OpenClaw, formerly known as Clawd Bot, stands out as one of the most exciting open-source personal AI assistants available in 2026. This powerful tool brings advanced AI capabilities directly into your daily messaging apps, letting you chat with a smart assistant that actually gets things done. Whether you want to manage emails, write code, or stay organized across platforms, OpenClaw delivers a seamless experience while keeping your data under your control.
What Is OpenClaw?
OpenClaw is an open-source, self-hosted AI personal assistant that runs on your own devices or a cloud server. Created by developer Peter Steinberger, it first gained massive attention under the name Clawd Bot before rebranding to OpenClaw on January 27, 2026. The name change came after Anthropic raised trademark concerns related to similarities with their Claude AI model. The shift to OpenClaw symbolizes growth and adaptation, much like a lobster molting its shell to grow bigger and stronger.
The project exploded in popularity thanks to its innovative approach. It integrates deeply with the messaging apps you already use every day, turning them into a gateway for interacting with advanced AI. With over 30,000 GitHub stars, a thriving Discord community of thousands, and contributions from hundreds of developers, OpenClaw has quickly become a favorite among tech enthusiasts and productivity seekers.
What's new in OpenClaw v2026.5.20? |
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OpenClaw v2026.5.20 Release Notes:
Changes
- Exec approvals: remove the old
cat SKILL.md && printf ... && <skill-wrapper> allowlist compatibility path so skill files must be loaded with the read tool and only the real skill executable is auto-allowed.
- Discord: let voice sessions follow configured Discord users into voice channels, with allowed-channel checks, multi-user handoff, bounded reconciliation, and DAVE recovery preservation. (#84264) Thanks @fuller-stack-dev.
- Discord/voice: include bounded
IDENTITY.md, USER.md, and SOUL.md profile context in realtime voice session instructions by default, with voice.realtime.bootstrapContextFiles: [] available to disable it. (#84499) Thanks @fuller-stack-dev.
- Dependencies: bump the bundled Codex harness to
@openai/codex 0.132.0 and refresh the app-server model-list docs for the new catalog.
- CLI/policy: add the bundled Policy plugin for policy-backed channel conformance checks, doctor lint findings, and opt-in workspace repair. (#80407) Thanks @giodl73-repo.
- Agents/config: allow
agents.list[].experimental.localModelLean so lean local-model mode can be enabled for one configured agent instead of globally.
- Providers/xAI: add device-code OAuth login so remote and headless setups can authorize xAI without a localhost browser callback. (#84005) Thanks @fuller-stack-dev.
- Providers/OpenRouter: honor provider-level
params.provider routing policy for OpenRouter requests, with model and agent params overriding the defaults. Thanks @amknight.
Fixes
- CLI/tasks: include stale-running task maintenance decisions in
openclaw tasks maintenance --json so retained and reconcile candidates explain backing-session, cron, CLI, and wedged-subagent state. (#84691) Thanks @efpiva.
- Codex app-server: keep system-prompt reports working when bootstrap hooks provide workspace files with only a path and content, so hook-supplied SOUL/IDENTITY/TOOLS/USER context still reports injected characters correctly. (#84736) Thanks @JARVIS-Glasses.
- Providers/MiniMax music: stop advertising
durationSeconds control and remove prompt-injected duration hints, so music_generate reports MiniMax duration as an unsupported override instead of suggesting MiniMax can enforce track length. Fixes #84508. Thanks @neeravmakwana.
- Doctor: warn when sandbox tool policy hides configured MCP server tools before provider requests. (#84699) Thanks @nxmxbbd.
- WhatsApp: update Baileys to
7.0.0-rc12.
- Build: suppress per-locale
rolldown-plugin-dts:fake-js CommonJS dts warnings emitted while bundling the intentionally-inlined zod/v4/locales/*.d.cts files, so pnpm build output stays readable after the 0.25.1 plugin bump. Thanks @romneyda.
- CLI/nodes: route lazy plugin-registration logs to stderr for JSON-mode
openclaw nodes commands so stdout stays parseable. (#84684) Thanks @TurboTheTurtle.
- Approvals: route manual
/approve decisions through the trusted approval runtime so active exec and plugin approvals no longer look unknown or expired.
- Mac app: update the About settings copyright year to 2026. (#84385) Thanks @pejmanjohn.
- Dependencies: update
@openclaw/fs-safe to 0.2.7 so OpenClaw's default Python-helper-off policy keeps best-effort Node write fallbacks for private stores, secret writes, run logs, and media attachments on Linux/macOS.
- Infra/secrets: restore the fail-closed contract for
tryReadSecretFileSync so credential loaders that pass rejectSymlink: true (Telegram, LINE, Zalo, IRC, Nextcloud Talk tokens) refuse symlinked credential files instead of silently accepting them, and the infra-state CI shard's secret-file symlink test passes again. Thanks @romneyda.
- Browser: honor the configured image sanitization limit for screenshots and labeled snapshots so browser-captured images follow the same resize policy as other image results. (#84595)
- Doctor: remove unrecognized
models.providers..models[].compat.thinkingFormat values during doctor --fix so stale provider model config can validate after upgrade. Fixes #77803.
- Doctor: warn when
openclaw.json stores plaintext secret-bearing config fields, including model provider API keys and sensitive provider headers. (#84718) Thanks @lukaIvanic.
- Status: show the configured default, session-selected model, reason, clear hint, and docs link when a session remains pinned to a model that differs from
agents.defaults.model.primary.
- WebChat: clear stale typing indicators when session change events mark the active chat run complete.
- Mac app: keep local packaging signed with a stable app identity for permission testing and fix Control UI production builds under current Vite/Highlight.js exports.
- macOS app: update the embedded Peekaboo bridge to 3.2.1 so OpenClaw-hosted UI automation works with current Peekaboo CLI capture flows.
- Cron: deliver preferred final assistant output for successful scheduled runs when trailing plain tool warnings remain in diagnostics instead of marking the run failed.
- fix(mattermost): fail closed on missing channel type [AI]. (#84091) Thanks @pgondhi987.
- Recheck rebuilt system.run argv [AI]. (#84090) Thanks @pgondhi987.
- CLI: keep the private QA subcommand out of exported command descriptors unless
OPENCLAW_ENABLE_PRIVATE_QA_CLI=1, so root help and subcommand markers match runtime registration. (#84519)
- CLI/cron: bound
openclaw cron show job lookup pagination so non-advancing or unbounded cron.list responses fail instead of hanging the command. Fixes #83856. (#83989)
- Agents/messages: stop message-tool-only turns after a successful source-channel
message send while keeping transcript mirrors under the session write lock. (#84289)
- Agents: filter silent heartbeat response-tool transcript artifacts out of embedded context snapshots so later user turns are not polluted by heartbeat no-op messages. (#83477) Thanks @fuller-stack-dev.
- Agents/OpenAI: log repeated strict tool-schema downgrade diagnostics once per provider/model/tool signature, reducing duplicate debug noise while preserving
strict=false fallback behavior. Fixes #82930. (#82933) Thanks @galiniliev.
- Agents/code mode: spell out the
exec tool's JavaScript/TypeScript, no Node module, and catalog-bridge constraints in model-visible schema text so agents can use enabled tools without trial-and-error. (#84269) Thanks @Kaspre.
- Codex: give
image_generate dynamic-tool calls a 120s default watchdog when no per-call or configured image timeout is set, so image generation no longer falls back to the generic 30s bridge timeout. (#84254) Thanks @moritzmmayerhofer.
- Codex: avoid duplicate dynamic tool terminal diagnostics while large diagnostic backlogs drain without blocking tool responses. (#82937) Thanks @galiniliev.
- CLI/message: include a stable top-level
messageId in openclaw message --json output when channel sends return one. (#84191) Thanks @100menotu001.
- Cron: preserve legacy top-level array
jobs.json stores when loading or adding scheduled jobs so old cron jobs are no longer treated as an empty store during upgrade. Fixes #60799. (#84433) Thanks @IWhatsskill.
- Gateway/agents: use an agent's
identity.name in Gateway agent summaries when agents.list[].name is unset, so configured agent labels remain visible in clients. (#84355; refs #57835) Thanks @luoyanglang.
- Channels/replies: keep normal
/verbose failed-tool progress compact in message-tool replies and prevent late text-only tool output from appearing after the final answer. (#84303) Thanks @VACInc.
- Plugins/hooks: apply a default 30-second timeout to
before_compaction and after_compaction hooks so a hung plugin handler no longer blocks compaction completion. (#84153)
- Discord: preserve disabled presentation buttons when adapting and rendering Discord message controls. (#84188) Thanks @100menotu001.
- Twitch: add a test-only client-manager registry reset helper so non-isolated Twitch tests can clear cached managers between cases. Fixes #83887. (#84244) Thanks @hclsys.
- Cron: run main-session scheduled work on a cron-owned wake lane while preserving reply delivery context, so background cron turns no longer block human main-session chat. Fixes #82766. (#82767) Thanks @galiniliev.
- Cron: use structured embedded-run denial metadata for isolated scheduled tasks so blocked exec requests fail the job without treating ordinary assistant prose as a denial. (#84067) Thanks @abnershang.
- Cron: keep recovered tool warnings diagnostic for successful scheduled runs so final cron output is delivered instead of being replaced by a post-processing warning. (#84045) Thanks @abnershang.
- Plugins/perf: thread explicit plugin discovery results through
loadBundledCapabilityRuntimeRegistry, resolveBundledPluginSources, and listChannelCatalogEntries so callers that already hold a discovery result skip redundant filesystem walks. Thanks @SebTardif.
- harden update restart script creation [AI]. (#84088) Thanks @pgondhi987.
- Docker: keep the bundled Codex plugin in official release image keep lists so the default OpenAI agent harness remains available after Docker pruning. Fixes #83613. (#83626) Thanks @YuanHanzhong.
- CLI/channels: preserve the first line of
openclaw channels logs output when the rolling tail window starts exactly on a line boundary, mirroring the already-fixed readLogSlice behavior in src/logging/log-tail.ts.
- Control UI: treat terminal session status as authoritative over stale active-run flags so completed terminal runs stop showing abort/live UI. (#84057)
- CLI: preserve embedded equals signs in inline root option values instead of truncating after the second separator. (#83995) Thanks @ThiagoCAltoe.
- Matrix/config: accept
messages.queue.byChannel.matrix queue overrides and keep queue provider schema/type keys aligned for Matrix, Google Chat, and Mattermost. Thanks @bdjben.
- CLI: format
openclaw acp client failures through the shared error formatter so object-shaped errors stay readable instead of printing [object Object]. Fixes #83904. (#84080)
- Providers/Ollama: default unknown-capabilities models to tool-capable so discovered native Ollama models can use tools when
/api/show omits capabilities. (#84055) Thanks @dutifulbob.
- Installer/Windows: launch
install.ps1 onboarding as an attached child process so fresh native Windows installs do not freeze visibly at Starting setup... or corrupt the wizard's terminal rendering.
- CLI/update: keep restart health checks working across one-version CLI/Gateway protocol skew and use the managed Gateway service Node for all follow-up commands even when the package root is unchanged, so
openclaw update no longer silently switches the gateway to a different Node binary when multiple Node installations are present. Thanks @amknight.
- CLI/gateway: include the running Gateway version in
gateway status JSON output, preserving existing server metadata while falling back to status RPC data for read probes. Fixes #56222. Thanks @galiniliev.
- Memory/search: close local embedding providers when active-memory searches time out so pending local model loads and embedding contexts are aborted and released. (#83858) Thanks @brokemac79.
- CLI/nodes: request pending node surface approval scopes before
openclaw nodes approve so exec-capable node approval can use admin-scoped Gateway credentials instead of failing with missing scope: operator.admin. (#84392) Thanks @joshavant.
- Gateway: reject slow node event sends before outbound buffers grow unbounded and log the rejected payload diagnostic. (#84387) Thanks @samzong.
- Agents: include bounded trajectory queued-writer diagnostics in
pi-trajectory-flush timeout warnings so flush stalls show pending writes, queued bytes, and append state. Fixes #82961. (#82962) Thanks @galiniliev.
- Agents/subagents: recover stale completion announces by retrying unsupported transcript-wait wakes without transcript waiting and forcing a message-tool handoff when the requester run is already stale. Fixes #83699. (#83700) Thanks @galiniliev.
- Agents/subagents: constrain wildcard subagent target allowlists to configured agents while preserving explicitly listed compatibility targets. Fixes #84040. (#84357) Thanks @joshavant.
- Providers/Anthropic: route Anthropic model refs selected with Claude CLI auth through the Claude CLI runtime so shorthand refs such as
anthropic/opus-4.7 no longer fall back to embedded Anthropic billing. Fixes #84222. (#84374) Thanks @joshavant.
- Agents: honor explicit
models.providers.<id>.timeoutSeconds values above the default idle watchdog for cloud and self-hosted providers, so long first-token waits no longer fall back at ~120s when the provider timeout is higher. (#83979) Thanks @yujiawei.
- Agents/Codex: keep encrypted Responses reasoning replay provenance-bound so stale mirrored Codex transcripts drop invalid encrypted content before request assembly while preserving matching same-session replay. Fixes #83836. (#84367) Thanks @joshavant.
- Agents/subagents: skip stale embedded-run wake probes for dormant completion requesters, so late subagent completions go straight to requester-agent/direct handoff instead of producing
reason=no_active_run queue noise. (#82964) Thanks @galiniliev.
- CLI: retry config snapshot reads after a transient failure so one rejected read no longer poisons later commands in the same process. (#83931) Thanks @honor2030.
- Media: decode URL path basenames before using them as remote media fallback filenames, so files like
My%20Report.pdf are surfaced as My Report.pdf. Fixes #84050. (#84052) Thanks @jbetala7.
- WhatsApp: clarify inbound group diagnostics so observed but unregistered groups point to
channels.whatsapp.groups without changing routing or sender authorization. (#83846) Thanks @neeravmakwana.
- WhatsApp: drain pending outbound deliveries on a 30s periodic timer in addition to the reconnect handler, so messages enqueued while the provider is already connected no longer wait for the next reconnect to send. (#79083) Thanks @Oviemudiaga.
- CLI/TUI: include gateway plugin slash commands in TUI autocomplete, so connected sessions can suggest plugin-owned commands exposed by the running Gateway. (#83640) Thanks @se7en-agent.
- Gateway/mobile: restore QR setup-code handoff of bounded operator tokens for iOS and Android onboarding while keeping admin and pairing scopes out of bootstrap. (#83684) Thanks @ngutman.
- iOS: repair Release archive compilation for the TestFlight build. (#84255) Thanks @ngutman.
- Agents/compaction: bound plugin-owned CLI transcript compaction with the host safety timeout so a hung context engine can no longer stall post-turn cleanup. (#84083) Thanks @100yenadmin.
- Control UI/usage: truncate long context skill, tool, and file names in the usage panel while keeping the full name available on hover. (#42197) Thanks @Rain120.
- Codex: respect explicit
models auth order set and config.auth.order precedence over stale lastGood in /codex account, and show no working credential when every explicit-order profile is ineligible instead of marking a lower-ranked profile as active. Fixes #84386. (#84412) Thanks @openperf.
- Agents: honor
messages.suppressToolErrors for mutating tool failures so configured chat surfaces do not receive separate warning payloads. (#81561) Thanks @moeedahmed.
- Agents/fallback: surface billing guidance for mixed rate-limit plus billing fallback exhaustion instead of generic failure copy. Fixes #79396. (#79489) Thanks @aayushprsingh.
Release verification
- npm package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/openclaw/v/2026.5.20
- registry tarball: https://registry.npmjs.org/openclaw/-/openclaw-2026.5.20.tgz
- integrity:
sha512-cgshS76CxS3Vp9NGtJR2UGtVZxVR5/4rvok8DKGGL19DugAftNabsXfYajyAEiJ3dC8QTXNqF62MdQNzUnQe8Q==
- full release CI report: https://github.com/openclaw/releases-private/blob/main/evidence/2026.5.20/release-evidence.md
- full release validation: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26248546974
- full release validation manifest: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26248546974/artifacts/7146395269
- normal full CI: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26248760810
- release checks: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26248762847
- plugin prerelease: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26248761192
- npm preflight: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26248551138
- release publish: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26251157671
- plugin npm publish: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26251316669
- plugin ClawHub publish: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26251319171
- OpenClaw npm publish: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26251677950
- npm Telegram package E2E: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/actions/runs/26252161788
- macOS preflight/sign/notarize: https://github.com/openclaw/releases-private/actions/runs/26252146980
- macOS validation: https://github.com/openclaw/releases-private/actions/runs/26253801999
- macOS publish/appcast: https://github.com/openclaw/releases-private/actions/runs/26253953375
- appcast: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openclaw/openclaw/main/appcast.xml
- macOS zip: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/download/v2026.5.20/OpenClaw-2026.5.20.zip
- macOS dmg: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/download/v2026.5.20/OpenClaw-2026.5.20.dmg
- macOS dSYM: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/download/v2026.5.20/OpenClaw-2026.5.20.dSYM.zip
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Key Features of OpenClaw
OpenClaw goes far beyond simple chat responses. It acts as an active agent that can handle real tasks, remember context across sessions, and even reach out to you proactively.
Here are some of its standout features:
Multi-channel support: Connects to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage, Microsoft Teams, Matrix, Google Chat, and more. You get one unified conversation that persists no matter which app you use.
Proactive assistance: Unlike passive chatbots, OpenClaw can send you messages first with reminders, alerts, morning briefings, or updates when something important happens.
Persistent memory: It remembers everything from past interactions, so you never have to repeat context when picking up unfinished work.
Powerful integrations: Links to tools for email management (like Gmail triage, drafting replies, or unsubscribing), code editing in IDEs, calendar handling, and custom skills you can build or download.
Voice and text input: Send voice notes on supported apps for transcription and processing, with more audio features in development.
Self-hosted privacy: Run it locally on your Mac, Linux machine, or a cloud droplet. Your data stays with you instead of feeding into big cloud AI services.
Easy onboarding: The CLI wizard (openclaw onboard) guides you through setup, including daemon installation for always-on access.
Developers love using it for coding tasks, where it can fix tests, generate full-stack features, or compile research notes. Everyday users appreciate inbox zero automation, smart replies, and consolidated messaging from multiple platforms.
How to Get Started with OpenClaw
One-liner
#for macOS/linux
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
#for Windows
powershell -c "irm https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex"
npm
npm i -g openclaw
openclaw onboard
pnpm
pnpm add -g openclaw
openclaw onboard
Many run it on a home machine for privacy or on a cheap cloud server for 24/7 access. Once live, add OpenClaw as a contact in WhatsApp or invite the bot to your Discord server, then start chatting.
OpenClaw represents the next step in personal AI. It combines large language model smarts with real-world action, persistent context, and deep system access in a way few tools do. You get an assistant that lives in your existing apps, handles routine tasks autonomously, and evolves with community contributions.
If you value privacy, customization, and true productivity boosts, OpenClaw deserves a spot in your workflow. Head to the official site at https://openclaw.ai/, check the docs at https://docs.openclaw.ai/, or join the active Discord to see what others are building. The future of personal AI assistants looks a lot like OpenClaw, and it's already here for anyone ready to self-host it.
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