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Clawdbot 🦞

“EXFOLIATE! EXFOLIATE!” — A space lobster, probably

Clawdbot

Any OS + WhatsApp/Telegram/Discord/iMessage gateway for AI agents (Pi).
Send a message, get an agent response — from your pocket.

GitHub · Releases · Docs · Clawdbot assistant setup

Clawdbot bridges WhatsApp (via WhatsApp Web / Baileys), Telegram (Bot API / grammY), Discord (Bot API / channels.discord.js), and iMessage (imsg CLI) to coding agents like Pi. Clawdbot also powers Clawd, the space‑lobster assistant.

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Start here

If the Gateway is running on the same computer, that link opens the browser Control UI immediately. If it fails, start the Gateway first: clawdbot gateway.

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Dashboard (browser Control UI)

The dashboard is the browser Control UI for chat, config, nodes, sessions, and more. Local default: http://127.0.0.1:18789/ Remote access: Web surfaces and Tailscale

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How it works

WhatsApp / Telegram / Discord
        │
        ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────┐
  │          Gateway          │  ws://127.0.0.1:18789 (loopback-only)
  │     (single source)       │  tcp://0.0.0.0:18790 (Bridge)
  │                           │  http://<gateway-host>:18793
  │                           │    /__clawdbot__/canvas/ (Canvas host)
  └───────────┬───────────────┘
              │
              ├─ Pi agent (RPC)
              ├─ CLI (clawdbot …)
              ├─ Chat UI (SwiftUI)
              ├─ macOS app (Clawdbot.app)
              ├─ iOS node via Bridge + pairing
              └─ Android node via Bridge + pairing
Most operations flow through the Gateway (clawdbot gateway), a single long-running process that owns channel connections and the WebSocket control plane.

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Network model

  • One Gateway per host: it is the only process allowed to own the WhatsApp Web session.
  • Loopback-first: Gateway WS defaults to ws://127.0.0.1:18789.
    • The wizard now generates a gateway token by default (even for loopback).
    • For Tailnet access, run clawdbot gateway --bind tailnet --token ... (token is required for non-loopback binds).
  • Bridge for nodes: optional LAN/tailnet-facing bridge on tcp://0.0.0.0:18790 for paired nodes (Bonjour-discoverable).
  • Canvas host: HTTP file server on canvasHost.port (default 18793), serving /__clawdbot__/canvas/ for node WebViews; see Gateway configuration (canvasHost).
  • Remote use: SSH tunnel or tailnet/VPN; see Remote access and Discovery.

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Features (high level)

  • 📱 WhatsApp Integration — Uses Baileys for WhatsApp Web protocol
  • ✈️ Telegram Bot — DMs + groups via grammY
  • 🎮 Discord Bot — DMs + guild channels via channels.discord.js
  • 💬 iMessage — Local imsg CLI integration (macOS)
  • 🤖 Agent bridge — Pi (RPC mode) with tool streaming
  • ⏱️ Streaming + chunking — Block streaming + Telegram draft streaming details (/concepts/streaming)
  • 🧠 Multi-agent routing — Route provider accounts/peers to isolated agents (workspace + per-agent sessions)
  • 🔐 Subscription auth — Anthropic (Claude Pro/Max) + OpenAI (ChatGPT/Codex) via OAuth
  • 💬 Sessions — Direct chats collapse into shared main (default); groups are isolated
  • 👥 Group Chat Support — Mention-based by default; owner can toggle /activation always|mention
  • 📎 Media Support — Send and receive images, audio, documents
  • 🎤 Voice notes — Optional transcription hook
  • 🖥️ WebChat + macOS app — Local UI + menu bar companion for ops and voice wake
  • 📱 iOS node — Pairs as a node and exposes a Canvas surface
  • 📱 Android node — Pairs as a node and exposes Canvas + Chat + Camera
Note: legacy Claude/Codex/Gemini/Opencode paths have been removed; Pi is the only coding-agent path.

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Quick start

Runtime requirement: Node ≥ 22. 
# Recommended: global install (npm/pnpm)
npm install -g clawdbot@latest
# or: pnpm add -g clawdbot@latest

# Onboard + install the daemon (launchd/systemd user service)
clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

# Pair WhatsApp Web (shows QR)
clawdbot channels login

# Gateway runs via daemon after onboarding; manual run is still possible:
clawdbot gateway --port 18789
Switching between npm and git installs later is easy: install the other flavor and run clawdbot doctor to update the gateway service entrypoint. From source (development): 
git clone https://github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot.git
cd clawdbot
pnpm install
pnpm ui:build # auto-installs UI deps on first run
pnpm build
pnpm clawdbot onboard --install-daemon
Multi-instance quickstart (optional): 
CLAWDBOT_CONFIG_PATH=~/.clawdbot/a.json \
CLAWDBOT_STATE_DIR=~/.clawdbot-a \
clawdbot gateway --port 19001
Send a test message (requires a running Gateway): 
clawdbot message send --to +15555550123 --message "Hello from Clawdbot"

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Configuration (optional)

Config lives at ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json.
  • If you do nothing, Clawdbot uses the bundled Pi binary in RPC mode with per-sender sessions.
  • If you want to lock it down, start with channels.whatsapp.allowFrom and (for groups) mention rules.
Example: 
{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      allowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
      groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } }
    }
  },
  messages: { groupChat: { mentionPatterns: ["@clawd"] } }
}

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Docs

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The name

Clawdbot = CLAW + TARDIS — because every space lobster needs a time-and-space machine.
“We’re all just playing with our own prompts.” — an AI, probably high on tokens

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Credits

  • Peter Steinberger (@steipete) — Creator, lobster whisperer
  • Mario Zechner (@badlogicc) — Pi creator, security pen-tester
  • Clawd — The space lobster who demanded a better name

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Core Contributors

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License

MIT — Free as a lobster in the ocean 🦞
“We’re all just playing with our own prompts.” — An AI, probably high on tokens