nanoclaw

Why I Built NanoClaw

OpenClaw is an impressive project, but I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I had given complex software I didn't understand full access to my life. OpenClaw has nearly half a million lines of code, 53 config files, and 70+ dependencies. Its security is at the application level (allowlists, pairing codes) rather than true OS-level isolation. Everything runs in one Node process with shared memory.

NanoClaw provides that same core functionality, but in a codebase small enough to understand: one process and a handful of files. Claude agents run in their own Linux containers with filesystem isolation, not merely behind permission checks.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/qwibitai/nanoclaw.git nanoclaw-v2
cd nanoclaw-v2
bash nanoclaw.sh

nanoclaw.sh walks you from a fresh machine to a named agent you can message. It installs Node, pnpm, and Docker if missing, registers your Anthropic credential with OneCLI, builds the agent container, and pairs your first channel (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, or a local CLI). If a step fails, Claude Code is invoked automatically to diagnose and resume from where it broke.

Run from a fresh v2 checkout next to your v1 install:

git clone https://github.com/qwibitai/nanoclaw.git nanoclaw-v2
cd nanoclaw-v2
bash migrate-v2.sh

migrate-v2.sh finds your v1 install (sibling directory, or NANOCLAW_V1_PATH=/path/to/nanoclaw), migrates state into the v2 checkout, then execs into Claude Code to finish the parts that need judgment (owner seeding, CLAUDE.local.md cleanup, fork-customisation replay).

Run the script directly, not from inside a Claude session — the deterministic side needs interactive prompts and real shell I/O for Node/pnpm bootstrap, Docker, OneCLI, and the container build.

What it does: merges .env, seeds the v2 DB from registered_groups, copies group folders + session data + scheduled tasks, installs the channel adapters you select, copies channel auth state (including Baileys keystore + LID mappings for WhatsApp), builds the agent container.

What it doesn't: flip the system service. Pick "switch to v2" at the prompt, or do it manually after testing — your v1 install is left untouched.

See docs/v1-to-v2-changes.md for what's different and docs/migration-dev.md for development notes.

Philosophy

Small enough to understand. One process, a few source files and no microservices. If you want to understand the full NanoClaw codebase, just ask Claude Code to walk you through it.

Secure by isolation. Agents run in Linux containers and they can only see what's explicitly mounted. Bash access is safe because commands run inside the container, not on your host.

Built for the individual user. NanoClaw isn't a monolithic framework; it's software that fits each user's exact needs. Instead of becoming bloatware, NanoClaw is designed to be bespoke. You make your own fork and have Claude Code modify it to match your needs.

Customization = code changes. No configuration sprawl. Want different behavior? Modify the code. The codebase is small enough that it's safe to make changes.

AI-native, hybrid by design. The install and onboarding flow is an optimized scripted path, fast and deterministic. When a step needs judgment, whether a failed install, a guided decision, or a customization, control hands off to Claude Code seamlessly. Beyond setup there's no monitoring dashboard or debugging UI either: describe the problem in chat and Claude Code handles it.

Skills over features. Trunk ships the registry and infrastructure, not specific channel adapters or alternative agent providers. Channels (Discord, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, …) live on a long-lived channels branch; alternative providers (OpenCode, Ollama) live on providers. You run /add-telegram, /add-opencode, etc. and the skill copies exactly the module(s) you need into your fork. No feature you didn't ask for.

Best harness, best model. NanoClaw natively uses Claude Code via Anthropic's official Claude Agent SDK, so you get the latest Claude models and Claude Code's full toolset, including the ability to modify and expand your own NanoClaw fork. Other providers are drop-in options: /add-codex for OpenAI's Codex (ChatGPT subscription or API key), /add-opencode for OpenRouter, Google, DeepSeek and more via OpenCode, and /add-ollama-provider for local open-weight models. Provider is configurable per agent group.

What It Supports

• Multi-channel messaging — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams, iMessage, Matrix, Google Chat, Webex, Linear, GitHub, WeChat, and email via Resend. Installed on demand with /add-<channel> skills. Run one or many at the same time.
• Flexible isolation — connect each channel to its own agent for full privacy, share one agent across many channels for unified memory with separate conversations, or fold multiple channels into a single shared session so one conversation spans many surfaces. Pick per channel via /manage-channels. See docs/isolation-model.md.
• Per-agent workspace — each agent group has its own CLAUDE.md, its own memory, its own container, and only the mounts you allow. Nothing crosses the boundary unless you wire it to.
• Scheduled tasks — recurring jobs that run Claude and can message you back
• Web access — search and fetch content from the web
• Container isolation — agents are sandboxed in Docker (macOS/Linux/WSL2), with optional Docker Sandboxes micro-VM isolation or Apple Container as a macOS-native opt-in
• Credential security — agents never hold raw API keys. Outbound requests route through OneCLI's Agent Vault, which injects credentials at request time and enforces per-agent policies and rate limits.

Usage

Talk to your assistant with the trigger word (default: @Andy):

@Andy send an overview of the sales pipeline every weekday morning at 9am (has access to my Obsidian vault folder)
@Andy review the git history for the past week each Friday and update the README if there's drift
@Andy every Monday at 8am, compile news on AI developments from Hacker News and TechCrunch and message me a briefing

From a channel you own or administer, you can manage groups and tasks:

@Andy list all scheduled tasks across groups
@Andy pause the Monday briefing task
@Andy join the Family Chat group

Customizing

NanoClaw doesn't use configuration files. To make changes, just tell Claude Code what you want:

• "Change the trigger word to @Bob"
• "Remember in the future to make responses shorter and more direct"
• "Add a custom greeting when I say good morning"
• "Store conversation summaries weekly"

Or run /customize for guided changes.

The codebase is small enough that Claude can safely modify it.

Contributing

Don't add features. Add skills.

If you want to add a new channel or agent provider, don't add it to trunk. New channel adapters land on the channels branch; new agent providers land on providers. Users install them in their own fork with /add-<name> skills, which copy the relevant module(s) into the standard paths, wire the registration, and pin dependencies.

This keeps trunk as pure registry and infra, and every fork stays lean — users get the channels and providers they asked for and nothing else.

RFS (Request for Skills)

Skills we'd like to see:

Communication Channels

• /add-signal — Add Signal as a channel

Requirements

• macOS or Linux (Windows via WSL2)
• Node.js 20+ and pnpm 10+ (the installer will install both if missing)
• Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows) or Docker Engine (Linux)
• Claude Code for /customize, /debug, error recovery during setup, and all /add-<channel> skills

Architecture

messaging apps → host process (router) → inbound.db → container (Bun, Claude Agent SDK) → outbound.db → host process (delivery) → messaging apps

A single Node host orchestrates per-session agent containers. When a message arrives, the host routes it via the entity model (user → messaging group → agent group → session), writes it to the session's inbound.db, and wakes the container. The agent-runner inside the container polls inbound.db, runs Claude, and writes responses to outbound.db. The host polls outbound.db and delivers back through the channel adapter.

Two SQLite files per session, each with exactly one writer — no cross-mount contention, no IPC, no stdin piping. Channels and alternative providers self-register at startup; trunk ships the registry and the Chat SDK bridge, while the adapters themselves are skill-installed per fork.

For the full architecture writeup see docs/architecture.md; for the three-level isolation model see docs/isolation-model.md.

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