Complete guide to installing Clawdbot AI assistant on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Quick install with one command or manual setup options.

Clawdbot Installation Overview

Use the Clawdbot installer unless you have a specific reason not to. It sets up the CLI and runs onboarding automatically.

Quick Install (Recommended)

Install Clawdbot with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr -useb https://clawd.bot/install.ps1 | iex

Next step (if you skipped onboarding):

clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

System Requirements

Requirement	Details
Node.js	Version 22 or higher
Operating System	macOS, Linux, or Windows via WSL2
pnpm	Only required if building from source

Choose Your Install Path

1. Installer Script (Recommended)

The Clawdbot installer installs globally via npm and runs onboarding:

curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash

Installer flags:

curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash -s -- --help

Non-interactive (skip onboarding):

curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash -s -- --no-onboard

2. Global Install (Manual)

If you already have Node.js installed:

npm install -g clawdbot@latest

If you have libvips installed globally and sharp fails:

SHARP_IGNORE_GLOBAL_LIBVIPS=1 npm install -g clawdbot@latest

With pnpm:

pnpm add -g clawdbot@latest
pnpm approve-builds -g  # approve clawdbot, node-llama-cpp, sharp, etc.

Then run onboarding:

clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

3. From Source (Contributors/Dev)

git clone https://github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot.git
cd clawdbot
pnpm install
pnpm ui:build
pnpm build
clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

4. Other Install Options

Docker: See Docker Installation
Nix: See Nix Installation
Ansible: See Ansible Installation

After Install

Run these commands to verify your Clawdbot installation:

# Run onboarding
clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

# Quick check
clawdbot doctor

# Check gateway health
clawdbot status
clawdbot health

# Open the dashboard
clawdbot dashboard

Install Method: npm vs git

The Clawdbot installer supports two methods:

Method	Description
`npm` (default)	`npm install -g clawdbot@latest`
`git`	Clone/build from GitHub source checkout

CLI flags:

# Explicit npm
curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-method npm

# Install from GitHub (source checkout)
curl -fsSL https://clawd.bot/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-method git

Common flags:

Flag	Description
`--install-method npm\|git`	Choose install method
`--git-dir <path>`	Git directory (default: ~/clawdbot)
`--no-git-update`	Skip git pull for existing checkout
`--no-prompt`	Disable prompts (for CI/automation)
`--dry-run`	Print what would happen
`--no-onboard`	Skip onboarding

Environment Variables

For automation, use these environment variables:

CLAWDBOT_INSTALL_METHOD=git|npm
CLAWDBOT_GIT_DIR=...
CLAWDBOT_GIT_UPDATE=0|1
CLAWDBOT_NO_PROMPT=1
CLAWDBOT_DRY_RUN=1
CLAWDBOT_NO_ONBOARD=1
SHARP_IGNORE_GLOBAL_LIBVIPS=0|1

Troubleshooting: clawdbot not found (PATH)

Quick diagnosis:

node -v
npm -v
npm prefix -g
echo "$PATH"

If $(npm prefix -g)/bin is not in your PATH, add it to your shell startup file:

macOS / Linux (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"

Windows: Add the output of npm prefix -g to your PATH environment variable.

Then open a new terminal or run hash -r (bash) / rehash (zsh).

Update / Uninstall

Updates: See Updating Clawdbot
Uninstall: See Uninstall Clawdbot

Next Steps

Clawdbot Setup Guide - Complete setup guide
Clawdbot Gateway - Gateway configuration
Clawdbot WhatsApp - Connect to WhatsApp

Clawdbot Installation Guide