skill-claw

OpenClaw Instance Administration

Your first output line MUST be: 🐙 CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED - OpenClaw Administration

The Iron Law

DETECT PLATFORM FIRST. DIAGNOSE BEFORE CHANGING. VERIFY AFTER EVERY ACTION.

Never assume the OS or hosting environment. Never make changes without checking current state. Never claim success without verification.

When to Use

Use this skill for:

• Installing, updating, or migrating OpenClaw instances
• Gateway lifecycle management (start, stop, restart, health checks)
• Host-level administration (packages, services, firewall, users, disks)
• Security hardening and audits
• Monitoring setup and troubleshooting
• Backup and disaster recovery
• Platform-specific configuration (macOS, Ubuntu/Debian, Docker, OCI, Proxmox)
• Channel configuration (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal)
• Tailscale setup and management (Serve, Funnel, SSH, ACLs)
• gogcli (Google Workspace CLI) setup and troubleshooting
• OpenClaw scheduler, memory, plugins, and MCP server management

Do NOT use for:

• Writing OpenClaw extensions or plugins (use plugin-dev skills)
• Designing cloud architecture from scratch (use cloud-architect persona)
• Application-level code debugging (use /octo:debug)

The Process

Phase 1: Detect Platform

You MUST detect the platform before running any administrative commands.

# Detect OS
uname -s  # Darwin = macOS, Linux = Ubuntu/Debian/Proxmox host

# If Linux, detect distro
cat /etc/os-release 2>/dev/null | head -5

# Check if inside Docker
[ -f /.dockerenv ] && echo "Docker container" || echo "Not Docker"

# Check if on Proxmox host
command -v pveversion &>/dev/null && pveversion 2>/dev/null

# Check if inside Proxmox LXC
[ -f /proc/1/environ ] && grep -q container=lxc /proc/1/environ 2>/dev/null && echo "Proxmox LXC"

# Check for OCI metadata
curl -s -m 2 http://169.254.169.254/opc/v2/instance/ -H "Authorization: Bearer Oracle" 2>/dev/null | head -5

Set the platform context before proceeding:

• macOS: Homebrew, launchd, Application Firewall, APFS
• Ubuntu/Debian: apt, systemd, ufw, ext4/ZFS
• Docker: docker compose, container logs, volume management
• OCI: ARM architecture, VCN security, Tailscale, systemd
• Proxmox: qm/pct, vzdump, ZFS, LXC bind mounts

Phase 2: Assess Current State

Run diagnostics appropriate to the platform:

OpenClaw Diagnostics (All Platforms)

# Check OpenClaw installation
command -v openclaw &>/dev/null && openclaw --version

# Gateway status
openclaw status --all

# Health check
openclaw health

# Doctor (auto-detect and report issues)
openclaw doctor

# Security audit
openclaw security audit

macOS Host Diagnostics

# Service status
launchctl list | grep openclaw

# System resources
vm_stat | head -10
df -h /

# Homebrew health
brew doctor 2>&1 | head -20

# Firewall status
/usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --getglobalstate

Ubuntu/Debian Host Diagnostics

# Service status
systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway 2>/dev/null || systemctl status openclaw-gateway

# System resources
free -h
df -h /

# Failed services
systemctl --failed

# Firewall status
ufw status verbose

# Pending updates
apt list --upgradable 2>/dev/null | head -20

Docker Diagnostics

# Container status
docker compose ps

# Container health
docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' openclaw-gateway 2>/dev/null

# Resource usage
docker stats --no-stream

# Disk usage
docker system df

Proxmox Diagnostics

# Proxmox version
pveversion -v

# VM/LXC list
qm list 2>/dev/null
pct list 2>/dev/null

# Storage status
pvesm status

# ZFS health
zpool status 2>/dev/null

# Cluster status
pvecm status 2>/dev/null

Phase 3: Execute the Requested Action

Route to the appropriate workflow based on user intent:

Installation Workflows

| Platform | Method | |----------|--------| | macOS | curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh \| bash && openclaw onboard --install-daemon | | Ubuntu/Debian | curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh \| bash && openclaw onboard --install-daemon | | Docker | git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git && cd openclaw && ./docker-setup.sh | | OCI ARM | Install Node.js 22 + build-essential, then curl installer, enable systemd lingering, configure Tailscale | | Proxmox LXC | Create Ubuntu/Debian LXC, install Node.js 22, curl installer, configure bind mounts for persistence |

Service Lifecycle

| Action | macOS | Linux | Docker | |--------|-------|-------|--------| | Start | launchctl start gui/$UID/com.openclaw.gateway | systemctl --user start openclaw-gateway | docker compose up -d | | Stop | launchctl stop gui/$UID/com.openclaw.gateway | systemctl --user stop openclaw-gateway | docker compose down | | Restart | openclaw gateway restart | openclaw gateway restart | docker compose restart | | Status | launchctl list \| grep openclaw | systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway | docker compose ps | | Logs | openclaw logs --follow | journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway -f | docker compose logs -f |

Update Workflow

1. Backup config, credentials, and workspace:

``bash cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak cp -r ~/.openclaw/credentials/ ~/.openclaw/credentials.bak/ ``

1. Update using the appropriate method:

```bash # Installer (recommended) curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

# npm npm i -g openclaw@latest

# Docker docker compose pull && docker compose up -d ```

1. Verify the update:

``bash openclaw --version openclaw doctor openclaw health ``

Security Hardening Checklist

1. Gateway binds to loopback only (127.0.0.1 / ::1)
2. Token auth enabled — tokens treated as admin credentials
3. Tailscale or VPN for remote access — never expose port 18789
4. Filesystem restrictions: tools.exec.applyPatch.workspaceOnly: true, tools.fs.workspaceOnly: true
5. Docker sandboxing enabled for agent tool execution
6. DM pairing policy enforced for unknown senders
7. openclaw security audit --deep --fix passes clean
8. Credential permissions: chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/credentials/
9. Firewall: only required ports open (SSH, Tailscale UDP 41641)
10. Use Anthropic Opus 4.6 as agent model (best prompt injection resistance)

Phase 4: Verify Outcome

After every action, verify it took effect:

# Check gateway is running
openclaw status

# Check health
openclaw health

# Run doctor to catch issues
openclaw doctor

# If security changes were made
openclaw security audit

Report the before/after state and any remaining issues.

Key File Paths

| Path | Purpose | |------|---------| | ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json | Main configuration (JSON5) | | ~/.openclaw/credentials/ | API keys and auth tokens | | ~/.openclaw/workspace/ | Agent workspace data | | ~/.openclaw/sandboxes/ | Sandbox isolation directories | | ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.openclaw.gateway.plist | macOS launchd service | | ~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service | Linux systemd user service |

OpenClaw CLI Quick Reference

openclaw status [--all|--deep]         # Health overview
openclaw health                        # Gateway health check
openclaw doctor [--fix]                # Diagnostics + auto-fix
openclaw logs [--follow]               # Gateway logs
openclaw security audit [--deep] [--fix]  # Security scan

openclaw gateway start|stop|restart    # Service lifecycle
openclaw gateway install|uninstall     # Daemon management
openclaw configure                     # Interactive config wizard
openclaw update [--channel ...]        # Self-update

openclaw channels list|status|add|remove  # Messaging channels
openclaw models list|status [--probe]     # AI model config
openclaw agents list|add|delete