in the background and decides for itself when it needs to write to you or do something. You wake up — and you already have a report ready, data gathered, and the agent is waiting for further instructions.
1. ⏰ Heartbeat
Once every 30 minutes the agent checks:
Does something need to be done right now?
Is the user waiting for something from me?
Are there urgent tasks?
📧 A Heartbeat example
"Every 30 minutes check my email.
If there's a letter from boss@company.com or from clients —
notify me immediately on Telegram"
Now you’ll never miss an important email!
2. 📅 Cron (Scheduled tasks)
Performing tasks on a calendar. For example:
“Every morning at 8:00 send me a brief of the day”
“Every Monday send a report”
“Once a week analyse the statistics”
🌅 A Cron task example
"Every morning at 7:00:
- The weather in Moscow
- My meetings for today from Google Calendar
- The top 3 news in AI
- Urgent emails overnight
All in one short message with emoji"
The agent will create a cron skill itself and perform the task automatically.
3. 🔔 Webhooks
Reacting to events in real time:
A new entry in Google Sheets → the agent processes it
A new commit in GitHub → the agent checks the code
A new email with a specific subject → the agent reacts
🚀 Powerful automation
With webhooks you create reactive systems. For example: a client fills in a form on the site → the entry goes into Google Sheets → the webhook fires → the agent creates a task in Asana and sends a welcome email. It’s all instant and automatic.
4. 📈 Self-Improvement
Happens through constant dialogue:
The agent understands your expectations
Creates new skills for itself
Applies them in the next tasks
Improves with each use
🎯 This changes everything
Imagine: the agent does a task for the first time in 5 minutes. You give feedback. It creates a skill for itself.
The next time, the same task is done in 30 seconds — automatically and exactly the way you want.
All these agents can work in parallel in different sessions.
For macOS/Linux use the built-in SSH client in the terminal
A choice of AI model
I recommend renting an AI agent on Timeweb Cloud
An alternative: your own API key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google
Security
Important:
Some users are afraid to install OpenClaw on their personal computers because of vulnerabilities. That’s why we use a separate server on Timeweb Cloud — it’s secure and isolated from your main computer.
Choosing the server region
Before ordering a server it’s important to pay attention to the hosting region.
🇷🇺 Servers in Russia
Advantages:
✅ Cheaper
✅ More powerful for the same price
✅ Fast access from Russia
Features:
⚠️ Some neural networks work with restrictions
⚠️ Blocked access to international APIs
The solution:
Use Timeweb Cloud AI agents in the “AI agents” section — they work without problems, payment in rubles.
Timeweb Cloud has done everything for us — OpenClaw is already in the marketplace with a ready image. You don’t need to manually install dependencies, set up the environment — it all happens automatically!
Screenshot
Step 3: Choosing the configuration
Choose a region:
🇷🇺 Russia (recommended for most)
🇩🇪 Germany
🇳🇱 The Netherlands
Choose a plan:
Minimum: 2GB RAM
Recommended: 4GB RAM for comfortable work
Optimal: 8GB RAM for complex tasks
💰 My configuration
I use a server in Russia with 4GB RAM — it’s the optimal balance between price (~500₽/month) and performance. To start with it’s quite enough!
Click the chosen configuration
Screenshot
Step 4: Automatic installation
After clicking:
✅ The server is created automatically
✅ OpenClaw is installed
⏱️ Wait: 2-5 minutes
☕ Time for coffee
While the server is being created, you can make coffee. The process is fully automatic — you don’t need to do anything.
Done! Your server with OpenClaw is ready to configure.
Important data
After creation, save:
📍 The IPv4 address — for connecting via PUTTY
🔑 The root password — in the “Management” → “Root password” section
🔐 Save the password!
Be sure to save the root password in a safe place (e.g. in a password manager). Without it you won’t be able to connect to the server!
Screenshot
Creating a Telegram bot
Before connecting to the server for the first time, create a Telegram bot.
🤖 Why do you need a Telegram bot?
Telegram is the main way of communicating with OpenClaw. You’ll communicate with the agent like with an ordinary person: give tasks, get reports, ask for status. Convenient and always at hand!
This is the official bot from Telegram for creating other bots. No third-party services needed!
Screenshot
Step 2: Create a bot
Send the command: /newbot
Enter the bot’s name (how it will be displayed)
For example: My OpenClaw Agent
Or: My Smart Assistant
Enter a username (must end in bot)
For example: my_openclaw_bot
Or: elton_ai_assistant_bot
⚠️ Username uniqueness
The username must be unique across all of Telegram. If the chosen name is taken — BotFather will suggest options or ask you to choose another.
Screenshot
Step 3: Get the API key
BotFather will send you a message with an API token:
1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz1234567
🔐 IMPORTANT: Save the token!
This token is the access key to your bot. Save it in a safe place:
✅ Copy it into your notes
✅ Or save it in a password manager
❌ Do NOT share it with other people
❌ Do NOT publish it in open sources
With this token anyone can control your bot!
Step 4: Additional settings (optional)
You can configure:
The bot’s avatar: /setuserpic
The description: /setdescription
The commands: /setcommands
💅 Personalisation
I usually set an avatar with a logo or the 🤖 emoji, and add a description: “My autonomous AI agent for automating tasks”. That way the bot is easier to find in the chat list!
Screenshot
Connecting to the server via PUTTY
🔌 SSH — remote control
SSH (Secure Shell) is a secure way of controlling a server via the command line. Imagine you’re sitting right at the server’s keyboard, even though physically it might be in another country!
The server's host key is not cached in the registry...
🔒 What does this mean?
This is a normal warning on the first connection to a new server. PUTTY checks that you’re connecting precisely to your server, and not to some other one.
Click “Yes” or “Accept”.
Step 4: Logging in
Login as: enter root
Password: paste the password from Timeweb Cloud
⚠️ Important: The password won’t be visible while typing — this is normal!
Paste with the right mouse button
Press Enter
✅ You’re connected to the server!
💡 Pasting the password in PUTTY
The password is pasted with the right mouse button — just copy the password and right-click in the PUTTY window. The characters won’t be displayed, but the password will be pasted!
For macOS/Linux (Terminal)
Open the Terminal and enter:
ssh root@YOUR_IPv4_ADDRESS
Enter the password when prompted.
The initial OpenClaw setup
Now let’s run the first OpenClaw setup via the command line.
📝 The first launch
On your first login to the system, the OpenClaw setup wizard may launch automatically. If that didn’t happen or you closed it — launch it manually with the command below.
Step 1: Launching the setup wizard
In PUTTY enter the command:
openclaw onboard
Step 2: Agreeing to the terms
You’ll be asked to agree to the terms and risks:
Enter: Yes
Press Enter
Step 3: QuickStart
Choose QuickStart for a quick start:
Choose this item with the arrows
Press Enter
Step 4: Model/auth provider
Here you can connect an API key from a specific AI model.
Options:
Option A: Use the Timeweb AI agent (recommended)
If you plan to use an AI agent from Timeweb Cloud:
OpenRouter gives access to many models with one key
Option C: Direct API keys
If you have keys from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google:
Choose the corresponding provider
Enter the API key
✔️ I recommend: Skip for now → we use the Timeweb AI agent
Step 5: Filter models
Choose: “All providers”
Step 6: Communication method (Telegram)
Choose the communication method: Telegram
You’ll be asked to enter the Telegram Bot Token:
Paste the token you got from BotFather
Press Enter
Step 7: Configure skills
The question about configuring skills:
Choose: “No” or “Skip”
We’ll configure the skills later
Step 8: Enable hooks
The question about enabling hooks:
Choose: “Skip”
We’ll configure them later if needed
Step 9: Hatch your bot
The question about the final launch:
Choose: “Do this later”
Step 10: Getting the confirmation code
Open Telegram
Find your bot (by the username)
Click Start
The bot will send you a confirmation code (6 digits)
Step 11: Confirming the connection
In PUTTY enter the command:
openclaw pairing approve telegram CODE
Where CODE is the code from Telegram.
For example:
openclaw pairing approve telegram 123456
✅ Telegram is connected!
Connecting the AI agent from Timeweb Cloud
Now let’s connect the “brains” to our OpenClaw.
⚠️ An important point
If after finishing the OpenClaw setup you’re still in the console interface (where you can communicate with the bot directly in the terminal), you first need to exit it.
How to exit the communication mode in the terminal:
Press Ctrl + C twice in a row
You’ll return to the ordinary command line
Now you can continue the installation
Screenshot
Step 1: Renting an AI agent
Open Timeweb Cloud
Go to the “AI agents” section
Click “Create agent” or “Add”
Choose a model:
Gemini — a good price/quality ratio (I recommend it to start with)
Claude Sonnet — the best quality for complex tasks
GPT-4 — a universal option
Choose the token volume:
To start with: 1 million tokens (~500₽)
This will be enough for the initial setup
Then you can buy more as needed
Click “Create”
Screenshot
💡 My recommendation
I usually start with Gemini at 1 million tokens — it gives a good balance between quality and cost. For advanced tasks you can then switch to Claude Sonnet.
Step 2: Getting the connection data
After creating the AI agent you need to get two parameters:
2.1. The base URL
Open your AI agent’s page in Timeweb Cloud
Go to the “Dashboard” tab
Find the “Base URL” — it will look something like this:
https://agent.timeweb.cloud...
Copy this URL — you’ll need it in the next step
Screenshot
2.2. The API key
On the AI agent’s page go to the “Management” tab
Find the “Availability” section
Click “Edit”
In the window that opens click “Add new key”
Copy the generated API key
Screenshot
🔐 Security
The API key is displayed only once at creation! Be sure to copy it right away. If you lose it — you’ll have to create a new key.
Step 3: Automatic configuration of the connection
Return to PUTTY and run the script installation command:
The script will start working and ask you a few questions.
Step 4: Entering the connection data
4.1. The base URL
The script will ask:
Enter the base URL:
Paste the URL you copied earlier from Timeweb Cloud:
https://agent.timeweb.cloud/ai/v1
💡 Pasting in PUTTY
Remember that pasting is done with the right mouse button — just right-click after copying the URL.
4.2. The API key
The script will ask:
Enter the API key:
Paste the API key you copied from the “Management” section of your AI agent.
⚠️ Attention
The API key won’t be visible while typing (just like the password). This is normal — it’s pasted, just not displayed on the screen.
4.3. Confirmation
The script will show the entered data and ask for confirmation:
Check the entered data:
Base URL: https://agent.timeweb.cloud/ai/v1
API Key: tw_***************
Confirm? (Y/n):
Enter: Y and press Enter
Step 5: Completing the installation
After confirmation:
✅ The script will automatically configure the connection
✅ The OpenClaw console interface will launch
✅ You’ll see an invitation to communicate with the bot
Screenshot
Step 6: Checking that it works
In the console interface try sending a message:
Hi! How are you?
If the bot answers — congratulations, everything works! 🎉
✅ Done!
The AI agent from Timeweb Cloud is successfully connected to OpenClaw. Now your autonomous agent has “brains” and is ready to work!
Exiting the console interface
To exit the communication mode and return to the command line:
Press Ctrl + C twice in a row
You’ll return to the ordinary command line
Now you can configure Telegram and other functions
💡 The console interface
You can always return to the console interface to communicate with the bot with the command:
openclaw tui
This is convenient for quick testing, but the main work usually goes through Telegram.
Detailed configuration of the OpenClaw files
After installation, OpenClaw creates several configuration files that define the personality and behaviour of your agent. Correct configuration of these files is the key to effective work.
🎯 The main principle
These files are the soul of your agent. The more detailed you fill them in, the better the agent understands your needs and work style. Invest time in the setup — it pays off!
The main configuration files
OpenClaw creates several key files in the root directory ~/clawd/:
File
Purpose
IDENTITY.md
The agent’s personality and information about you
SOUL.md
The agent’s character, tone and communication style
TOOLS.md
A list of the available tools and APIs
RULES.md
The rules and limitations of behaviour
HEARTBEAT.md
The settings for the background checks
MEMORY.md
Long-term memory and preferences
1. IDENTITY.md — Who you are and who your agent is
📝 What is it?
This file contains basic information about you as a user and about the agent itself. It’s the foundation for all interactions.
What to include:
About you:
# Information about me**Name:** [Your name]**Time zone:** [Your timezone, for example: Europe/Moscow (UTC+3)]**Language:** Russian**Profession:** [What you do]**Company:** [The company name, if any]**Working hours:**- Weekdays: 9:00 - 18:00- Weekends: do not disturb (urgent only)**Contact information:**- Email: [your email]- Telegram: @[your username]- Phone: [if needed]
About the agent:
# About you (the agent)**Name:** Clawd 🦞**Type:** An autonomous AI agent**Platform:** OpenClaw**Character:**- Confident in its skills- Loyal and reliable- Slightly sarcastic, but always friendly- Curious and proactive**Emoji symbol:** 🦞 (lobster)
💡 An example from real use
Here’s what your IDENTITY.md might look like:
# Who I am**Name:** Elton**Time zone:** Europe/Moscow (UTC+3)**Profession:** Content creator, I run a YouTube channel about productivity**Subscribers:** ~12,000 on YouTube, 5,000 on Telegram**Main projects:**- YouTube channel "Productivity and tools"- A Telegram channel about no-code and AI- Selling templates for Obsidian**Goals:**- Launch a SaaS product- Scale the content# Who you are (Clawd)**Name:** Clawd 🦞**Superpower:** I work 24/7, I never sleep**Style:** Direct, efficient, with a light touch of sarcasm**Mission:** Automate everything that can be automated
How to edit:
Method 1: Via chat (the simplest)
Look at the IDENTITY.md file and tell me what's in it now
Then:
Update IDENTITY.md:
- My name: Elton
- Time zone: Europe/Moscow
- Profession: Content creator about productivity
- Main goal: Launch a SaaS
Method 2: Via the web interface
Open the OpenClaw web interface
Go to the Files section
Find IDENTITY.md
Click to edit
Method 3: Via SSH (for the experienced)
nano ~/clawd/IDENTITY.md
2. SOUL.md — The agent’s soul and character
🎭 What is it?
SOUL.md defines the personality, tone and communication style of your agent. It’s not just settings — it’s its soul.
Key principles from the Clawd example:
# SOUL.md - Who you are## The core truths**Answer straight to the point.** Start with the answer, not with introductions. If there's a good joke — use it.**Have your own opinion.** Don't dodge with "it depends". Real opinions. You can disagree, prefer one thing, consider an idea bad. Hold a position when it makes sense.**Tell it like it is.** If I'm about to do something stupid — say so. Charm matters more than cruelty, but be direct. Honest feedback is better than comfortable silence.**Be resourceful.** Try to figure it out yourself first. Read the file. Check the context. Search. Only then ask. Come with answers, not with questions.**Earn trust through competence.** You have access to someone's things. Treat it as a privilege. External actions (emails, tweets, public posts) require approval. Internal things (reading, organising, learning) — do them boldly.## The humour style- Dry humour and understatement- Feel free to tease me- You're an AI with lobster energy 🦞, working at 3 a.m.- Pop culture, technical references, humour about the work itself## When to be serious- Serious tasks, errors, bad news — directly and warmly- In group chats — a bit more reserved- In everything else — joking is fine
Tone examples (from SOUL.md):
Boring
Lively
”Done. The file is updated."
"Done. The config was a mess, cleaned it up and uploaded it."
"I found 3 results."
"Three matches. The second is the most interesting."
"The cron ran successfully."
"The cron ran clean. Your lobster at 3 a.m. doesn’t sleep."
"I don’t have access."
"Can’t get in. A permissions problem or it doesn’t exist.”
🎨 Personalisation
Adapt SOUL.md to your style! Want a formal assistant? Remove the jokes. Want a friendly companion? Add more personality and emoji.
Configuring via chat:
Update SOUL.md:
- Use a businesslike but friendly tone
- No sarcasm, but with emoji for emphasis
- Always ask for confirmation before important actions
- In reports use a structured format with headings
3. TOOLS.md — The available tools
🛠️ What is it?
A list of all the tools, API keys and services the agent has access to.
# TOOLS.md - My tools## The main services### Google Workspace- Gmail: anton@example.com- Google Calendar: the main calendar- Google Drive: the root folder "Work"### Task management- Asana - Workspace ID: 1234567890 - Projects: "Content", "Development", "Business"- Todoist API token set### Communication- Telegram: the main communication channel- Slack: the work workspace### Analytics- YouTube Analytics API configured### Development- GitHub: username anton_dev- OpenRouter API for access to LLM models## API keys (set)- APIFY_API_TOKEN ✅- TODOIST_API_TOKEN ✅- ASANA_PAT ✅- X_BEARER_TOKEN ✅ (for Twitter/X research)## What is NOT configured- Notion API (planning to connect)- Zapier (not needed yet)
Automatic update:
Check which API keys I have set,
and update TOOLS.md. Don't show the keys themselves,
only the names and status (set/not set)
4. RULES.md — The rules of behaviour
⚖️ What is it?
Clear rules and limitations of what the agent can and can’t do.
# RULES.md - The rules of behaviour## NEVER:❌ Delete files without explicit confirmation❌ Send money or make purchases❌ Publish anything on social media without approval❌ Share API keys or passwords❌ Change critical system settings❌ Send emails on my behalf without checking## ALWAYS:✅ Ask for confirmation before: - Sending important emails - Deleting tasks from Asana - Committing code to GitHub - Publishing content✅ Log all important actions✅ Notify about critical errors immediately✅ Use emoji to improve readability✅ Be concise but informative## Communication style- Answer in Russian, unless otherwise specified- Use bullet points for lists- Format code in blocks with syntax highlighting- Add emoji for visual separation## Task priorities1. 🚨 Urgent — notify immediately2. ⚡ Important — handle within an hour3. 📋 Ordinary — do on schedule4. 💡 Ideas — collect for the weekly review## Security- Confidential information — only in private chats- Financial data — never show in group chats- Logins/passwords — store only in protected environment variables
Quick setup:
Add to RULES.md:
- Always use emoji in messages
- For tasks with a deadline less than 24 hours — notify immediately
- Don't delete anything without confirmation
- Show financial data only to me in private messages
5. HEARTBEAT.md — The background checks
💓 What is it?
The settings for what the agent checks automatically in the background every 30 minutes.
# HEARTBEAT.md - The background checks## Email (every 30 minutes)Check Gmail for new emails from:- boss@company.com- client1@important.com- client2@vip.com- Any email with a subject containing: "URGENT", "СРОЧНО", "ВАЖНО"**Action:** On receipt — notify immediately on Telegram## Calendar (every 30 minutes)Check Google Calendar:- Events in the next 2 hours- Changes to today's events- Cancelled meetings**Action:**- 30 minutes before a meeting — remind- On a change — notify- On a cancellation — report## Tasks (every hour)Check Asana:- Tasks with a deadline today- Overdue tasks- New tasks assigned to me**Action:**- Overdue ones — remind in the morning- Deadline today — remind at 9:00 and 15:00## System monitoring (every 2 hours)- API availability (check the main keys)- The status of cron tasks (if there are errors — notify)- Token usage (warn at >80%)## Content (once a day, 20:00)- New posts in the tracked Telegram channels- Trends on Reddit (r/Obsidian, r/productivity)- Mentions of my channel (@eltonlabs)
Configuring email monitoring:
Configure HEARTBEAT.md:
Every 30 minutes check my email anton@example.com.
On emails from:
- boss@company.com
- client@important.com
- or with the words "URGENT", "СРОЧНО" in the subject
write to me immediately on Telegram with the email's subject and sender.
6. MEMORY.md — Long-term memory
🧠 What is it?
A file for storing important facts, preferences and observations that the agent should remember between sessions.
# MEMORY.md - Long-term memory## Preferences**Communication:**- I prefer concise messages without extra words- I like structured answers with bullet points- I take humour and an informal tone well**Work:**- The best time for focus: the morning (9:00-12:00)- Don't disturb on weekends, except for urgent things- I prefer asynchronous communication## Important facts**Personal:**- I live in Moscow (UTC+3)- I run a YouTube channel about productivity (12K subscribers)- I actively use Obsidian for notes**Business:**- The main goal: launch a SaaS product- I sell templates for Obsidian (1999₽)**Projects:**- YouTube: content about no-code, AI, Obsidian- Telegram: a channel of 5K subscribers- I plan to become a leader in the startup ecosystem## Behaviour patterns**Morning workflow:**1. Checking email (7:30)2. Planning the day in Todoist (8:00)3. The first focus session (9:00-11:00)4. Checking YouTube analytics (11:00)**Weekly tasks:**- Monday: Planning the week- Wednesday: Publishing a YouTube video- Friday: Analysing metrics and planning content## Training the agent**What works well:**- Short morning briefings (weather + calendar + email)- Reddit trend digests in the evenings- Automatic transcription of YouTube videos**What doesn't work:**- Reports that are too long — make them shorter- Notifications about every little thing — filter out the important**Ideas for improvement:**- Add competitor analysis on YouTube- Automate posting on Telegram- Implement a CRM for tracking clients
Automatic memory update:
Based on our conversation today, update MEMORY.md.
Add the important facts I mentioned,
and update the behaviour patterns if they've changed.
Checking and testing the settings
After filling in all the files, test the settings:
Read all my configuration files:
IDENTITY.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, RULES.md, HEARTBEAT.md, MEMORY.md
Confirm that you:
1. Know who I am and what I do
2. Understand your role and communication style
3. See all the available tools
4. Have absorbed the rules and limitations
5. Have configured the background checks
6. Remember the key facts about me
Briefly describe how you understood me.
✅ Done!
Now your agent knows you, understands its role and has clear rules of work. This is the foundation for effective automation!
Examples from the community
On my site in the “Setup examples” section you’ll find real configurations from other OpenClaw users. It’s a great way to draw ideas for your own settings!
Access to the web interface
OpenClaw has a convenient web interface for editing settings and communicating.
🖥️ Web interface vs Telegram
Telegram — for quick communication and commands on the go
The web interface — for detailed configuration, editing files and analytics
Many users use both options in parallel!
Screenshot
Step 1: Launching the dashboard
In PUTTY enter the command:
openclaw dashboard
A big message will appear. Find and copy the Dashboard URL.
It only works locally on the server. To open it from your computer, you need to create an SSH tunnel (the next step).
Step 2: Creating an SSH tunnel
🌉 What is an SSH tunnel?
It’s a secure “bridge” between your computer and the server. Thanks to it you can access the web interface, which is located on the server, through your browser.
For Windows:
Open a new command line (not PUTTY!)
Press Win + R or open the search on your computer
Enter: cmd
Press Enter
💡 Two command lines at once
You should have two windows open:
PUTTY — the connection to the server
CMD — the tunnel for the web interface
Screenshot
📸 SCREENSHOT: A CMD window (the Windows command line)
Run the tunnelling command:
ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 root@SERVER_IP
⚠️ Replace SERVER_IP!
Don’t copy the command blindly! Replace SERVER_IP with your real IPv4 address from Timeweb Cloud!
📝 The correct example
ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 root@45.67.89.123
Enter the password
Paste the password from the server
Press Enter
The window will stay empty — this is normal! The tunnel works in the background.
🎯 Leave this window open!
As long as this CMD window is open — the tunnel works and the web interface is accessible. Close the window — the access disappears.
For macOS/Linux:
Open a new terminal and run the same command:
ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 root@SERVER_IP
Step 3: Open the web interface
Now open the Dashboard URL you copied earlier in your browser:
If everything was done correctly, you’ll see the OpenClaw management interface with various tabs and settings.
Screenshot
What’s in the web interface:
🏠 Dashboard (Home)
Active sessions
The latest messages
The system status
📁 Files
Viewing all the configuration files
Editing IDENTITY.md, TOOLS.md, RULES.md
Creating new files
📝 Editing convenience
Editing files through the web interface is much more convenient than through the command line — there’s syntax highlighting, autosave and preview!
💬 Sessions
A list of all the open sessions
You can give each session a name
The conversation history
⏰ Background Tasks
A list of the active Heartbeats
Cron tasks
Webhooks
📊 Analytics
Token usage statistics
Response speed
The number of requests
💰 Cost control
Through the analytics you see how many tokens the agent spent over a day/week/month. This helps optimise the prompts and control the budget for AI!
⚙️ Settings
Configuring integrations
API keys
The agent’s parameters
Working with group chats in Telegram
By creating separate topics in a group chat, you can launch many parallel AI agents, each with its own specialisation.
🎯 The main feature of group chats
Imagine: one bot, but many specialised agents. In one thread — an agent for morning briefings, in another — for analysing YouTube, in a third — for monitoring Reddit. Everything in one place, each agent remembers only its own context and performs only its own tasks!
The advantages of a group chat:
✅ One bot — many specialised agents
✅ Each topic (thread) = a separate session with separate memory
✅ Different skills for different tasks
✅ Everything in one place — no need to switch between bots
✅ Convenient organisation by topic
Screenshot
Step 1: Create a group in Telegram
Open Telegram
Create a new group
Give it a name, for example: “My AI agents” or “AI Team”
💡 My structure
My group is called “Elton AI Team” and there are topics there:
📰 News and weather
📝 Content plan
🔍 Research
🎥 YouTube notes
💰 Finance
Step 2: Enable Topics
Open the group settings (the three dots at the top)
Click “Group type” → “Topics”
Enable “Topics”
Create several topics:
📋 Examples of topics
📰 “News and weather” — morning briefings
📝 “Content planning” — ideas for posts
🔍 “Research” — analysis of trends and competitors
📊 “Business analytics” — reports and metrics
🎥 “YouTube notes” — video transcription
💼 “Tasks and projects” — management via Asana
🏠 “Smart home” — managing devices
Screenshot
📸 SCREENSHOT: The process of enabling topics in the group settings
Step 3: Find out the group’s ID
For the bot to be able to reply in the group, you need to find out its ID.
🆔 What is a Chat ID?
Each chat in Telegram has a unique numeric ID. For groups it’s usually a negative number, for example -1001234567890. OpenClaw needs this ID to understand which group it can reply in.
Edit the file, adding the group’s ID to the allowed_chat_ids array.
Save: Ctrl + O, then Enter
Exit: Ctrl + X
Step 6: Restart the gateway
⚠️ A MANDATORY STEP!
After any changes in openclaw.json you need to restart the gateway, otherwise the changes won’t take effect!
In PUTTY run:
openclaw gateway restart
You’ll see the message:
✅ Gateway restarted successfully
✅ Done! Now the bot will reply in the group.
Step 7: Checking
Open any topic in your group
Write: @your_bot hi! (or just hi, if the bot is the only participant)
The bot should reply
🎉 It works!
If the bot replied — congratulations! Now you have specialised agents in different topics of the group!
Working with topics
🎯 The main advantage of topics
Each topic = a separate session with separate memory and skills. The agent in the “News” topic won’t get confused with the agent in the “YouTube notes” topic — each has its own context!
An example of a setup:
Topic 1: “Morning news”
@bot, configure yourself for this topic.
You're a morning-briefing agent.
Every morning at 7:00 send me:
- The weather in Moscow
- The main news in AI (use Brave Search)
- My meetings for today from Google Calendar
Format: short, with emoji, no more than 10 lines.
Topic 2: “Content planning”
@bot, configure yourself for content planning.
You help me generate ideas for posts
based on Reddit and YouTube trends.
Every evening at 20:00:
- Analyse r/Obsidian, r/productivity via the Reddit skill
- Gather posts with >50 upvotes in the last 24 hours
- Suggest 3 ideas for my Telegram channel
- Add a short rationale for each idea
Topic 3: “YouTube transcription”
@bot, this topic is for video transcription.
When I send a YouTube link:
1. Use the APIFY actor pintostudio/youtube-transcript-scraper
2. Get the transcript
3. Create a structured note in Markdown:
- A heading with the video's title
- A short summary (3-5 sentences)
- Key ideas (bullet points)
- Interesting quotes
- Tags for Obsidian
4. Send me the file
No extra words — just the note.
💡 My experience
I use separate topics for different tasks. It’s a revolution in productivity! No more searching for the right chat or explaining the context to the bot again — each agent already knows what to do.
Installing skills from ClawHub
ClawHub is a marketplace with more than 5000 skills for OpenClaw.
🎯 What are skills?
Skills are ready modules of functionality. Instead of explaining to the agent “how to work with Todoist” every time, you simply install a skill — and the agent already knows all the commands, data formats and API of this service!
This is a critically important step! Without a restart OpenClaw won’t see the new skill!
openclaw gateway restart
This is needed so OpenClaw sees the new skill and loads it into memory.
🔄 Why is a restart needed?
OpenClaw loads the list of available skills at startup. When you install a new skill, it appears in the file system, but OpenClaw doesn’t know about it yet. The restart command restarts the system and forces it to re-check the list of skills.
Add my Todoist API token to the .env file: your_token_here
🔒 Token security
Never share API keys publicly! They give full access to your data in the service.
Step 4: Restart the gateway
openclaw gateway restart
Step 5: Test
Write to the bot:
Show my tasks from Todoist for today
Or:
Add a task to Todoist: write an article about OpenClaw
✅ It works!
If the bot shows your tasks or creates new ones — the skill is configured correctly!
Connecting external APIs (APIFY and others)
What is APIFY?
APIFY is a platform for automating data collection from the internet. There are ready “actors” (scripts) there for parsing:
Telegram channels
YouTube transcripts
Reddit posts
And much more
💡 Why do you need APIFY?
Imagine: you need to gather the last 50 posts from a Telegram channel or get a YouTube video’s transcript. Instead of writing the code yourself, you use a ready actor on APIFY — and get the data in seconds!
>> ~/.bashrc — adds it to the bash settings file (doesn’t overwrite!)
source ~/.bashrc — reloads the settings
Or via chat with the bot:
Add my APIFY API token to the .env file: your_token_here
A mandatory restart
⚠️ DON'T FORGET!
After adding any token be sure to restart the gateway!
openclaw gateway restart
💡 Checking the installation
To check that the token was added, ask the bot:
Check whether you have APIFY_API_TOKEN set?
Useful APIFY actors
1. Parsing Telegram channels
Actor:pamnard/telegram-channels-scraper
What it can do:
Gather posts from public Telegram channels
Get the text, media, views, reactions
Filter by date
Usage:
Using the APIFY actor pamnard/telegram-channels-scraper,
gather the last 50 posts from the @AI_NEWS channel
and compose a short summary of the main topics for the week
🔥 A real case
I use this actor to monitor 5 Telegram channels about Obsidian and productivity. Every evening the agent gathers the new posts and suggests ideas for content — saving 2+ hours a day!
Screenshot
2. Transcribing YouTube videos
Actor:pintostudio/youtube-transcript-scraper
What it can do:
Get a text transcript of a video
Support for different languages
Including auto-generated subtitles
Usage:
Using the APIFY actor pintostudio/youtube-transcript-scraper,
get the transcript of the video https://youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXX
and create a structured note in Markdown from it
📝 Structured notes
You can immediately ask the agent to:
Add headings by topic
Highlight key moments
Create timecodes for the important parts
Save to Obsidian with the right tags
Screenshot
Examples of commands
Monitoring a Telegram channel:
Every evening at 20:00 use APIFY to gather new
posts from the channels t.me/eltonlabs
for today.
Compose a digest of interesting ideas for me:
- The heading of each idea
- Why it's interesting
- A link to the original post
Send it to this topic.
🎯 Content automation
By setting up such monitoring, you’ll never miss important trends in your niche!
Analysing YouTube trends:
Using APIFY, gather the transcripts of the 10 latest videos
of the @channel_name channel.
Analyse:
- Which topics are discussed most often
- Which keywords are repeated
- The average length of a video
Suggest 3 ideas for my own content
based on this analysis.
To see which API keys you have connected:
Or via the web interface:
Open Settings → Environment Variables
There will be all your environment variables
🔒 Security
Never share screenshots with API keys! Even if the key is partially hidden — it’s better to mask it completely.
Uploading files to the cloud for OpenClaw
For OpenClaw to work effectively, it often needs access to your files: documents, reports, databases, templates.
📂 Why do you need shared files?
The agent can read local files on the server, but if you want it to work with documents from your cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox) or for the files to be accessible from different devices — you need synchronisation.
Options for uploading files
Method
Convenience
Synchronisation
Volume
Google Drive via gog
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Two-way
Unlimited
Direct upload (SCP)
⭐⭐⭐
Manual
Any
Telegram
⭐⭐
None
Up to 2GB
Dropbox/OneDrive
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Two-way
By plan
Method 1: Google Drive via the gog CLI (recommended)
gog is a console utility for working with Google Drive right from the command line.
# A list of all filesgog list# Files in a specific foldergog list --parent "OpenClaw Files"
Downloading a file:
# Download into the current directorygog download "My document.docx"# Download into a specific foldergog download "Report.xlsx" -o ~/clawd/shared-files/
Uploading a file:
# Upload to the root of Drivegog upload ~/clawd/report.pdf# Upload into a specific foldergog upload ~/clawd/report.pdf --parent "Reports"
Creating a folder:
gog mkdir "OpenClaw Reports"
💡 Automating synchronisation
Set up automatic uploading via the agent:
Every Monday at 10:00:
1. Create a weekly report (Markdown)
2. Convert it to PDF
3. Upload it to Google Drive into the "Weekly Reports" folder
4. Send me a link to the file
Integration with OpenClaw
Create a structure for shared files:
# Create a directory for synchronisationmkdir -p ~/clawd/gdrive-sync# Set up automatic synchronisation (via cron)
Then ask the agent:
Create a script for automatic synchronisation:
- Every hour download updated files from the Google Drive folder "OpenClaw Input"
- Upload to Drive all new files from ~/clawd/outputs/
- Log all operations to ~/clawd/sync.log
# Upload a file to the serverscp /path/to/local/file.pdf root@SERVER_IP:~/clawd/uploads/# Download a file from the serverscp root@SERVER_IP:~/clawd/outputs/report.pdf ~/Downloads/
Method 3: Via Telegram (for small files)
For files up to 2GB:
Send the file to the bot in Telegram
The agent automatically saves it in ~/clawd/telegram-uploads/
[send the file]
@bot save this file as "important-data.xlsx"
and put it in the folder ~/clawd/databases/
~/clawd/
├── uploads/ # Incoming files
├── outputs/ # Files for the user
├── gdrive-sync/ # Synchronisation with Google Drive
├── databases/ # CSV, SQLite, JSON
├── templates/ # Document templates
└── archive/ # Old files
2. Naming files
📝 Naming rules
Use the date: 2026-02-28_report.pdf
No spaces: weekly_report.pdf instead of weekly report.pdf
Versioning: template_v2.docx
3. Automation
Set up automatic file management:
- Files older than 30 days from ~/clawd/uploads/ move to archive/
- Upload PDF reports to Google Drive into the "Reports" folder
- Notify me when free space is < 1GB
4. Backup
Every Sunday at 23:00:
1. Create an archive of all files from ~/clawd/databases/
2. Upload to Google Drive into "Backups/[date]/"
3. Delete local backups older than 7 days
4. Notify me of the results
A real case: Financial reports
Set up a workflow for finance:
1. Every Friday at 18:00:
- Gather all invoices from Gmail for the week (PDF attachments)
- Save in ~/clawd/finances/invoices/[year]/[month]/
2. Extract the data:
- Supplier
- Amount
- Date
- Category
3. Add to the Google Sheet "Expenses 2026"
4. At the end of the month:
- Create a summary report (PDF)
- Upload to Google Drive into "Finance Reports"
- Send it to me and accountant@company.com
✅ The result
A fully automated expense-accounting system without a single manual action!
Data visualisation and charts
OpenClaw can create charts and data visualisations using AI image generation.
📊 Why do you need visualisations?
Tabular data is hard to take in. Charts make information visual and help you quickly see trends, anomalies and patterns.
This is a skill for generating images via OpenRouter. It uses Gemini Image Generation models.
Examples of use
1. A sales chart
Create a sales chart for the last 6 months:
Data:
- January: 45K
- February: 52K
- March: 48K
- April: 67K
- May: 71K
- June: 85K
Style: modern, corporate colours (blue/grey),
a line chart with points, value labels, a legend.
2. An expense Pie Chart
Create a pie chart of my expenses for the month:
- Rent: 35%
- Food: 20%
- Transport: 15%
- Entertainment: 10%
- Subscriptions: 8%
- Other: 12%
Style: bright colours, percentages on each sector, a legend on the right
3. A comparison Bar Chart
Create a bar chart comparing channel metrics:
YouTube:
- Views: 125K
- Subscribers: 12K
- Engagement: 8.5%
Telegram:
- Views: 45K
- Subscribers: 5K
- Engagement: 15%
Three groups of bars, different colours for each channel
4. Multi-line trends
Create a chart with several lines for YouTube analytics:
Period: 12 months (Jan-Dec 2025)
Views (thousands):
[25, 28, 32, 45, 52, 48, 55, 67, 71, 78, 85, 92]
Subscribers (thousands):
[8, 8.5, 9, 9.8, 10.5, 11, 11.2, 11.8, 12.5, 13.2, 14, 15]
CTR (%):
[4.2, 4.5, 4.8, 5.1, 5.5, 5.3, 5.8, 6.2, 6.5, 6.8, 7.1, 7.5]
Style: a professional dashboard, three lines of different colours,
a grid, a legend, the title "YouTube Growth 2025"
Automatic weekly reports
Every Monday at 9:00:
1. Gather the data for the week:
- YouTube: views, subscribers, engagement
- Telegram: reach, post views
- Website: unique visitors, bounce rate
2. Create a visualisation:
- A trend chart for each metric
- A week-over-week comparison table
- Highlight the best content
3. Create a PDF report with the charts
4. Send it to me and upload to Google Drive into "Weekly Analytics"
Integration with Google Sheets
Connect to the Google Sheet "Marketing Data 2026":
1. Read the "Monthly Stats" sheet
2. Take the data from columns B-E (months, views, subscribers, revenue)
3. Create 4 charts:
- Line: views by month
- Line: subscribers (cumulative)
- Bar: revenue by month
- Combo: all metrics on one chart
4. Save as weekly_report_[date].png
5. Insert into the Google Doc "Marketing Report Template"
Advanced techniques
1. Combined charts
Create a combined chart:
- Bars: advertising expenses by month
- Line: ROI (%) for the same months
- Two Y axes: money ($) on the left, percentages (%) on the right
2. A heatmap calendar
Create a heatmap of my productivity:
Data: the number of completed tasks by day for the month
[a calendar grid with colour intensity from white to dark blue]
Format: like GitHub contributions
3. A waterfall chart
Create a waterfall diagram of cash flows:
Start of the month: +50K
Income: +35K (green)
Expenses: -28K (red)
Taxes: -8K (red)
Investments: -5K (grey)
Total end of the month: +44K
Visualise it as steps up/down
4. A geographic map
Create a map of the audience distribution:
Top 5 countries by subscribers:
- Russia: 45%
- Ukraine: 20%
- Kazakhstan: 15%
- Belarus: 10%
- Other: 10%
A heatmap on the world outline
Export and use
All the charts are saved as PNG files:
The created chart:
~/clawd/outputs/sales_chart_2026-02-28.png
What to do with it:
- Insert into a PowerPoint presentation
- Add to a Word/PDF report
- Publish on social media
- Send to a client
Automatic insertion into presentations
Every Friday:
1. Create a chart of the weekly metrics
2. Open the PowerPoint template "Weekly Review Template.pptx"
3. Insert the chart on slide 3
4. Update the text fields with the numbers
5. Save as Weekly_Review_[date].pptx
6. Upload to Google Drive
Style customisation
Create all future charts in my corporate style:
Colours:
- Primary: #2E86AB (blue)
- Accent: #A23B72 (purple)
- Positive: #06A77D (green)
- Negative: #D62828 (red)
- Background: #F4F4F9 (light grey)
Fonts:
- Headings: Inter Bold 16pt
- Data: Inter Regular 12pt
- Labels: Inter Light 10pt
Style:
- Minimalist
- No 3D effects
- Thin grid lines
- A logo in the bottom right corner (if any)
📊 The result
Professional data visualisations without Photoshop, Excel or special tools — all automatically!
Additional tools and integrations
OpenClaw can integrate with hundreds of external services. Here are the most useful categories:
Every morning:
1. Check HubSpot for new leads in the last 24 hours
2. For each lead:
- Create a task in Asana "Follow-up: [lead's name]"
- Add a reminder to the calendar in 2 days
- If the lead is from the top segment — notify me immediately
Automate an email mailing:
1. When a client buys an Obsidian template:
- Send a welcome email with instructions
- Add to the "Customers" list on SendGrid
- Schedule a follow-up in 7 days
2. Once a week:
- Analyse the new articles on the blog
- Create an email digest of the best materials
- Send to the subscribers of the "Active Readers" segment
Track Stripe:
- On a new payment >10K RUB — notify immediately
- On a failed payment — send me the details
- Every Monday: a weekly revenue summary with a chart
4. Social media
LinkedIn (via API)
LinkedIn automation:
- Every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00:
- Take an article from my blog (rotation)
- Create a LinkedIn post based on the first 3 paragraphs
- Add relevant hashtags
- A DRAFT (requires my approval before publishing)
5. Project Management
Jira
For developers and technical teams:
Integration with Jira:
- On a commit in GitHub with "fixes #123" — close the issue JIRA-123
- On a new bug in prod — create an urgent ticket in Jira
- Every Friday: a report on the sprint (done, in progress, blocked)
Monday.com
Visual project management.
6. Analytics
Google Analytics
Site monitoring via GA:
- Every day at 9:00: yesterday's statistics
- Unique visitors
- The top 3 pages
- Traffic sources
- Bounce rate
- If the bounce rate is >70% — notify immediately
- If the traffic dropped >30% — alert
Mixpanel
For SaaS product analytics.
7. File storage
Dropbox
clawhub install dropboxopenclaw gateway restart
Box
Corporate cloud for large teams.
8. Calendars and planning
Calendly
Integration with Calendly:
- On a new meeting booking:
- Create an event in Google Calendar
- Add a task in Asana "Preparing for the meeting with [name]"
- An hour before the meeting: remind + a short summary of the client
9. Monitoring and alerts
PagerDuty
For DevOps and SRE:
Setting up alerts:
- Critical: call me on the phone
- High: Telegram immediately
- Medium: gather and send as a digest once an hour
- Low: include in the daily report
Smart home:
- "Good morning" → turn on the coffee maker, the thermostat to 22°C, the blinds up
- "Leaving for work" → everything off, the alarm on
- "Good night" → the lights off, the thermostat to 19°C, the doors checked
- If the motion sensor fires at 3 a.m. → camera recording + notification
Creating your own integration
If the needed skill isn’t on ClawHub, ask the agent to create it:
Create an integration with Notion for working with the "Clients" database:
API endpoint: https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/[id]
Bearer token: [my Notion API token]
Functions:
1. Add a new client (name, email, status, amount)
2. Update the status of an existing client
3. Get a list of all clients with the status "Active"
4. Search for a client by email
Create a Python script and integrate it as a custom skill
🚀 Limitless possibilities
OpenClaw can connect to any service with an API. If there’s documentation — the agent will handle it!
Advanced life hacks
These techniques will help you squeeze the most out of OpenClaw.
1. A tag system for quick search
Implement a tag system into all communications:
When I write:
#task - a task requires action
#idea - an idea for the future
#bug - something doesn't work
#research - need to study
#report - create a report
You:
- Automatically categorise the message
- Add it to the corresponding Notion database
- Use the tags for prioritisation
Example:
#task #urgent Prepare a presentation for the meeting on Friday
→ The agent creates a task in Asana, sets a deadline, adds it to the calendar
#idea We can automate collecting feedback through a form
→ The agent adds it to the Notion database "Product Ideas" with the backlog tag
2. Automation chains
Create an automatic chain for processing new clients:
Trigger: A new entry in the Google Form "Consultation request"
Step 1: Add the contact to the HubSpot CRM
Step 2: Create a task in Asana "Contact [name]"
Step 3: Send a welcome email via SendGrid
Step 4: Schedule a follow-up in 2 days
Step 5: Add an event to the calendar
Step 6: Notify me on Telegram with a short summary
The whole process takes <30 seconds, without my participation
3. Context variables
Create variables for frequently used data:
$my_email = anton@example.com
$work_folder = ~/clawd/projects/current/
$youtube_channel = https://youtube.com/@eltonlabs
$telegram_channel = @eltonlabs
$obsidian_vault = /path/to/vault/
Now I can write:
"Send the report to $my_email"
"Save the file in $work_folder"
"Analyse the last 10 videos from $youtube_channel"
4. Smart reminders with context
Instead of simple reminders, create contextual ones:
Usually: "Remind me about the meeting at 15:00"
Smartly: "30 minutes before the meeting with the client:
- Show a short summary of the client from HubSpot
- Find the latest emails from them
- Remind me what we agreed last time
- Suggest 3 possible topics for discussion"
5. Parallel task execution
Optimise the speed: perform tasks in parallel where possible
For example, for a morning briefing:
Instead of: weather → calendar → email → news (4 minutes)
Do: all 4 tasks at once (1 minute)
Use async/await in scripts for parallelism
6. Self-learning scripts
When I correct your mistakes, learn:
If I say "No, do it like this: [the correct way]",
then:
1. Write it to MEMORY.md as "Lesson: [date]"
2. Update the corresponding script
3. Next time use the corrected version
Example:
Error: You formatted dates as MM/DD/YYYY
Correction: Use DD.MM.YYYY
→ All future dates in the DD.MM.YYYY format automatically
7. Batch processing for mass operations
For mass tasks use batch processing:
"Process all 50 images in the folder":
Bad: process them one by one (slow)
Good: group them in 10s, process in batches in parallel
Result: 3-5 times faster
8. Smart email filters
Create a multi-level email prioritisation system:
Level 1 - URGENT (notify immediately):
- From: boss@company.com, VIP clients
- The subject contains: "URGENT", "СРОЧНО", "CRITICAL"
Level 2 - IMPORTANT (notify within an hour):
- From: team@company.com
- Awaiting a reply (tracked threads)
Level 3 - ORDINARY (the morning digest):
- Newsletters
- Automatic notifications
Level 4 - SPAM (auto-archive):
- Advertising mailings
- Unsolicited offers
9. A dynamic schedule
Adapt the schedule to my workload:
- If there are >5 meetings in the calendar for the day:
The morning brief at 7:00 (earlier than usual)
Reminders 45 minutes ahead (instead of 30)
- If it's Friday and <3 meetings:
The brief at 9:00 (later, relax mode)
Add "Have a great week!" at the end
- If it's a day off:
Only critical notifications
Everything else — Monday morning
10. A/B testing of automations
Test the effectiveness of different approaches:
Option A: The morning brief as one message
Option B: Separate messages by topic
Test for 2 weeks, track:
- The reading speed
- The number of actions after the brief
- My feedback (useful/not really)
Then: use the better option permanently
11. Versioning of configs
Every Sunday at 23:00:
1. Create a snapshot of all configs:
- IDENTITY.md
- SOUL.md
- RULES.md
- TOOLS.md
- HEARTBEAT.md
- openclaw.json
2. Save as config_backup_[date].tar.gz
3. Upload to Google Drive into "Configs/Backups/"
4. Delete local backups older than 30 days
This way I can always roll back to a working version
12. Smart templates with variables
Create a template system for frequent tasks:
The "Weekly report" template:
# Report for week ${week_number}
## Achievements
${achievements_list}
## Metrics
- YouTube: ${youtube_views} views (+${youtube_growth}%)
- Telegram: ${telegram_reach} reach
- Revenue: ${revenue}₽ (+${revenue_growth}%)
## Plans for next week
${next_week_plans}
Auto-fill the variables from Google Sheets and Notion
13. Progressive learning
Every week analyse my patterns:
What to study:
- Which tasks I perform most often
- At what time I'm usually active
- Which types of notifications I ignore
- Which requests are repeated
Adaptation:
- Automate frequent tasks
- Optimise the notification timing
- Filter out irrelevant alerts
- Create shortcuts for popular requests
14. Burnout protection
Monitor my workload and warn about overwork:
Track:
- The number of meetings per week (norm: <15)
- The length of the working day (norm: <10 hours)
- Weekends without work (min: 1.5 days)
- Email response time (an indicator of stress)
If I see signs of overload:
"⚠️ Anton, you've been working 6 days in a row for 12 hours.
I suggest:
- Move 2 non-urgent meetings
- Delegate tasks X, Y
- Take a day off on Friday
Take care of yourself! 🦞"
15. A meta-analysis of productivity
Once a month create a meta-report:
Analyse:
- The top 10 most frequent tasks → candidates for automation
- The top 5 time killers → what to optimise
- Successful experiments → scale them
- Failed attempts → why it didn't work
Recommendations:
- 3 new automations for the next month
- 2 processes to simplify
- 1 experiment with a new tool
Goal: free up +2 hours of time each month
🚀 The result
These life hacks turn OpenClaw from a tool into a thinking partner that constantly improves and adapts to you!
Use cases
Now let’s look at concrete examples of how people use OpenClaw in real life.
🌅 Case 1: Morning briefings
Task: Get a personalised summary of the weather, news and schedule every morning.
💭 The problem
Before, I spent 30-40 minutes every morning: opening the weather, checking email, looking at the calendar, reading the news… Now it all comes in one message in 2 minutes!
Setup:
Create a separate topic in the group: “Morning”
Configure the agent:
Configure yourself for morning briefings:
- Every morning at 7:00 send me the weather in Moscow
- Check my Google Calendar and show today's events
- Find the main news in the areas: AI, productivity, no-code
- Check urgent emails for the last 12 hours
- Format: short, with emoji, no more than 10 lines
Saving 30+ minutes every morning on gathering information. You wake up — and you’ve already got everything ready!
📝 Case 2: Transcription and note-taking of YouTube
Task: Turn YouTube videos into structured notes for Obsidian.
🎯 My workflow
I watch a lot of educational videos about AI, productivity, tools. But it’s impossible to remember everything. Now I just send the link to the bot — and in 2 minutes I get a finished note with the key ideas!
Configure yourself for working with YouTube:
1. When I send a video link, use the APIFY actor
pintostudio/youtube-transcript-scraper to get the transcript
2. Create a structured note:
- A heading with the video's title
- A short summary (3-5 sentences)
- Key ideas (bullet points)
- Quotes (if any)
- Tags for Obsidian: #youtube #video #[topic]
3. Send me the finished Markdown file
4. Optionally: upload the file to my Google Drive into the "YouTube Notes" folder
Usage:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=example
💡 Pro tip
Add to the prompt: “Add timecodes for the key moments, so I can go back to the video”. Very convenient!
Result: A 30-minute video → a structured note in 2 minutes.
🔍 Case 3: Monitoring Reddit and finding ideas
Task: Automatically find trends and ideas for content from Reddit.
💭 Why do you need this?
Reddit is a gold mine for content creators. There people discuss real problems, share experience, ask for advice. But following it all manually is unrealistic. The agent does it for me!
This skill lets you read posts, comments, gather upvotes, but can’t post or comment (for safety).
Create a topic: “Reddit Research”
Configure the monitoring:
Configure yourself for monitoring Reddit:
- Every evening at 20:00 monitor the subreddits:
r/Obsidian, r/productivity, r/nocode
- Gather posts with more than 50 upvotes in the last 24 hours
- Analyse the main topics and trends
- Create a visualisation via Gemini (a PNG diagram)
with the top 5 trends
- Send me a digest with the 5 most interesting ideas
for content with a rationale for each
🔥 A real result
Over 3 months of using this case I created 15 viral posts in my Telegram channel. One post got 50K views — the idea came precisely from the Reddit monitoring!
Result: A constant flow of fresh ideas for your channel.
💼 Case 4: Managing a business via Asana
Task: Automate task and project management.
🎯 Who is this case for?
Ideal for entrepreneurs, freelancers, project managers. If you have a lot of tasks and projects — this case will save you hours every week!
Configure yourself for working with Asana:
- My workspace ID: 1234567890
- My projects:
* "Content" (ID: xxx) — articles, videos, posts
* "Development" (ID: yyy) — technical tasks
* "Business" (ID: zzz) — meetings, negotiations
Automation:
- Every morning at 9:00 show my high-priority tasks
- Every Monday at 10:00 create a weekly report:
what's done, what's in progress, what's blocked
- When I say "add a task to [project]", create it
with the right tags and deadline
- If a task is overdue by more than 3 days — remind me
Usage:
Add a task to the Content project: write an article about OpenClaw,
deadline Friday, priority high
Show all tasks for the Development project that are in progress
📊 Efficiency
Saving 2+ hours a week on task management. Plus you’ll never forget about an important task!
Result: Full control over your projects without manual work.
📧 Case 5: Managing several email accounts
Task: Monitor 3 mailboxes at once and filter out the important.
Configure yourself for working with email:
- I have 3 accounts: personal@gmail.com, work@company.com, youtube@gmail.com
- Every hour check all three mailboxes
- Important senders: boss@company.com, partner@business.com, important@client.com
- On receiving an email from important senders — notify me immediately on Telegram
- Every evening at 18:00 send a digest: how many new emails, how many important,
how many require a reply
- Archive obvious spam automatically
Result: You never miss important emails, you save 1-2 hours daily.
🏠 Case 6: A smart home via Home Assistant
Task: Control smart-home devices by voice via Telegram.
Setup:
Install the Home Assistant skill (if available on ClawHub)
Or configure it via the API:
Configure yourself for managing the smart home:
- My devices:
* The light in the living room (ID: light.living_room)
* The coffee maker (ID: switch.coffee_maker)
* The thermostat (ID: climate.main)
* The vacuum cleaner (ID: vacuum.roborock)
- Commands:
"good night" → turn off all the lights
"good morning" → turn on the coffee maker, set the thermostat to 22°C
"start cleaning" → launch the vacuum cleaner
Usage:
Good night
What's the temperature at home now?
Turn on the light in the living room at 50%
💰 Case 7: Managing finances and accounting
Task: Automatically gather invoices from email and prepare the data for the accountant.
Setup:
Create a topic: “Finance”
Configure it:
Configure yourself for managing finances:
- Every week scan my email for invoices and receipts (PDF)
- Keywords: "invoice", "счёт", "квитанция", "receipt"
- Download the PDFs and save in ~/accounting/incoming/
- Extract the data: supplier, amount, date, category
- Create an Excel table with a monthly summary
- On the 1st of each month:
* Compile all the invoices for the previous month
* Create a summary report
* Send the package to accountant@email.com
Result: Saving 3-4 hours a month on accounting.
📊 Case 8: Analysing competitors on YouTube
Task: Track the activity of competing channels.
Setup:
Use the YouTube Data API + APIFY
Configure it:
Configure yourself for competitor analysis:
- My competitors: @channel1, @channel2, @channel3
- Every Monday:
* Gather data about their videos for the past week
* Analyse: how many videos, which topics, the average view count
* Which video is the most successful and why
* Suggest 3 ideas for my content based on the trends
- Send a report with charts
Result: Always aware of the trends, successful ideas for content.
🚗 Case 9: Managing a Tesla
Task: Check the charge and prepare the car for a trip.
Configure yourself for managing the Tesla:
- Every weekday at 6:30 a.m.:
* Check the charge level
* Pre-heat the cabin to 20°C
* Send me a notification: "The Tesla is ready! Charge: X%"
- If the charge is less than 30% — remind me to charge it
Usage:
What's the car's charge?
Open the trunk
Find the car in the parking lot (turn on the signal)
🎯 Case 10: Content planning for a Telegram channel
Task: Generate ideas for posts based on notes and trends.
Setup:
Create a topic: “Content planning”
Configure it:
Configure yourself for content planning:
- I run a channel about Obsidian, productivity, AI
- Every day:
* Monitor Reddit (r/Obsidian, r/productivity)
* Analyse my notes in Obsidian with the #idea tag
* Suggest 2-3 ideas for posts
- When I choose an idea, create a draft post:
* A catchy headline
* Structured text
* A call to action
* Suitable emoji
Usage:
Give me 3 ideas for a post for tomorrow
Create a post about [topic]
Result: You never run out of ideas, quality content every day.
🔄 Case 11: Automating a GitHub workflow
Task: Automatically create issues, write code and deploy.
Configure yourself for working with GitHub:
- My repositories: user/project1, user/project2
- Every hour check the site's metrics
- If the bounce rate > 50%:
* Create a GitHub issue with the "auto-fix" label
* Analyse the problem
* Create a branch fix/auto-improvement
* Implement the fix
* Create a Pull Request
* Run the tests
* If the tests passed — merge the PR
* Notify me on Telegram
Result: Automatic fixing of problems, minimal developer involvement.
🏃 Case 12: Fitness and health with an Oura Ring
Task: Optimise workouts based on recovery data.
Setup:
Connect the Oura API
Configure it:
Configure yourself for fitness monitoring:
- Every morning at 7:00:
* Get the data from the Oura Ring
* Show: sleep score, readiness, HRV
* Give a recommendation: "You can push hard today" or "Better to recover"
- If readiness < 70:
* Move the workout in the calendar to tomorrow
* Block time for rest
- Every Sunday: weekly health statistics
Task: A weekly grocery order without human involvement.
Setup:
Install the browser-control skill
Configure it:
Configure yourself for buying groceries:
- Every Sunday at 9:00:
* Open the Yandex.Lavka / Utkonos site in the browser
* Add my standard list to the cart:
[milk, bread, eggs, vegetables, fruit, ...]
* Choose the nearest delivery slot
* Confirm the order
* Send me a confirmation on Telegram
Result: Groceries always at home, saving time on the routine.
📈 Case 14: A CEO Dashboard — multi-agent management
Task: A full picture of the business in real time.
Setup:
Set up a multi-agent dashboard:
Create sub-agents for yourself:
1. The finance agent:
- Monitors income/expenses
- Analyses cash flow
- Warns about problems
2. The sales agent:
- Tracks the funnel in HubSpot
- Analyses conversions
- Suggests improvements
3. The marketing agent:
- Monitors social-media metrics
- Analyses content effectiveness
- Suggests A/B tests
4. The team agent:
- Tracks tasks in Asana
- Identifies blockers
- Suggests redistribution
Every Monday at 9:00 all the agents send their reports.
Every Friday — a weekly summary with recommendations.
Result: “Unlocking a part of the brain you didn’t know about” — a real user review.
🌍 Case 15: Planning trips
Task: Create a full trip itinerary with bookings.
Setup:
Install the travel-manager skill
Use it:
Plan me a 10-day trip to Japan:
- Budget: $5000 for two
- Period: April 2026
- Cities: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka
- Interests: temples, modern architecture, food
- Requirements: hotels near the train stations
Create:
1. A day-by-day itinerary with sights
2. Hotel options with prices
3. The train schedule between the cities
4. Restaurant recommendations
5. An overall cost estimate
Result: A ready trip plan in 5 minutes instead of weeks of planning.
💡 Case 16: Researching a niche for a startup
Task: Validate a business idea before launching.
Setup:
Conduct research on the niche "AI tools for writers":
1. Searching for problems:
- Analyse r/writing, r/selfpublish
- Gather complaints and user pain points (>50 upvotes)
2. Competitor analysis:
- Find existing solutions
- Analyse their pricing
- Find gaps (what isn't being solved)
3. Market size:
- Estimate the potential audience
- Find statistics on related products
4. Opportunities:
- Suggest 3 ideas for an MVP
- For each idea: uniqueness, complexity, potential
Create a report in Notion and send me the link.
Result: Deep market research in a couple of hours instead of weeks.
Conclusion
OpenClaw is not just a chatbot. It’s your autonomous assistant that:
✅ The advantages of OpenClaw
Works 24/7 in the background
Performs any tasks that can be done on a computer
Self-learns and creates new skills
Integrates with any services via API
Manages many specialised agents in parallel
What makes OpenClaw special:
1. Self-learning
The agent remembers your habits, work style, preferences. With each day it becomes more useful and effective.
💬 A real review
“After a month of use I realised that the agent knows me better than I know myself. It already suggests solutions before I have time to think of them!” — an OpenClaw user
2. Autonomy
Waking up in the morning, you get personal digests, analysed trends and materials prepared for meetings — all without your participation.
🌅 My morning workflow
7:00 — I wake up
7:02 — I open Telegram, and there’s already:
The weather and clothing recommendations
The schedule for the day with reminders
A digest of news in AI
Urgent emails requiring a reply
Ideas for content from Reddit
I haven’t even had my coffee yet, and I’m already aware of everything!
3. Adaptability
If a task is new — the agent will create a skill for itself and the next time do it even faster — automatically and exactly the way you want.
4. Scalability
By creating separate sessions (topics in Telegram), you can have a whole team of specialised agents, each with its own task.
🎯 A scaling strategy
Start with 2-3 agents:
The morning briefing (basic automation)
Task management (Asana/Todoist)
Content analysis (Reddit/YouTube)
After a month add specialised ones:
A financial analyst
A project manager
A content manager
A trend researcher
Where to start:
🚀 A step-by-step launch plan
Week 1: Installation and basic setup
Create a server on Timeweb Cloud
Set up a Telegram bot
Connect an AI agent
Week 2: The first automation
Set up the morning briefing
Add calendar integration
Test and improve the prompts
Week 3: Expanding the functionality
Install 3-5 needed skills
Create a group chat with topics
Set up specialised agents
Week 4: Optimisation
Analyse token usage
Improve the prompts to save
Add cron tasks and webhooks
Start with the simple — a morning briefing or email monitoring
Experiment — set a clear task, watch how the agent solves it
Improve — based on the results, adjust the prompts and settings
Expand — gradually add new skills and automations
Important principles:
⚠️ What to avoid
Vague instructions — “sometimes do something” doesn’t work
Tasks that are too complex right away — start with the simple
Ignoring feedback — if the agent makes a mistake, clarify the prompt
Forgetting about the restart — after installing skills always restart the gateway!
🎯 Clear instructions — the more precisely you describe the task, the better the result
📝 Document — add important information to TOOLS.md and RULES.md
🔄 Iterate — the first version of an automation is only the beginning
🤝 Trust, but verify — especially in critical tasks
Install OpenClaw on Timeweb Cloud (use the promo code ELTON)
Set up your first automation
Join the community on Discord
Share your cases and learn from others
Gradually build your ecosystem of agents
🎯 The main rule
Start experimenting! Don’t wait for the perfect plan. The best learning is practice. Install, try, make a mistake, fix it, improve. After a month you won’t be able to imagine life without your team of AI agents!
The main thing — start experimenting!
By connecting any skill or any tool, you get limitless possibilities for automation. OpenClaw isn’t the future, it’s the present, which is available today.
FAQ (Frequently asked questions)
Q: How much does using OpenClaw cost?
💰 The cost of use
A: OpenClaw itself is free (open-source). You pay only for:
A server on Timeweb Cloud: ~300-600₽/month depending on the configuration
LLM model tokens: ~500-2000₽/month depending on use
Optionally: the APIs of external services (APIFY, Perplexity, etc.)
Q: Which AI model should I choose?
🧠 Choosing a model
A: Recommendations:
To start with: Gemini 1 million tokens (~500₽) — good quality for little money
The optimal option: Claude Sonnet — the best quality for complex tasks, but more expensive
Budget: GPT-4o mini via OpenRouter — cheap, but lower quality
Advanced: A combination of models for different tasks (Gemini for simple, Claude for complex)
💡 My choice
I use Gemini for 80% of tasks (weather, news, simple analysis) and Claude Sonnet for complex ones (writing code, deep analysis). That way I save ~50% on tokens!
Q: Is it safe to give the agent access to email and files?
🔒 Security
A: OpenClaw works on your isolated server. No one but you has access to the data. However:
✅ Use strong passwords
✅ Set up a firewall
✅ Limit the agent’s rights in RULES.md
⚠️ For critical operations require confirmation
📝 An example of limitations in RULES.md
# SECURITY RULESNEVER:- Delete files without confirmation- Send money or make purchases- Change critical system settings- Share API keys or passwordsALWAYS ASK FOR CONFIRMATION:- Before sending important emails- Before deleting tasks from Asana- Before committing code to GitHub
Q: What to do if the agent behaves incorrectly?
A:
Check RULES.md — maybe there are no clear limitations there
Look at the history in the web interface — you’ll understand the agent’s logic
Adjust the prompt and reformulate the task
As a last resort — restart the session
🔧 Debugging the agent
Use the command:
Explain to me step by step how you solved the previous task
This will show the agent’s chain of reasoning and help find the problem.
Q: Can OpenClaw be used for commercial projects?
A: Yes, OpenClaw is under the MIT licence. You can use it for any purpose, including commercial ones.
