ZeroClaw Quick Reference

ZeroClaw is a fast, small (<5MB RAM), fully autonomous AI assistant infrastructure built in Rust.

Core Characteristics:

• Single binary (~8.8MB release), no runtime dependencies
• <10ms cold start, 16+ communication channels
• Runs on $10 hardware (ARM, x86, RISC-V)
• Config: ~/.zeroclaw/config.toml
• Workspace: ~/.zeroclaw/workspace/
• Auth profiles: ~/.zeroclaw/auth-profiles.json (encrypted)

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Installation

Install

# Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install zeroclaw

# Clone + bootstrap (recommended — inspect before running)
git clone https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw.git
cd zeroclaw && ./bootstrap.sh

# Bootstrap options: --prefer-prebuilt, --prebuilt-only, --docker, --onboard

# Cargo (requires Rust toolchain)
cargo install zeroclaw

Update

git clone https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw.git /tmp/zeroclaw-update
cd /tmp/zeroclaw-update && bash scripts/bootstrap.sh --prefer-prebuilt
rm -rf /tmp/zeroclaw-update
zeroclaw --version

Onboarding

ZEROCLAW_API_KEY="..." zeroclaw onboard --provider openrouter
zeroclaw onboard --interactive    # Full wizard
zeroclaw onboard --channels-only  # Reconfigure channels only

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Essential Commands

Daily Use

• zeroclaw agent - Interactive AI chat
• zeroclaw agent -m "message" - Single message
• zeroclaw daemon - Full autonomous runtime

Diagnostics

• zeroclaw status - Check system status
• zeroclaw doctor - Run full diagnostics
• zeroclaw channel doctor - Check channel health

Providers & Models

• zeroclaw providers - List all providers
• zeroclaw models refresh - Refresh model catalogs
• zeroclaw models refresh --provider <ID> - Refresh specific provider

Channels

• zeroclaw channel list - List all channels
• zeroclaw channel start - Start channels
• zeroclaw channel start <channel> - Start specific channel

Service

• zeroclaw service install - Install as system service
• zeroclaw service uninstall - Remove system service
• zeroclaw service start/stop/restart - Control service
• zeroclaw service status - Check service status

Other

• zeroclaw completions bash|zsh - Generate shell completions
• zeroclaw migrate openclaw [--dry-run] - Import from OpenClaw
• zeroclaw gateway [--port 0] - Start webhook gateway (port 0 = random)

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Providers Overview

ZeroClaw supports 30+ built-in providers plus custom endpoints.

Built-in providers:

• openrouter - OpenRouter (default, multi-provider aggregation)
• anthropic - Anthropic Claude models
• openai / openai-codex - OpenAI (API key / OAuth)
• groq, xai, together, deepseek - Cloud providers
• ollama, lmstudio, llamacpp, vllm, osaurus - Local servers
• custom:<URL> / anthropic-custom:<URL> - Any compatible endpoint

See complete catalog: PROVIDERS.md

Quick custom provider setup:

# ~/.zeroclaw/config.toml
default_provider = "custom:https://your-api.example.com"
# api_key resolved from $ZEROCLAW_API_KEY env var (recommended) or set here
default_model = "your-model"

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Channels Overview

ZeroClaw supports 16+ communication channels.

Channel	Access Control	Quick Setup
CLI	n/a	Built-in
Telegram	allowed_users	zeroclaw onboard
Discord	allowed_users	zeroclaw onboard
Slack	allowed_users	zeroclaw onboard
Mattermost	allowed_users	Manual config
WhatsApp	allowed_numbers	zeroclaw onboard (Web + Cloud API)
Signal	allowed_from	Manual config
iMessage	allowed_contacts	macOS only
Matrix	allowed_users	Manual config
Email	allowed_senders	Manual config
IRC	allowed_users	zeroclaw onboard
Lark	allowed_users	Manual config
DingTalk	allowed_users	zeroclaw onboard
QQ	allowed_users	Manual config
Linq	allowed_senders	Manual config
Nostr	allowed_pubkeys	Manual config
Webhook	secret	Manual/onboard

See detailed channel-by-channel setup: CHANNELS.md

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Configuration Overview

ZeroClaw uses ~/.zeroclaw/config.toml for all settings.

Basic provider setup:

default_provider = "openrouter"
# api_key resolved from $ZEROCLAW_API_KEY env var (recommended) or set here (encrypted at rest)
default_model = "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
default_temperature = 0.7

Autonomy levels:

Level	Description
supervised	Maximum restriction; requires explicit approval for all actions
assisted	Moderate oversight with command allowlisting
full	No approval required (use only on trusted machines)

[autonomy]
level = "supervised"
workspace_only = true
allowed_commands = ["git", "npm", "cargo", "ls", "cat"]
max_actions_per_hour = 20
max_cost_per_day_cents = 500

Emergency Stop (E-Stop): ZeroClaw includes a multi-granularity shutdown system:

• kill_all - Terminate entire agent runtime
• network_kill - Block all external API calls
• domain_block - Restrict browser navigation
• tool_freeze - Prevent tool execution while preserving state

Common security settings:

# Restrict to workspace only (recommended)
[autonomy]
workspace_only = true
allowed_paths = ["/path/to/project"]

# Set cost limits
[autonomy]
max_cost_per_day_cents = 500
max_actions_per_hour = 20

# Block dangerous commands
[autonomy]
blocked_commands = ["rm -rf", "dd", "mkfs"]

See complete config reference: CONFIG.md See security best practices: SECURITY.md

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Troubleshooting

Quick Diagnostics

zeroclaw --version
zeroclaw status
zeroclaw doctor
zeroclaw channel doctor

Common Issues

Problem	Solution
cargo not found	Run ./bootstrap.sh --install-rust
zeroclaw command not found	Add to PATH: export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
Gateway unreachable	Check gateway.host/port in config.toml
Telegram "terminated by other getUpdates"	Stop extra daemons (only one per bot token)
Channel unhealthy	Run zeroclaw channel doctor, verify credentials and permissions
Config world-readable warning	Run chmod 600 ~/.zeroclaw/config.toml
API authentication failed	Verify API key in config or environment variables
Model not found	Run zeroclaw models refresh to update catalog
High memory usage	Check autonomy settings, limit concurrent actions

Logs

• macOS/Windows: ~/.zeroclaw/logs/daemon.stdout.log
• Linux systemd: journalctl --user -u zeroclaw.service -f

Getting Help

1. Run zeroclaw doctor for automated diagnostics
2. Check logs for error messages
3. Review config: cat ~/.zeroclaw/config.toml
4. Full documentation: https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw