Run Clawdbot AI assistant on Linux servers with full Gateway support, systemd service management, and VPS deployment.

Clawdbot Linux Overview

The Clawdbot Gateway is fully supported on Linux. Node is the recommended runtime. Bun is not recommended for the Gateway due to WhatsApp/Telegram bugs.

Native Linux companion apps are planned. Contributions are welcome.

Beginner Quick Path (VPS)

# Install Node 22+
npm i -g clawdbot@latest
clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

From your laptop:

ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 <user>@<host>

Open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ and paste your token.

Installation

See the main installation guides:

Optional flows:

Docker
Nix

Gateway Service Install (CLI)

Use one of these methods:

# Option 1: During onboarding
clawdbot onboard --install-daemon

# Option 2: Direct install
clawdbot gateway install

# Option 3: Interactive configure
clawdbot configure
# Select "Gateway service" when prompted

Repair/migrate:

clawdbot doctor

System Control (systemd user unit)

Clawdbot installs a systemd user service by default. Use a system service for shared or always-on servers.

Minimal Setup

Create ~/.config/systemd/user/clawdbot-gateway.service:

[Unit]
Description=Clawdbot Gateway
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/clawdbot gateway --port 18789
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Enable it:

systemctl --user enable --now clawdbot-gateway.service

Service Management

# Check status
systemctl --user status clawdbot-gateway

# View logs
journalctl --user -u clawdbot-gateway -f

# Restart
systemctl --user restart clawdbot-gateway

# Stop
systemctl --user stop clawdbot-gateway

Enable Lingering

To keep the service running after logout:

sudo loginctl enable-linger $USER

VPS Deployment

For VPS deployment, see the detailed guides:

SSH tunnel for remote access
Tailscale for secure networking
Docker for containerized deployment

Basic VPS Setup

Install Clawdbot on your VPS
Configure the Gateway
Set up SSH tunnel or Tailscale
Access the Control UI remotely

Health Checks

clawdbot status
clawdbot health
clawdbot doctor

Next Steps

Clawdbot macOS - macOS setup
Clawdbot Windows - Windows WSL2 setup
Clawdbot Gateway - Gateway configuration

Clawdbot Linux Setup