Not just answers in a chat — OpenClaw does the work

An assistant that does the work, not just the talking

Picture a Monday morning with a table of five competitors' prices already waiting in your chat, or telling your assistant once which day the shop is closed and never having to say it again. OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant that can do this, because it has tools to act on its own: it reads web pages, handles files, and works on a schedule you set.

• It remembers you — say “remember that the shop is closed on Mondays” and it is written down for every conversation after. What it writes is plain text files, which you can open and edit too.
• It reads the web for you — send links to read, summarise or compare. Searching the web by keyword needs a search service connected as well.
• It keeps what worked as a skill — once a job comes out the way you want, ask OpenClaw to keep the steps, and it can use them again next time.
• It works on a schedule — ask in plain words, such as “every Monday at 8am, make me a table of these five shops' pour-over prices”. You can see, change or stop it on the Automations page.
• It takes work from chat apps — OpenClaw connects to more than 30, including Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord and Slack.

OpenClaw is usually installed on your own computer, so an assistant that can run commands sits next to your files, the passwords saved in your browser and your accounts. On Erawan it runs in the cloud in a space of its own, with no install command to type, and scheduled work carries on while your computer is off. What is left for you is the three steps below.

Step 1 — Create the app and set a password

Open the OpenClaw page in the console. Without an Erawan account you are taken to sign up first.

The app's page then asks for a password for OpenClaw's control page, in OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD. You make it up, and it is separate from your Erawan account. Make it long and used nowhere else; a password manager is best at that.

Anyone with this password can have OpenClaw act for you, so keep it safe. Once it is saved, the app builds on its own. Wait a few minutes for the status to say it is running.

Step 2 — Create an API key on OpenRouter

OpenClaw needs an AI model to think with, from reading what you ask to deciding what to do next. This lesson connects it through OpenRouter: one account for models from many providers, paid as you use it. What you need is an API key, a secret that lets OpenClaw use your OpenRouter account.

Sign up or sign in, open API Keys on the left, and press New Key at the top right.

Open API Keys and press New Key

Fill it in like this:

• Name — anything that tells you what it is for, such as OpenClaw.
• Expiration — 1 year is fine. When it expires, make a new key and put it into OpenClaw.
• Credit limit — choose Custom amount and enter dollars, say 10: the most this key can ever spend.

Check it and press Create.

A name, an expiry and a limit, then Create

Copy the key straight away: OpenRouter shows the whole key only once. If the account has no credit yet, add some on the Credits page before using a paid model.

Copy the key for the next step

Step 3 — Sign in to OpenClaw, connect the model, and start

Press Open app in the notice at the bottom right, or the address under the app's name. Type the password from step 1 into Gateway secret and press Connect.

The password you set in step 1

The screen then says Approve this browser. Do not run the command it shows: the app approves the first browser to get the password right by itself, in about half a minute to a minute. Wait for the page to go in on its own, or press Check now. Next time, the same browser goes straight in without the password.

Wait 30–60 seconds or press Check now; no need to run the command in the grey box

Inside, the message box at the bottom says No models available, because no model is connected yet. Press it, then Manage models, and the Connect a provider window opens. Type openrouter into the search, choose OpenRouter, press Set API key, paste the key from step 2 and press Save provider. If OpenClaw takes you to Model Setup on your first visit instead, press Connect provider and do the same.

Press No models available at the right of the message box, then Manage models

Choose OpenRouter, then Set API key to use the key with the limit you set in step 2

Paste the key and press Save provider

You are back on Models. Wait for Discovering more models… at the bottom to go away, then press Select a model on the Model row under Defaults for all agents and pick one for your work and budget. For work that reads the web or runs commands, pick a strong model: it is harder to fool with instructions hidden in content than a small one.

Check the Model row shows the OpenRouter model you chose

Press Back to app at the top left, type into Message Assistant at the bottom, and press Enter. Thai works fine.

Say hello and ask what OpenClaw can do

A first job

Pick something small you do often, and try these with your own details:

1. Tell it who you are — “Remember that I sell pour-over coffee online, most customers are office workers who like short, friendly replies, and the shop is closed on Mondays.” Then ask what it remembers about you.
2. Give it real work — “Open these three shops [paste links], find their pour-over prices, and compare them with mine at 390 baht in a table.” Then ask which is the best value and why.
3. Make it a routine — with Telegram connected: “Every Monday at 8am Bangkok time, make that table again and send it to me on Telegram.” Then check the time and destination on the Automations page.

Start with one job, look at what comes back, say what to change, and keep it as a skill once it is right before moving to the next. Searching the web by keyword needs a search service's API key, set under Settings.

Using it safely

An assistant that really does things can really get things wrong. Four habits cut most of the risk:

• Install only skills you have read — skills other people publish on ClawHub are a stranger's code. A skill that asks you to run a command or download something is the warning sign.
• Watch for instructions hidden in content — a page, an email or a file OpenClaw reads can contain text trying to make it do something you did not ask. Connect no account the job does not need.
• Guard the password and the API key — whoever has the password can direct OpenClaw as you; if the key leaks, the limit you set on OpenRouter caps the damage.
• Approve only people you know — once a chat app is connected, somebody messaging your bot can talk to it only after you approve them. Do not approve strangers.

OpenClaw starts in Default (Full Access): it runs commands without asking first. On Erawan they run inside this app only, so a mistake stays within the app and the accounts you connected, not your computer. More in OpenClaw's security guide.

What it costs

There are two costs. The first is the app on Erawan: OpenClaw uses the Hobby plan. On a free account it runs for 30 days from your first app's deploy; after that you take Hobby, ฿99 a month at the launch price. See every plan

The second is the model, paid to OpenRouter as you use it and capped by the key's limit. Scheduled jobs use the model each time they run, and once a chat app is connected OpenClaw wakes every 30 minutes to see whether it has anything to tell you, which uses the model too.

Its memory, your chats, its skills and your key live in your app's own storage. OpenClaw is open source, so the day you want to move it somewhere else, all of that goes with it.

Where to go next

• Connect Telegram — make a bot with @BotFather in Telegram and put its token on OpenClaw's Channels page. Follow OpenClaw's Telegram guide.
• Want an assistant on LINE? — OpenClaw can connect to LINE, but we have not tried it on Erawan yet. For an AI assistant on LINE today, use Hermes Agent on LINE.
• Your own domain — set up a domain, then restart the app once so OpenClaw accepts the new name.

If something is not right

• Another browser or device says Approve this browser — approve it from Settings → Devices in the browser you already use. If that browser is gone, restart the app in the console and sign in within 10 minutes.
• “Gateway secret rejected” — usually after deleting the app and making it again under the same name: the browser remembers the old one. Type the new app's password into Gateway secret and press Connect again.
• Forgot the password — set OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PASSWORD again on the app's Variables tab. The app restarts on its own; then sign in with the new one within 10 minutes.

Pick one job you would like somebody to do for you, and start there.