OpenClaw on Android

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Because Android deserves a shell.

No Linux install required

The standard approach to running OpenClaw on Android requires installing proot-distro with Linux, adding 700MB-1GB of overhead. OpenClaw on Android eliminates this by installing just the glibc dynamic linker (ld.so), letting you run OpenClaw without a full Linux distribution.

Standard approach: Install a full Linux distribution in Termux via proot-distro.

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Linux Kernel                                      │
│ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Android · Bionic libc · Termux                │ │
│ │ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ proot-distro · Debian/Ubuntu              │ │ │
│ │ │ ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ GNU glibc                             │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ Node.js → OpenClaw                    │ │ │ │
│ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │
│ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

This project: No proot-distro — just the glibc dynamic linker.

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Linux Kernel                                      │
│ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Android · Bionic libc · Termux                │ │
│ │ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ glibc ld.so (linker only)                 │ │ │
│ │ │ ld.so → Node.js → OpenClaw                │ │ │
│ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Claw App

A standalone Android app is also available. It bundles a terminal emulator and a WebView-based UI into a single APK — no Termux required.

• One-tap setup: bootstrap, Node.js, and OpenClaw installed from within the app
• First install in the app (v0.4.5 or later): the app runs the first install itself and shows its progress in 7 steps; you can cancel during any step. An unfinished install (cancelled, the app was closed, or Android stopped it) is continued from where it stopped on the Continue the installation screen. Reinstall the base system repairs a broken base system without clearing the app's data (the home folder is kept). When the setup is done, a button types openclaw onboard into the terminal; press Enter to start onboarding
• Built-in dashboard for gateway control, runtime info, and tool management
• Tool installation: Settings → Additional Tools installs tmux, ttyd, dufs, Android Tools, Playwright, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and Codex CLI through the setup script (post-setup.sh --tools-only); tmux, ttyd, dufs, and Android Tools are checked against the signed Termux package list. A tool whose install failed or whose --version check fails is shown as not working, with a Reinstall button. code-server, OpenCode, the SSH server, and Chromium cannot be installed from the app yet; code-server can be installed in the app's terminal with oa --install
• Install & Update: Settings → Install & Update runs oa --update from the app and shows its progress and result. It can be cancelled only in the early steps (before step 3, replacing the core files). The screen also shows the OpenClaw and Node.js versions, the result of the last update run from the app, and the gateway status with a Stop gateway button (only for a gateway started in the app's terminal)
• Works independently of Termux — installing the app does not affect an existing Termux + oa setup

Download the APK from the Releases page.

Requirements

• Android 7.0 or higher (Android 10+ recommended)
• ~2GB free storage (2000 MB; checked before a new install and before an update that changes the pinned versions)
• Wi-Fi or mobile data connection

What It Does

The installer automatically resolves the differences between Termux and standard Linux. There's nothing you need to do manually — the single install command handles all of these:

1. glibc environment — Installs the glibc dynamic linker (via pacman's glibc-runner) so standard Linux binaries run without modification. The package list is verified against the Termux signing key before anything is installed
2. Node.js (glibc) — Downloads official Node.js linux-arm64 and wraps it with an ld.so loader script (no patchelf, which causes segfault on Android)
3. Path conversion — Automatically converts standard Linux paths (/tmp, /bin/sh, /usr/bin/env) to Termux paths
4. Temp folder setup — Configures an accessible temp folder for Android
5. Service manager bypass — Configures normal operation without systemd
6. OpenCode integration — If selected, installs OpenCode using proot + ld.so concatenation for Bun standalone binaries

Step-by-Step Setup (from a fresh phone)

1. Prepare Your Phone
2. Install Termux
3. Initial Termux Setup
4. Install OpenClaw — one command
5. Start OpenClaw Setup
6. Start OpenClaw (Gateway)

Step 1: Prepare Your Phone

Configure Developer Options, Stay Awake, charge limit, and battery optimization. See the Keeping Processes Alive guide for step-by-step instructions.

Step 2: Install Termux

Important: The Play Store version of Termux is discontinued and will not work. You must install from F-Droid.

1. Open your phone's browser and go to f-droid.org
2. Search for Termux, then tap Download APK to download and install
   • Allow "Install from unknown sources" when prompted

Step 3: Initial Termux Setup

Open the Termux app and paste the following command to install curl (needed for the next step).

pkg upgrade -y && pkg install -y curl

You may be asked to choose a mirror on first run. Pick any — a geographically closer mirror will be faster.

During the upgrade you may see questions about configuration files ((Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?). Press Enter to keep the default.

Don't skip the upgrade: installing curl alone on a fresh Termux can leave curl broken (CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE "curl"). If that already happened, see Troubleshooting.

Step 4: Install OpenClaw

Tip: Use SSH for easier typing From this step on, you can type commands from your computer keyboard instead of the phone screen. See the Termux SSH Setup Guide for details.

Paste the following command in Termux.

curl -sL myopenclawhub.com/install | bash && source ~/.bashrc

Everything is installed automatically with a single command. This takes 3–10 minutes depending on network speed and device. Wi-Fi is recommended.

Once complete, the OpenClaw version is displayed along with instructions to run openclaw onboard.

Step 5: Start OpenClaw Setup

As instructed in the installation output, run:

openclaw onboard

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the initial setup.

Step 6: Start OpenClaw (Gateway)

Once setup is complete, start the gateway:

Important: Run openclaw gateway directly in the Termux app on your phone, not via SSH. If you run it over SSH, the gateway will stop when the SSH session disconnects.

The gateway occupies the terminal while running, so open a new tab for it. Tap the hamburger icon (☰) on the bottom menu bar, or swipe right from the left edge of the screen (above the bottom menu bar) to open the side menu. Then tap NEW SESSION.

In the new tab, run:

openclaw gateway

To stop the gateway, press Ctrl+C. Do not use Ctrl+Z — it only suspends the process without terminating it.

Keeping Processes Alive

Android may kill background processes or throttle them when the screen is off. See the Keeping Processes Alive guide for all recommended settings (Developer Options, Stay Awake, charge limit, battery optimization, and Phantom Process Killer).

Access the Dashboard from Your PC

See the Termux SSH Setup Guide for SSH access and dashboard tunnel setup.

The dashboard itself is at http://127.0.0.1:18789/. If it asks for a token (or shows "unauthorized"), print the token and open the dashboard with it:

node -p "require(process.env.HOME + '/.openclaw/openclaw.json').gateway.auth.token"

Then paste it into the dashboard's auth field, or open http://127.0.0.1:18789/#token=<token>. Keep the token private. De