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Getting started

This page takes you from subscribing to a working agent. It takes about fifteen minutes. You set up OpenClaw with its own interactive wizard, over SSH.

You need:

  • An AWS account that can subscribe to AWS Marketplace products and launch EC2 instances.
  • An EC2 key pair, to connect over SSH.
  • An API key from at least one AI provider, such as OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter. With AWS Bedrock you use your AWS account instead.
  • Credentials for at least one messaging channel. Telegram is the quickest: a bot token from BotFather.

1. Subscribe and launch

  1. Open the OpenClaw listing and choose View purchase options, then Subscribe.
  2. When the subscription is confirmed, choose Launch your software.
  3. Keep the recommended t3.medium instance type, or choose a larger one.
  4. Under Key pair, choose an existing key pair or create one. You need it to connect: the image has no other way to sign in.
  5. Under Network settings, check the security group allows:
    • TCP 22 (SSH)
    • TCP 18789 (the OpenClaw gateway and dashboard)
  6. Choose Launch instance.

Narrow the security group

The recommended rules allow 0.0.0.0/0, which means any address. Change the source of both rules to your own IP address or office range, for example 203.0.113.10/32. If you only reach the dashboard through an SSH tunnel, you can remove the port 18789 rule entirely. See Reach the dashboard.

2. Connect over SSH

When the instance shows Running, copy its Public IPv4 address from the EC2 console and connect as ubuntu:

ssh -i <your-key.pem> ubuntu@<public-ip>

Check OpenClaw is installed:

openclaw --version

3. Run the onboard wizard

openclaw onboard

The wizard walks you through:

  • AI provider: enter your API key and choose a model.
  • Channels: connect Telegram, Slack, Discord, WhatsApp or another channel.
  • Agent settings: your agent's name, behavior and personality.

Choose QuickStart for the fastest path to a working agent, or Advanced for full control over every option.

4. Send your first message

Open the channel you connected, for example your Telegram bot, and send a message. When the agent replies, everything is working.

Next steps