Getting Started with OpenClaw
or: How I Spent My Weekends Arguing with a Config File
Chuck Blake // ERA // March 2026
What is OpenClaw?
- Local AI agent framework — runs on YOUR machine
- Connects to Telegram, Signal, Discord, etc.
- Always-on: memory, tools, and real actions
- Think: chief of staff, not a chatbot
- Why local: your data, your vault, your rules
Getting Started
- Install OpenClaw
- Create Telegram bot (BotFather — 2 min)
- Connect to OpenClaw
- Write SOUL.md — who is this agent?
- Have your first conversation
default idle timeout = 2 hours
Fix: thread: { mode: "idle", idleMinutes: 5760 }
How Memory Works
// FOUR LAYERS
IDENTITY.md — who am I?errors.md — mistakes to avoidMEMORY.md — Chuck's world- Daily log — what happened today?
- + Mem0 / Qdrant vector DB
// RETRIEVAL
- Boot → 20 most recent
- Per question → semantic search
// LOCAL STACK
- nomic-embed-text
- qwen3.5:9b
- Qdrant in Docker
Managing Secrets
- Gomez has his own 1Password vault — can't see personal vault
- Service account token — read-only, scoped
agent-vault = local cache (fast, avoids API hammering)- Pattern: least privilege, scoped, no shared credentials
Skills + Scripts
// SKILLS (~75 total)
- good-morning
- deploy
- pdad-do-next
- omnifocus-process-inbox
- ...71 more
// SCRIPTS
- morning_briefing.py
- health_log.py
- omnifocus_reset_planned.sh
- op-wrapper.sh
Agent orchestrates — scripts execute.
How Much Access?
🟢
READ-ONLY BUS — prod events → Slack → agent reads only. Zero risk.
🟡
READ-ONLY PROD — log access, can analyze, can't change.
🔴
FULL SCOPED — GitHub App (per repo), Heroku, 1Password vault, OmniFocus.
Start small. Expand after trust.
Lessons Learned
- Start small — many cycles of tweaking
- Scripts for consistent output
- Programmatic enforcement > prompt guidance
- Self-diagnosis → self-correction → compound improvement
If your system can't refine itself based on what went wrong last week, you're just running the same broken process faster.
JSON config crash · ghost ✅ without verifying · sub-agent recreating deleted crons · R14 flood from 287 re-queued jobs
Where It's Going
- Whistler: autonomous coding sub-agent
- PDAD loop: mostly autonomous product development
- Daily ops on autopilot
- Vision: agent handles operational layer → I focus on judgment
Resources
- openclaw.ai
- clawhub.com
- anthropic.skilljar.com
- chuckblake.com/presentations/openclaw-era-2026/