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OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open-source, self-hosted personal AI assistant that connects to messaging platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, Microsoft Teams, and more.

Use this starter kit when you want Diploi to run an OpenClaw instance without having to manually configure the hosting infrastructure for it.

Besides offering the easiest way to host OpenClaw on the cloud, Diploi has features that help you start even faster:

  • Access to a browser terminal, to run CLI commands without requiring a SSH connection.
Browser terminal for OpenClaw
  • Fully configured gpt-4.1-nano model, provided through the Diploi AI gateway.
gpt-4.1-nano for OpenClaw

Tech stack

TechnologyRole
Node.jsRuntime
TypeScriptLanguage
HonoWrapper API server
React + ViteControl UI frontend
OpenClawAI assistant runtime
gpt-4.1-nanoAI model

You can extend your OpenClaw project with any of the components and add-ons supported on Diploi. For more information, click here to learn about how to use the diploi.yaml to extend your project.

Key features

  • Multi-platform messaging - WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, Microsoft Teams, and more
  • Browser terminal - Run OpenClaw CLI commands directly from the browser without SSH
  • Pre-configured AI model - gpt-4.1-nano ready out of the box via the Diploi AI gateway
  • Custom control panel - Welcome page to monitor status, start/stop the gateway, and reset your instance
  • API-driven management - REST endpoints for programmatic control of the gateway
  • Self-hosted & open-source - Full ownership of your data and infrastructure

How it works

On startup, the wrapper server:

  1. Initializes /app/openclaw.json via openclaw onboard under the hood
  2. Applies config defaults (gateway token and model provider, access to Diploi’s browser terminal)
  3. Starts OpenClaw with a SSL-protected endpoint
  4. Proxies /dashboard to the OpenClaw dashboard UI, and all other routes to the Vite frontend

When finished, you will have access to a custom welcome page which is unique for Diploi, from where you can:

  • See the general status of your OpenClaw gateway
  • Start/Stop the gateway globally
  • Reset OpenClaw to its startup defaults
  • Interact with the browser terminal and access the OpenClaw CLI
  • Access the OpenClaw dashboard
Welcome page for OpenClaw

The OpenClaw dashboard hasn’t been modified, so you can expect the exact experience you would get if you configure OpenClaw manually. For more information about how to configure your OpenClaw instance, check their official documentation at https://docs.openclaw.ai/

API endpoints

The Hono API wrapper exposes a set of endpoints which can be useful to perform programmatical actions on your OpenClaw instance. This is the full list of endpoints exposed:

  • GET /healthz - Health check
  • GET /api/dashboard-token - Retrieve the dashboard token
  • GET /api/gateway/status - Gateway status
  • POST /api/gateway/start - Start the gateway
  • POST /api/gateway/stop - Stop the gateway
  • POST /api/gateway/restart - Restart the gateway
  • POST /api/full-reset - Full reset
  • POST /api/logout - Logout
  • WS /api/terminal-ws - Browser terminal (PTY websocket)

Environment variables

Common variables used by the wrapper:

  • PORT (default: 3000) - Server port
  • HOSTNAME (default: 0.0.0.0) - Server hostname
  • VITE_HOST (default: 127.0.0.1) - Vite dev server host
  • VITE_PORT (default: 5173) - Vite dev server port
  • OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH (default: /app/openclaw.json) - Path to OpenClaw config
  • OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR (default: /app) - State directory
  • OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR (default: /app/workspace) - Workspace directory
  • OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN - Gateway auth token (generated if missing)
  • DIPLOI_AI_GATEWAY_URL / DIPLOI_AI_GATEWAY_TOKEN - Optional model proxy wiring
  • DIPLOI_LOGIN_SECRET - Required to validate login cookie
  • DIPLOI_LOGIN_USERNAME / DIPLOI_LOGIN_PASSWORD - Credential login

Project structure

server/
  index.ts            # wrapper server + proxy
  processManager.ts   # gateway lifecycle manager
  initOpenclaw.ts     # OpenClaw config bootstrap + patching
  api.ts              # API routes
  terminalWs.ts       # PTY websocket bridge
web/
  src/                # React UI
Dockerfile.dev        # full dev image including OpenClaw build
Dockerfile            # production runtime image
diploi.yaml           # Diploi starter metadata

Launch

Launch OpenClaw on Diploi

See also