🦞 Getting Started with OpenClaw

Your step-by-step guide to setting up a personal AI agent

Prepared for James Jenkins by Bruiser HQ

Open each step to track your progress

1🛒 What You Need

Mac Mini (M4 recommended, M2 works fine) -- your agent's "always-on brain"
Your MacBook -- your daily driver, used to control the Mini remotely
An HDMI cable -- to connect the Mini to your TV for ~10 minutes of initial setup
A USB or Bluetooth keyboard -- just for those same 10 minutes (borrow one if you don't have a spare)
Ethernet cable (recommended) or strong Wi-Fi on the Mini
An Anthropic API key -- we'll walk through getting one in Step 7
~30 minutes of setup time

The base Mac Mini ($599) is more than enough. No need for RAM or storage upgrades.

2📺 Initial Setup with Your TV (10 minutes, one time only)

macOS needs a screen for the first-time setup wizard. Your TV works perfectly -- any TV with HDMI. You'll only need it for about 10 minutes, then never again.

Plug the Mac Mini into power + ethernet (or set up Wi-Fi in a moment)
Connect it to your TV via HDMI (the Mini has an HDMI port on the back)
Connect a USB keyboard and mouse (or use Bluetooth -- the Mini will discover Apple peripherals during setup)
Power on the Mini. Walk through the macOS Setup Assistant on your TV:

Choose your language and region
Connect to Wi-Fi (if not using ethernet)
Create your user account with a password you'll remember
You can skip/defer everything else (Apple ID, iCloud, Siri, etc.) -- just get to the desktop

Don't overthink this step. The goal is just to get past the setup wizard and land on the desktop. Everything else happens from your MacBook.

3📡 Enable Screen Sharing (then unplug the TV forever)

Still on the TV, do these quick things so you can control the Mini from your MacBook:

Click the Apple menu → System Settings
Go to General → Sharing
Turn ON "Screen Sharing" -- this is the magic. It lets you see and control the Mini's full desktop from your MacBook.
Turn ON "Remote Login" (SSH) -- useful for advanced stuff later
While you're here, note the Mini's IP address: go to System Settings → Network → click your connection → look for the IP (something like 192.168.1.42)

Now test it from your MacBook:

On your MacBook, open Finder
Press ⌘K (or menu bar: Go → Connect to Server)
Type: vnc://192.168.x.x (use the Mini's actual IP from above)
Enter the Mini's username and password when prompted
You should see the Mini's desktop appear in a window on your MacBook

It works? Unplug the TV, the keyboard, and the mouse from the Mini. You're done with them. From now on, you control the Mini entirely from your MacBook via Screen Sharing.

Your Mini will also show up in Finder's sidebar under "Network." You can right-click it and choose "Share Screen" anytime -- no need to remember the IP address.

4⚡ Keep the Mini Always On

Your agent needs the Mini running 24/7. Open these settings via Screen Sharing from your MacBook:

System Settings → Energy (or Energy Saver on older macOS)
Turn OFF "Put hard disks to sleep when possible"
Set "Turn display off after" to 5 minutes (Screen Sharing works even with display off)
Turn ON "Start up automatically after a power failure"
Turn ON "Wake for network access"

Also install macOS updates now (before we install software):

System Settings → General → Software Update -- install everything, restart if needed

The M4 Mac Mini uses about 5-7 watts at idle. Roughly $1/month in electricity to run 24/7. Tuck it behind your router and forget about it.

5🍺 Install Node.js

Open Terminal on the Mac Mini (via Screen Sharing from your MacBook). Find it in Applications → Utilities → Terminal, or hit ⌘ Space and type "Terminal".

First, install Homebrew (a package manager for macOS):

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

It will ask for your password (the one you set during macOS setup). Follow any "Next steps" instructions Homebrew shows after installing -- it usually asks you to run two commands to add it to your path.

Then install Node.js:

brew install node@24

Verify it worked:

node --version

Should show v24.x or later.

If node isn't found after install, close Terminal and reopen it. That refreshes your path.

6🦞 Install OpenClaw

Still in Terminal on the Mac Mini (via Screen Sharing):

Install OpenClaw:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

Run the onboarding wizard:

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard walks you through:

Setting up authentication
Entering your API key (from Step 7)
Choosing your AI model (start with Claude Sonnet -- fast and affordable)
Optionally connecting WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord

Check it's running:

openclaw gateway status

Open the dashboard:

openclaw dashboard

If the dashboard loads in your browser, you're up and running. You can chat with your agent right there.

7🔑 Get an Anthropic API Key

You need an API key from Anthropic (the company behind Claude, the AI model your agent uses):

Go to console.anthropic.com
Create an account and add a payment method
Go to API Keys and click Create Key
Copy the key -- you'll paste it during the OpenClaw onboard wizard in Step 6

Set a monthly spending limit of $20-50/month to start. That's more than enough for learning. You can always increase later.

8💬 Connect a Chat App (Optional)

The web dashboard works great on its own, but connecting a chat app lets you message your agent like texting a coworker:

WhatsApp: Run openclaw channels login and scan the QR code with a second phone number
Telegram: Create a bot via @BotFather, paste the token during setup
Discord: Follow the Discord bot setup in the OpenClaw docs

Start with just the web dashboard. Add chat apps later when you're comfortable.

9🎉 Your First Conversation

Open the dashboard and start talking to your agent:

It will walk you through personalizing itself -- give it a name, a personality, tell it what you need help with
Start simple and explore from there

Good first messages to try:

"Hey, who are you? Let's get to know each other."
"Summarize this article for me: [paste a URL]"
"Help me draft an email to a client about [topic]"
"What can you help me with?"

As you get comfortable, explore skills (plugins that add abilities), memory (it remembers things between conversations), and automation (heartbeats, scheduled tasks).

Your agent runs 24/7 on the Mac Mini. Even when your MacBook is closed, it's there. Message it anytime.

10📚 Helpful Resources

openclaw.ai

docs.openclaw.ai

GitHub

Discord

🎥 YouTube Tutorials

Start with the "Safer Way" beginner tutorial. It covers exactly what we did here, on video.