NullClaw

Null overhead. Null compromise. 100% Zig. 100% Agnostic.
678 KB binary. ~1 MB RAM. Boots in <2 ms. Runs on anything with a CPU.

The smallest fully autonomous AI assistant infrastructure — a static Zig binary that fits on any $5 board, boots in milliseconds, and requires nothing but libc.

678 KB binary · <2 ms startup · 3,230+ tests · 22+ providers · 17 channels · Pluggable everything

Features

Impossibly Small: 678 KB static binary — no runtime, no VM, no framework overhead.
Near-Zero Memory: ~1 MB peak RSS. Runs comfortably on the cheapest ARM SBCs and microcontrollers.
Instant Startup: <2 ms on Apple Silicon, <8 ms on a 0.8 GHz edge core.
True Portability: Single self-contained binary across ARM, x86, and RISC-V. Drop it anywhere, it just runs.
Feature-Complete: 22+ providers, 17 channels, 18+ tools, hybrid vector+FTS5 memory, multi-layer sandbox, tunnels, hardware peripherals, MCP, subagents, streaming, voice — the full stack.

Why nullclaw

Lean by default: Zig compiles to a tiny static binary. No allocator overhead, no garbage collector, no runtime.
Secure by design: pairing, strict sandboxing (landlock, firejail, bubblewrap, docker), explicit allowlists, workspace scoping, encrypted secrets.
Fully swappable: core systems are vtable interfaces (providers, channels, tools, memory, tunnels, peripherals, observers, runtimes).
No lock-in: OpenAI-compatible provider support + pluggable custom endpoints.

Benchmark Snapshot

Local machine benchmark (macOS arm64, Feb 2026), normalized for 0.8 GHz edge hardware.

	OpenClaw	NanoBot	PicoClaw	ZeroClaw	🦞 NullClaw
Language	TypeScript	Python	Go	Rust	Zig
RAM	> 1 GB	> 100 MB	< 10 MB	< 5 MB	~1 MB
Startup (0.8 GHz)	> 500 s	> 30 s	< 1 s	< 10 ms	< 8 ms
Binary Size	~28 MB (dist)	N/A (Scripts)	~8 MB	3.4 MB	678 KB
Tests	—	—	—	1,017	3,230+
Source Files	~400+	—	—	~120	~110
Cost	Mac Mini $599	Linux SBC ~$50	Linux Board $10	Any $10 hardware	Any $5 hardware

Measured with /usr/bin/time -l on ReleaseSmall builds. nullclaw is a static binary with zero runtime dependencies.

Reproduce locally:

zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall
ls -lh zig-out/bin/nullclaw

/usr/bin/time -l zig-out/bin/nullclaw --help
/usr/bin/time -l zig-out/bin/nullclaw status

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/nullclaw/nullclaw.git
cd nullclaw
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall

# Quick setup
nullclaw onboard --api-key sk-... --provider openrouter

# Or interactive wizard
nullclaw onboard --interactive

# Chat
nullclaw agent -m "Hello, nullclaw!"

# Interactive mode
nullclaw agent

# Start the gateway (webhook server)
nullclaw gateway                # default: 127.0.0.1:3000
nullclaw gateway --port 8080    # custom port

# Start full autonomous runtime
nullclaw daemon

# Check status
nullclaw status

# Run system diagnostics
nullclaw doctor

# Check channel health
nullclaw channel doctor

# Manage background service
nullclaw service install
nullclaw service status

# Migrate memory from OpenClaw
nullclaw migrate openclaw --dry-run
nullclaw migrate openclaw

Dev fallback (no global install): prefix commands with zig-out/bin/ (example: zig-out/bin/nullclaw status).

Architecture

Every subsystem is a vtable interface — swap implementations with a config change, zero code changes.

Subsystem	Interface	Ships with	Extend
AI Models	`Provider`	22+ providers (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama, Venice, Groq, Mistral, xAI, DeepSeek, Together, Fireworks, Perplexity, Cohere, Bedrock, etc.)	`custom:https://your-api.com` — any OpenAI-compatible API
Channels	`Channel`	CLI, Telegram, Signal, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Line, Lark/Feishu, OneBot, QQ, Matrix, IRC, iMessage, Email, DingTalk, MaixCam, Webhook	Any messaging API
Memory	`Memory`	SQLite with hybrid search (FTS5 + vector cosine similarity), Markdown	Any persistence backend
Tools	`Tool`	shell, file_read, file_write, file_edit, memory_store, memory_recall, memory_forget, browser_open, screenshot, composio, http_request, hardware_info, hardware_memory, and more	Any capability
Observability	`Observer`	Noop, Log, File, Multi	Prometheus, OTel
Runtime	`RuntimeAdapter`	Native, Docker (sandboxed), WASM (wasmtime)	Any runtime
Security	`Sandbox`	Landlock, Firejail, Bubblewrap, Docker, auto-detect	Any sandbox backend
Identity	`IdentityConfig`	OpenClaw (markdown), AIEOS v1.1 (JSON)	Any identity format
Tunnel	`Tunnel`	None, Cloudflare, Tailscale, ngrok, Custom	Any tunnel binary
Heartbeat	Engine	HEARTBEAT.md periodic tasks	—
Skills	Loader	TOML manifests + SKILL.md instructions	Community skill packs
Peripherals	`Peripheral`	Serial, Arduino, Raspberry Pi GPIO, STM32/Nucleo	Any hardware interface
Cron	Scheduler	Cron expressions + one-shot timers with JSON persistence	—

Memory System

All custom, zero external dependencies:

Layer	Implementation
Vector DB	Embeddings stored as BLOB in SQLite, cosine similarity search
Keyword Search	FTS5 virtual tables with BM25 scoring
Hybrid Merge	Weighted merge (configurable vector/keyword weights)
Embeddings	`EmbeddingProvider` vtable — OpenAI, custom URL, or noop
Hygiene	Automatic archival + purge of stale memories
Snapshots	Export/import full memory state for migration

{
  "memory": {
    "backend": "sqlite",
    "auto_save": true,
    "embedding_provider": "openai",
    "vector_weight": 0.7,
    "keyword_weight": 0.3,
    "hygiene_enabled": true,
    "snapshot_enabled": false
  }
}

Security

nullclaw enforces security at every layer.

#	Item	Status	How
1	Gateway not publicly exposed	Done	Binds `127.0.0.1` by default. Refuses `0.0.0.0` without tunnel or explicit `allow_public_bind`.
2	Pairing required	Done	6-digit one-time code on startup. Exchange via `POST /pair` for bearer token.
3	Filesystem scoped	Done	`workspace_only = true` by default. Null byte injection blocked. Symlink escape detection.
4	Access via tunnel only	Done	Gateway refuses public bind without active tunnel. Supports Tailscale, Cloudflare, ngrok, or custom.
5	Sandbox isolation	Done	Auto-detects best backend: Landlock, Firejail, Bubblewrap, or Docker.
6	Encrypted secrets	Done	API keys encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 using local key file.
7	Resource limits	Done	Configurable memory, CPU, disk, and subprocess limits.
8	Audit logging	Done	Signed event trail with configurable retention.

Channel Allowlists

Empty allowlist = deny all inbound messages
"*" = allow all (explicit opt-in)
Otherwise = exact-match allowlist

Configuration

Config: ~/.nullclaw/config.json (created by onboard)

OpenClaw compatible: nullclaw uses the same config structure as OpenClaw (snake_case). Providers live under models.providers, the default model under agents.defaults.model.primary, and channels use accounts wrappers.

{
  "default_provider": "openrouter",
  "default_temperature": 0.7,

  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "openrouter": { "api_key": "sk-or-..." },
      "groq": { "api_key": "gsk_..." },
      "anthropic": { "api_key": "sk-ant-...", "base_url": "https://api.anthropic.com" }
    }
  },

  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": { "primary": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4" },
      "heartbeat": { "every": "30m" }
    },
    "list": [
      { "id": "researcher", "model": { "primary": "anthropic/claude-opus-4" }, "system_prompt": "..." }
    ]
  },

  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "accounts": {
        "main": {
          "bot_token": "123:ABC",
          "allow_from": ["user1"],
          "reply_in_private": true,
          "proxy": "socks5://..."
        }
      }
    },
    "discord": {
      "accounts": {
        "main": {
          "token": "disc-token",
          "guild_id": "12345",
          "allow_from": ["user1"],
          "allow_bots": false
        }
      }
    },
    "irc": {
      "accounts": {
        "main": {
          "host": "irc.libera.chat",
          "port": 6697,
          "nick": "nullclaw",
          "channel": "#nullclaw",
          "tls": true,
          "allow_from": ["user1"]
        }
      }
    },
    "slack": {
      "accounts": {
        "main": {
          "bot_token": "xoxb-...",
          "app_token": "xapp-...",
          "allow_from": ["user1"]
        }
      }
    }
  },

  "tools": {
    "media": {
      "audio": {
        "enabled": true,
        "language": "ru",
        "models": [{ "provider": "groq", "model": "whisper-large-v3" }]
      }
    }
  },

  "mcp_servers": {
    "filesystem": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem"] }
  },

  "memory": {
    "backend": "sqlite",
    "auto_save": true,
    "embedding_provider": "openai",
    "vector_weight": 0.7,
    "keyword_weight": 0.3
  },

  "gateway": {
    "port": 3000,
    "require_pairing": true,
    "allow_public_bind": false
  },

  "autonomy": {
    "level": "supervised",
    "workspace_only": true,
    "max_actions_per_hour": 20
  },

  "runtime": {
    "kind": "native",
    "docker": {
      "image": "alpine:3.20",
      "network": "none",
      "memory_limit_mb": 512,
      "read_only_rootfs": true
    }
  },


  "tunnel": { "provider": "none" },
  "secrets": { "encrypt": true },
  "identity": { "format": "openclaw" },

  "security": {
    "sandbox": { "backend": "auto" },
    "resources": { "max_memory_mb": 512, "max_cpu_percent": 80 },
    "audit": { "enabled": true, "retention_days": 90 }
  }
}

Gateway API

Endpoint	Method	Auth	Description
`/health`	GET	None	Health check (always public)
`/pair`	POST	`X-Pairing-Code` header	Exchange one-time code for bearer token
`/webhook`	POST	`Authorization: Bearer <token>`	Send message: `{"message": "your prompt"}`
`/whatsapp`	GET	Query params	Meta webhook verification
`/whatsapp`	POST	None (Meta signature)	WhatsApp incoming message webhook

Commands

Command	Description
`onboard --api-key sk-... --provider openrouter`	Quick setup with API key and provider
`onboard --interactive`	Full interactive wizard
`onboard --channels-only`	Reconfigure channels/allowlists only
`agent -m "..."`	Single message mode
`agent`	Interactive chat mode
`gateway`	Start webhook server (default: `127.0.0.1:3000`)
`daemon`	Start long-running autonomous runtime
`service install\|start\|stop\|status\|uninstall`	Manage background service
`doctor`	Diagnose system health
`status`	Show full system status
`channel doctor`	Run channel health checks
`cron list\|add\|remove\|pause\|resume\|run`	Manage scheduled tasks
`skills list\|install\|remove\|info`	Manage skill packs
`hardware scan\|flash\|monitor`	Hardware device management
`models list\|info\|benchmark`	Model catalog
`migrate openclaw [--dry-run] [--source PATH]`	Import memory from OpenClaw workspace

Development

zig build                          # Dev build
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall  # Release build (678 KB)
zig build test --summary all       # 3,230+ tests

Channel Flow Coverage

Channel CJM coverage (ingress parsing/filtering, session key routing, account propagation, bus handoff) is validated by tests in:

src/channel_manager.zig (runtime channel registration/start semantics + listener mode wiring)
src/config.zig (OpenClaw-compatible channels.*.accounts parsing, multi-account selection/ordering, aliases)
src/gateway.zig (Telegram/WhatsApp/LINE/Lark routed session keys from webhook payloads)
src/daemon.zig (gateway-loop inbound route resolution for Discord/QQ/OneBot/Mattermost/MaixCam)
src/channels/discord.zig, src/channels/mattermost.zig, src/channels/qq.zig, src/channels/onebot.zig, src/channels/signal.zig, src/channels/line.zig, src/channels/whatsapp.zig (per-channel inbound/outbound contracts)

Project Stats

Language:     Zig 0.15
Source files: ~110
Lines of code: ~45,000
Tests:        3,230+
Binary:       678 KB (ReleaseSmall)
Peak RSS:     ~1 MB
Startup:      <2 ms (Apple Silicon)
Dependencies: 0 (besides libc + optional SQLite)

Source Layout

src/
  main.zig              CLI entry point + argument parsing
  root.zig              Module hierarchy (public API)
  config.zig            JSON config loader + 30 sub-config structs
  agent.zig             Agent loop, auto-compaction, tool dispatch
  daemon.zig            Daemon supervisor with exponential backoff
  gateway.zig           HTTP gateway (rate limiting, idempotency, pairing)
  channels/             18 channel implementations (telegram, signal, matrix, mattermost, discord, slack, whatsapp, line, lark, onebot, qq, ...)
  providers/            22+ AI provider implementations
  memory/               SQLite backend, embeddings, vector search, hygiene, snapshots
  tools/                18 tool implementations
  security/             Secrets (ChaCha20), sandbox backends (landlock, firejail, ...)
  cron.zig              Cron scheduler with JSON persistence
  health.zig            Component health registry
  tunnel.zig            Tunnel vtable (cloudflare, ngrok, tailscale, custom)
  peripherals.zig       Hardware peripheral vtable (serial, Arduino, RPi, Nucleo)
  runtime.zig           Runtime vtable (native, docker, WASM)
  skillforge.zig        Skill discovery (GitHub), evaluation, integration
  ...

Versioning

nullclaw uses CalVer (YYYY.M.D) for releases — e.g. v2026.2.20.

Tag format: vYYYY.M.D (one release per day max; patch suffix vYYYY.M.D.N if needed)
No stability guarantees yet — the project is pre-1.0, config and CLI may change between releases
nullclaw --version prints the current version

Contributing

Implement a vtable interface, submit a PR:

New Provider -> src/providers/
New Channel -> src/channels/
New Tool -> src/tools/
New Memory backend -> src/memory/
New Tunnel -> src/tunnel.zig
New Sandbox backend -> src/security/
New Peripheral -> src/peripherals.zig
New Skill -> ~/.nullclaw/workspace/skills/<name>/

Disclaimer

nullclaw is a pure open-source software project. It has no token, no cryptocurrency, no blockchain component, and no financial instrument of any kind. This project is not affiliated with any token or financial product.

License

MIT — see LICENSE

nullclaw — Null overhead. Null compromise. Deploy anywhere. Swap anything.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 255 Commits
.githooks		.githooks
.github		.github
src		src
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.envrc		.envrc
.gitignore		.gitignore
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
build.zig		build.zig
build.zig.zon		build.zig.zon
build.zig.zon2json-lock		build.zig.zon2json-lock
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml
flake.lock		flake.lock
flake.nix		flake.nix
nullclaw.png		nullclaw.png

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NullClaw

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Why nullclaw

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NullClaw

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Why nullclaw

Benchmark Snapshot

Quick Start

Architecture

Memory System

Security

Channel Allowlists

Configuration

Gateway API

Commands

Development

Channel Flow Coverage

Project Stats

Source Layout

Versioning

Contributing

Disclaimer

License

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