Install OpenClaw on macOS

Complete installation guide for macOS • Supports Intel & Apple Silicon

Prerequisites

System Requirements

  • macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon)
  • Intel or Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
  • 500MB free disk space

Software Requirements

  • Node.js 22+ (Node 22 LTS recommended)
  • Terminal access
  • Homebrew (recommended)

Step-by-Step Installation Guide

1

Install Homebrew

If you don't have Homebrew installed, install it first. Homebrew is the recommended package manager for macOS. 

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Already have Homebrew? Skip to step 2.

2

Install Node.js

Install Node.js 22 (Node 22 LTS recommended) using Homebrew: 

brew install node@22

Verify the installation:

node --version
# Should output: v22.x.x
3

Install OpenClaw

Install OpenClaw globally using npm: 

npm install -g openclaw@latest

Or using pnpm (recommended for better performance): 

pnpm add -g openclaw@latest
4

Run the Setup Wizard

Run the guided setup (recommended): 

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

This creates your config at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (and installs a per-user service).

5

Open the Dashboard

Open the Control UI:

openclaw dashboard
# Or open: http://127.0.0.1:18789/

If you see “unauthorized” in the browser, run openclaw dashboard and use the tokenized link it prints (?token=...).

✅ Congratulations! OpenClaw is now running on your Mac.

Configuration Examples

Basic Configuration

{
  "agent": {
    "model": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5"
  },
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "botToken": "YOUR_BOT_TOKEN_HERE"
    }
  }
}

Multiple Channels

{
  "agent": {
    "model": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5"
  },
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "botToken": "YOUR_TELEGRAM_TOKEN"
    },
    "discord": {
      "token": "YOUR_DISCORD_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Common Issues & Solutions

Permission Denied Error

If you get permission errors during installation: 

# Avoid sudo npm installs by using a user-level global prefix:
mkdir -p ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Node.js Version Too Old

Update Node.js to version 22 or higher: 

brew upgrade node@22

Apple Silicon (M1/M2) Issues

If you encounter architecture issues on Apple Silicon: 

arch -arm64 brew install node@22
arch -arm64 npm install -g openclaw@latest

Port Already in Use

If the default port is occupied, specify a different port: 

openclaw gateway --port 18790

Best Practices for macOS

Use pnpm

pnpm is faster and more disk-efficient than npm. Install it with: 

brew install pnpm

Run as Service

On macOS, the recommended service install is handled by the wizard. Reinstall it anytime with openclaw gateway install (or rerun openclaw onboard --install-daemon).

Keep Updated

Regularly update OpenClaw to get the latest features and security fixes: 

npm i -g openclaw@latest

Secure Your Config

Store sensitive tokens in environment variables instead of config files. Use a .env file.

Next Steps

Now that OpenClaw is installed, configure your AI assistant and start using it

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