What you need:
- A computer that stays on (Mac mini, old laptop, or a $5/mo VPS)
- An Anthropic or OpenAI API key
- A messaging app (WhatsApp, Telegram, or Slack — this is how you'll talk to your AI agent)
Installation:
- Open your terminal
- Run:
npx openclaw@latest onboard
- Follow the setup wizard — it walks you through everything
- Connect your preferred messaging platform (WhatsApp is the most popular)
- Verify it's working by sending a test message
If you're not technical: The onboarding wizard is conversation-first. You don't need to write code. It asks you questions in plain English and configures itself.
Configure for outreach:
Once OpenClaw is running, install these skills:
openclaw skill install web-search openclaw skill install browser
These give your agent the ability to search the web and control a browser — which is what makes the outreach research possible.