Run onboarding
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
Practical guide
How to set up OpenClaw on macOS.
Use the official OpenClaw flow to install the CLI, run onboarding, pair a channel, and verify the gateway on macOS without detouring through unofficial fixes.
Step 1
Install OpenClaw with the documented CLI path.
The official docs show both an installer script and a standard package install. For a setup post, the explicit CLI path is easier to read and easier to troubleshoot on macOS.
MACOS / INSTALL / CLI
check node
node --version
install
npm install -g openclaw@latest
or
pnpm add -g openclaw@latest
verify
openclaw --help
Step 2
Run the onboarding wizard and let it install the background service.
OpenClaw’s documented recommended path is the onboarding wizard. It sets up the gateway, workspace, channels, skills, and a user-level background service so the gateway can keep running.
Choose your model and auth
The wizard will walk through provider and authentication choices before it drops you into the rest of the setup.
Keep the generated defaults
For a first setup, keep the safer defaults and change them later only after the gateway is working.
Step 3
Pair a channel and open the dashboard.
After onboarding, log in to the chat channel you actually want to use, then open the local dashboard. If you only want the quickest first success, OpenClaw’s docs note that Telegram is usually the fastest channel to set up.
Pair a channel
openclaw channels login- Follow the prompts for the channel you chose
- Use the simplest path first, then add more channels later
Open the dashboard
openclaw dashboard- Or open
http://127.0.0.1:18789/ - If auth is required, use the local tokenized dashboard link
Verify the gateway
openclaw status --allopenclaw doctoropenclaw security audit
macOS notes
Fix the common Mac issues while the setup is still small.
The official platform docs call out a few macOS-specific issues that are easier to solve before you start adding more channels, tools, and automation.
Gatekeeper
If macOS blocks the binary, the official docs suggest removing the quarantine flag from the installed executable path.
Privacy permissions
Accessibility, Full Disk Access, Camera, or Microphone prompts depend on the features you enable. Grant only what your workflow actually needs.
Background service
If you change install method or the gateway behaves oddly after an update, run openclaw doctor to repair the service entrypoint.
Before you turn on risky tools
Set up OpenClaw first. Then add Veridicus Scan before it reads untrusted content.
OpenClaw’s own security docs warn that prompt injection can come from external content, not just from who messages the bot directly. Once the setup works, the next product to add is Veridicus Scan so suspicious pages and files get reviewed locally before they reach a tool-enabled agent.
Run the security audit
Use openclaw security audit before you widen access, expose tools, or trust the setup enough to automate it.
Keep high-risk tools narrow
Do not switch on browser, web_fetch, web_search, or exec broadly until you understand the blast radius.
Scan untrusted inputs first
Use Veridicus Scan on suspicious URLs, PDFs, DOCX files, and HTML before that content becomes input to a tool-enabled OpenClaw workflow.
Next step
Use OpenClaw for the agent. Use Veridicus Scan for the intake decision.
When the agent will read the web or imported files, put a local scan step in front of it so hostile content is caught before it becomes agent context.