How to Set Up OpenClaw on a VPS
and Automate Your Entire Inbox
The complete beginner's guide to running OpenClaw on Contabo VPS — so your AI handles email, calendar, flight check-ins, and more from WhatsApp or Telegram, 24/7.
Overview
What is OpenClaw?
OpenClaw (originally called Clawdbot, then Moltbot) is a free, open-source personal AI assistant that lives on your own server or computer — not in someone else's cloud. It was created by Peter Steinberger (founder of PSPDFKit) and released in November 2025. By March 2026 it had surpassed 250,000 GitHub stars, overtaking React as the most-starred non-aggregator software project on GitHub.
The core idea is simple: instead of logging into yet another dashboard or app, you talk to your AI the same way you already talk to people — on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, or any of 20+ supported chat platforms. You send a message like "Check me in for my flight tomorrow morning" or "Clear my inbox and summarise what needs a reply" and OpenClaw goes and does it.
Because OpenClaw runs on a machine you own (your laptop, home server, or a VPS like Contabo), your data never passes through a third-party's servers. It's privacy-first, self-hostable, and endlessly extensible through a growing library of community-built Skills.
ℹ️ Info
OpenClaw itself is completely free. You will need to provide your own AI model API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.), which has its own usage costs. You can also run fully free local models via Ollama to keep costs at zero.
Capabilities
Key Features
Everything OpenClaw can do out of the box — plus whatever the community adds through Skills.
Reads, summarises, replies to, and clears your email inbox — all triggered from a single chat message.
Creates events, sends invites, sets reminders, and delivers your daily schedule to your chat app every morning.
Automatically checks you in for flights at the right time, without you lifting a finger.
Works on WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage, and 15+ more messaging platforms.
Remembers your preferences, projects, and context across every conversation — stored locally, never shared.
Browses the web, fills out forms, and extracts data from any website on your behalf.
Reads and writes files, runs shell commands, and executes scripts — in full or sandboxed mode.
Extend OpenClaw with hundreds of community skills, or write your own. It can even install new skills autonomously.
Runs cron jobs, background reminders, and recurring tasks completely independently — no prompting needed.
Works with OpenAI GPT, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and local models via Ollama.
Runs on your own server. Your data never leaves your infrastructure. DM pairing keeps unknown senders blocked.
New partnership scans community skills through VirusTotal before installation to keep your server safe.
Tutorial
Step-by-Step Setup Guide
From zero to a fully running AI assistant in your WhatsApp or Telegram — using a Contabo VPS as your always-on server.
Get a Contabo VPS
⏱ ~10 minOpenClaw needs to run on a machine that's online 24/7. A cheap VPS (Virtual Private Server) is perfect. Contabo is one of the most cost-effective options — you can get a solid VPS starting at around $5–7/month with plenty of RAM and storage for OpenClaw.
- Go to contabo.com and click VPS from the top nav.
- Choose the CLOUD VPS S (4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, 200 GB SSD) — this is more than enough.
- Select Ubuntu 22.04 as your operating system when prompted.
- Choose your preferred region (pick one close to you for lower latency).
- Complete checkout. Contabo will email you your server IP, root username, and password within a few minutes.
💡 Tip
Save your server IP address and login credentials somewhere safe — you'll need them in the next step. Contabo also lets you set an SSH key during order, which is more secure than a password.
Contabo VPS Selection — Cloud VPS S
Connect to Your Server via SSH
⏱ ~5 minOnce Contabo sends your server details, you'll connect to it using SSH (a secure terminal connection). This is how you control your server from your computer.
- Open Terminal (Mac/Linux) or PowerShell / Windows Terminal on Windows.
- Type the following command, replacing
YOUR_SERVER_IPwith the IP from Contabo's email:
- Enter the password Contabo emailed you when prompted.
- Update your server packages before installing anything:
⚠️ Security Note
For a production server, consider setting up a non-root user and SSH key authentication. For a personal assistant VPS, root access works fine to get started.
Install OpenClaw on Your VPS
⏱ ~3 minOpenClaw installs with a single command. It's a Node.js application, and the installer automatically takes care of Node.js and all dependencies for you.
While still connected to your server via SSH, run this one-liner:
💡 Alternative Install via npm
If you already have Node.js installed, you can also install with: npm install -g openclaw
Run the Onboarding Wizard
⏱ ~5 minOpenClaw's interactive wizard walks you through every configuration step. You don't need to manually edit any config files — just answer the prompts.
Wizard Progress Overview
Connect Your Chat App (WhatsApp or Telegram)
⏱ ~5 minThis step links OpenClaw to the messaging app you'll use to control it. The process differs slightly by app:
Option A — WhatsApp
- After the wizard selects WhatsApp, run:
openclaw start - A QR code will appear in your terminal.
- Open WhatsApp on your phone → tap the three dots (⋮) → Linked Devices → Link a Device.
- Scan the QR code. Done — your phone number is now the controller.
⚠️ Important — WhatsApp & Public IPs
WhatsApp integration requires your server to be reachable from the internet via WebSocket. Your Contabo VPS has a public IP address, so this works out of the box. Just make sure port 3000 is open in your Contabo firewall settings.
Option B — Telegram (simpler for beginners)
- Open Telegram and search for @BotFather.
- Send
/newbotand follow the prompts to create a bot. Copy the API token it gives you. - In your OpenClaw wizard (or config), paste the Telegram bot token when prompted.
- Send any message to your new bot in Telegram to pair your account.
💡 Tip
Telegram is generally the easiest option for beginners since it doesn't require scanning a QR code. WhatsApp is better if you want to use the app you're already on all day.
Configure Your AI Model & API Key
⏱ ~5 minOpenClaw is the framework — you supply the AI brain. You can use OpenAI (GPT-4o), Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), or a free local model via Ollama. For most beginners, OpenAI's GPT-4o mini is cheap and capable.
- Go to platform.openai.com/api-keys and create an API key.
- On your VPS, open the OpenClaw config:
ℹ️ Run for Free with Ollama
To use a completely free local model, install Ollama on your VPS and run ollama pull llama3. Then set OpenClaw to use ollama as the provider. No API costs, ever — but your Contabo VPS needs at least 8 GB RAM.
Connect Email & Google Calendar
⏱ ~10 minThis is where OpenClaw becomes genuinely powerful. By connecting your Gmail and Google Calendar, you unlock the inbox management, scheduling, and flight check-in features.
Connect Gmail
- From your chat app, send OpenClaw:
connect gmail - OpenClaw replies with a Google OAuth URL. Open it in your browser.
- Sign in to the Google account you want to connect.
- Approve the permissions (read emails, send emails).
- You'll get a confirmation code — paste it back into your chat.
Connect Google Calendar
- Send:
connect google-calendar - Follow the same OAuth flow as Gmail (Google bundles the permission).
- Once connected, test it: "What's on my calendar today?"
💡 Pro Tip — Daily Briefing
Ask OpenClaw to set up a daily briefing: "Every morning at 8am, send me a summary of my emails and today's calendar." It will create a cron job and send you a morning digest automatically.
Run Your First Real Tasks & Keep It Running
⏱ ~5 minYou're live! Here are some first tasks to try and how to make sure OpenClaw stays running 24/7 on your Contabo VPS even after you close your terminal session.
Make It Run 24/7 with PM2
Use PM2 (a process manager for Node.js) so OpenClaw restarts automatically if the VPS reboots:
First Tasks to Try Right Now
- "Summarise my inbox" — gets a smart digest of your unread emails
- "Create a meeting with John tomorrow at 2pm" — adds a calendar event
- "Remind me to submit the report in 2 hours" — sets a timed reminder
- "What's the weather in New York today?" — tests web browsing skill
- "Remember that I prefer morning meetings" — writes to persistent memory
💡 Tip — Run the Doctor Check
At any time you can run openclaw doctor in your terminal to get a full diagnostic report showing which integrations are working and which need attention.
Advanced Usage
Pro Tips & Tricks
Get more out of OpenClaw with these power-user strategies.
Tell OpenClaw: "Every weekday at 7:30am, send me my inbox summary and today's calendar events." It'll create a background cron task automatically — no config file editing needed.
Periodically tell OpenClaw facts about yourself: "I work in Pacific Time. I prefer async communication. My manager is Sarah." It stores these permanently and uses them in every future response.
Add OpenClaw to a WhatsApp or Telegram group. Teammates can ask it questions, have it schedule meetings, or get email summaries — all from the same shared chat.
The community Skills library includes 50+ integrations. Run openclaw skills install spotify or openclaw skills install hue to control music and smart lights from your chat app.
Install Ollama on your Contabo VPS, pull Llama 3 or Mistral, and set OpenClaw to use the ollama provider. Completely free inference, forever — your VPS's RAM does the work.
On Android, OpenClaw supports continuous voice mode. Set a wake word and speak your commands instead of typing — especially useful while driving or commuting.
openclaw doctor CommandWhenever something seems off, run openclaw doctor. It checks every integration, channel connection, and skill, and gives you a colour-coded health report with suggested fixes.
OpenClaw can write and install its own skills. Tell it: "Write me a skill that checks our company Notion page every morning and summarises new pages." It'll generate, install, and run it.
OpenClaw's DM pairing mode blocks messages from unknown phone numbers or usernames. Enable it with openclaw config set security.dm-pairing true to prevent anyone else from sending it commands.
You can run WhatsApp, Telegram, and Slack simultaneously on the same OpenClaw instance. Each channel shares the same memory and skills — your assistant is consistent everywhere.
Run pm2 logs openclaw to see live logs of every command OpenClaw receives and executes. Useful for debugging and confirming that scheduled tasks are firing correctly.
Tell OpenClaw: "My flight to NYC is BA203 on March 28. Check me in at exactly 24 hours before departure." It sets the alarm and handles the airline's check-in form automatically.
Honest Assessment
Limitations to Know
OpenClaw is powerful, but it's not magic. Here's what to expect and how to work around the rough edges.
| Limitation | What It Means | Workaround |
|---|---|---|
| Requires a server or VPS | Unlike a SaaS tool, you need somewhere to run OpenClaw 24/7. It won't run on your laptop when it's closed. | Use a Contabo VPS (from ~$5/month). It runs all day, every day, and you're not stuck at your desk. |
| WhatsApp needs a public IP | WhatsApp's WebSocket connection requires your server to be internet-accessible. A VPS gives you a public IP automatically. | Use Contabo VPS (already has a public IP). For home servers, set up port forwarding or use a tunnelling service like Cloudflare Tunnel. |
| AI API costs money | GPT-4o, Claude, and Gemini charge per token used. Heavy usage can add up. | Use GPT-4o mini (cheap and fast) or switch to a free local model via Ollama on your VPS. |
| Technical setup required | You need to use a terminal and SSH. There's no point-and-click GUI for installation. | Follow this guide step by step. The wizard handles most of the complexity. The community Discord is very helpful. |
| WhatsApp ToS grey area | WhatsApp's terms of service are not explicitly designed for third-party automation. Your account could theoretically be flagged. | Use Telegram for a fully ToS-compliant setup. Telegram actively welcomes bots and has an official Bot API. |
| Skills quality varies | Community-built skills range from excellent to buggy. Not every skill is production-ready. | Use the VirusTotal-verified skills only. Read the GitHub issues for a skill before installing it. Test in a non-critical environment first. |
| Voice mode is beta | Voice wake and talk mode is limited to macOS 15+ (menubar app) and Android. iOS and Windows support is partial or pending. | Text-based commands work on every platform. Voice is a nice-to-have, not required. |
| No official hosted version | There is no "sign up and go" cloud option. You must self-host. | This guide shows exactly how to do it on Contabo in under an hour. Self-hosting gives you full privacy and control. |
🤖 About the Author of This Guide
OpenClaw handles your inbox.
MyJarvis handles the rest of your business.
Tools like OpenClaw are an incredible starting point — but setting them up, connecting them together, and turning them into real business leverage takes expertise. MyJarvis builds and deploys custom AI agents that automate your operations end-to-end, 24/7 — so you and your team spend 100% of your time on work that actually drives revenue.
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📞 What Happens on the Strategy Call
We learn your business — we dig into your current operations, bottlenecks, and where your team's time is going.
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