clawsetup

clawsetup.sh automates installing OpenClaw, wiring it to a custom LLM provider, and launching the dashboard. It is aimed at Linux environments that use apt, dnf, or yum.

What it does

1. Optional dependency install (--install-deps): installs build tools and common utilities, then installs nvm under your home directory, uses it to install Node.js and npm locally (per-user, not system-wide packages), and installs pnpm via npm. Your shell profile (for example ~/.bashrc) is updated so node/npm from nvm take precedence when you open a shell. If you already use another Node install (distro package, fnm, direct binary, corporate image, and so on), do not pass --install-deps: run the script without that flag so your existing Node, npm, and pnpm stay in charge.

2. OpenClaw: If openclaw is not on your PATH, it downloads the latest release zip from openclaw/openclaw, extracts it to ~/openclaw, runs pnpm install, pnpm ui:build, pnpm build, pnpm link --global, then runs non-interactive onboarding (including daemon install). It also tries to approve any pending device via openclaw devices approve.

3. Configuration: Rewrites ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json by removing existing agents and models keys and replacing them with:

   • Agents: default workspace ~/.openclaw/workspace and a primary model key of the form llm/<model_id>.
   • Models: merge mode and a provider llm pointing at https://inference.asicloud.cudos.org/v1 (OpenAI-compatible completions), using your API key and the model metadata you pass in (context window, max tokens, etc.).

4. Dashboard: Runs openclaw dashboard.

Requirements

• Bash and tools used by the script: curl, jq, unzip, git (and find, mv).

Without --install-deps you must already have pnpm and a working Node (and npm) environment, since the OpenClaw install path uses pnpm.

Already have Node/npm/pnpm? Omit --install-deps. The flag is meant for clean machines; with it, nvm-managed Node/npm in your home directory become the default in new shells and can override what you had before in practice (whichever node is first on PATH after source ~/.bashrc).

With --install-deps, the script installs Node via nvm under ~/.nvm. The script also runs source ~/.bashrc (via its internal setup) after the nvm installer and at other points so this session can see nvm / pnpm / openclaw.

Installation environment

Do not run this installer from a sudo su shell, sudo -u, or any other pattern that switches user / login context partway through (nested su, a fresh login shell with a different HOME, and so on). That often breaks the install: HOME, PATH, nvm, and ~/.openclaw no longer line up with the account you meant to use.

You can run the script as your normal user, or as root in a direct, intentional way—but avoid “becoming another user” mid-session with sudo su / su tricks. If you run as a normal user and --install-deps needs package installs, the script uses sudo for apt/dnf/yum where required.

Usage

One-liner (remote install)

From a directory where you are happy for .env to be picked up (optional), or with API_KEY / OPENCLAW_API_KEY exported:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Singularity-Compute/clawsetup/main/clawsetup.sh | bash -s -- --install-deps && source ~/.bashrc

Omit --install-deps if you already have Node, npm, and pnpm set up the way you want (same rules as running the script locally).

Reload your shell profile after running the script so your interactive shell (or new terminals) match what the script used. Either chain it when you invoke with bash, or run source on the next line:

bash clawsetup.sh <model_id> [api_key] [context_window] [max_tokens] [--install-deps] [--env-file PATH] && source ~/.bashrc

chmod +x clawsetup.sh
./clawsetup.sh <model_id> [api_key] [context_window] [max_tokens] [--install-deps] [--env-file PATH]
source ~/.bashrc

Argument / option	Required	Default	Description
model_id	No	minimax/minimax-m2.5	Model id as exposed by the provider (e.g. minimax/minimax-m2.5).
api_key	No*	—	API key for the inference endpoint. Omit to load from .env or to enter it when prompted.
context_window	No	196000	Reported context window for the model in config.
max_tokens	No	16000	Max output tokens setting in config.
--install-deps	No	off	Installs system build packages, then nvm + Node + npm (user-local) + pnpm. Skip this flag if Node, npm, and pnpm are already set up the way you want—otherwise nvm may take over node/npm in your home shell environment.
--env-file PATH	No	—	Use only this file for the key (API_KEY or OPENCLAW_API_KEY). The file must exist; if no key is found, the script exits with an error (no prompt).

*If you omit api_key, the script looks for API_KEY or OPENCLAW_API_KEY in the first file that exists, in this order: .env next to clawsetup.sh, .env in the current working directory, ~/.openclaw/.env. If none of those yield a key, it prompts once (input is hidden).

Omitting the key on the command line: if the second positional argument is only digits, it is treated as context_window (not the key), and the key still comes from .env or the prompt. Example: ./clawsetup.sh minimax/minimax-m2.5 196000 16000 with a key in .env. If your key is numeric-only, put it in .env or enter it at the prompt instead of passing it positionally.

Examples:

./clawsetup.sh minimax/minimax-m2.5 sk-your-key-here

./clawsetup.sh minimax/minimax-m2.5 sk-your-key-here 196000 16000

# Fresh machine only — omit --install-deps if Node, npm, and pnpm are already installed
./clawsetup.sh minimax/minimax-m2.5 sk-your-key-here --install-deps

# Key from .env or prompt (never on argv)
./clawsetup.sh minimax/minimax-m2.5

# Key only from a specific file
./clawsetup.sh minimax/minimax-m2.5 --env-file /path/to/.env

After any of these examples, run source ~/.bashrc on the next line (or use bash clawsetup.sh … && source ~/.bashrc from the top of this section).

.env format (one key is enough):

API_KEY=sk-your-key-here
# or
OPENCLAW_API_KEY=sk-your-key-here

Show built-in help:

./clawsetup.sh --help

Security notes

• Passing the API key on the command line exposes it in shell history and process listings. Prefer .env (not committed to git), --env-file pointing at a restricted path, or the interactive prompt.

• The script runs openclaw onboard --install-daemon --non-interactive --accept-risk on first install; read OpenClaw’s own docs for what that implies on your machine.

Troubleshooting

• openclaw not found: Run source ~/.bashrc (see Usage). If it is still missing, ensure nvm/pnpm global bins are configured in ~/.bashrc and that pnpm link --global ran successfully during install.

• Config errors: The jq rewrite expects ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json to exist after onboarding. If onboarding fails, create or fix that file before relying on the script’s config step.

• Package manager: Only apt-get, dnf, and yum are supported for --install-deps; others must install dependencies manually.