Easy Tutorial on how to run OpenClaw in Docker Container
OpenClaw is an open-source personal AI assistant that connects to Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, and 20+ other messaging channels — all running locally. In this video we walk through the complete setup in Docker so nothing touches your host system.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
How to clone the OpenClaw repo and use the built-in Dockerfile
What the 3-stage Docker build does under the hood
How to run the setup script and connect your Claude / Anthropic API key
How to mount volumes so your config and data persist on the host
How to start the gateway with docker compose and verify it's healthy
WHY DOCKER
OpenClaw requires Node 24. Docker brings its own runtime — no version conflicts, no global installs, full sandbox isolation. If the container breaks, your host stays clean.
PERSISTENT DATA
Two host directories are mounted into the container:
OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR → stores settings, channel credentials, .env
OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR → stores agent work files
Destroy the container, rebuild the image, or move to a new machine — your data stays on the host.
LINKS
GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/install/docker
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