Quick Start Checklist

Use this page when you want the shortest repo-truth path from clone to a working /operator console.

Local Root Path

# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/AyobamiH/openclaw-operator.git
cd openclaw-operator

# 2. Install workspace dependencies
npm install

# 3. Create backend env file
cp orchestrator/.env.example orchestrator/.env

# 4. Fill in orchestrator/.env
# - API_KEY_ROTATION or API_KEY
# - WEBHOOK_SECRET
# - OPENAI_API_KEY (usually)

# 5. Start the product
npm run dev

Open:

• http://127.0.0.1:3000/operator

This path is local-file-backed by default, so Mongo and Redis are optional upgrades instead of first-boot requirements.

If you want the always-on user-service path after the first local boot:

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
install -m 0644 systemd/orchestrator.service ~/.config/systemd/user/orchestrator.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now orchestrator

Then open:

• http://127.0.0.1:3312/operator

Fast Verification

curl http://127.0.0.1:3000/health
curl http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/knowledge/summary
curl http://127.0.0.1:3312/health
curl http://127.0.0.1:4300/health

Then authenticate in /operator with your bearer token.

Docker Demo Path

If you want the official public container path instead:

docker compose up -d --build
npm run docker:demo:smoke

Open:

• http://127.0.0.1:4300/operator

Demo bearer keys:

• viewer: demo-viewer-key-local-only
• operator: demo-operator-key-local-only
• admin: demo-admin-key-local-only

This path is localhost-only by default and already carries demo-local auth, MongoDB, and Redis credentials so first boot does not require a private .env file. npm run docker:demo:smoke is the local proof that the demo stack came up healthy and served the built operator shell. Before any shared or non-local deployment, copy docker-compose.override.example.yml to docker-compose.override.yml and replace the demo values.

If you intentionally want the heavier observability stack instead, use orchestrator/docker-compose.yml plus orchestrator/.env.

Important Notes

• orchestrator_config.json at the repo root is the local runtime source of truth and now resolves relative path fields from the config file location. The default repo-native stateFile is ./orchestrator/data/orchestrator-state.json, so first boot is file-backed by default.
• orchestrator/orchestrator_config.json is the container-shaped config for Docker-based deployment.
• systemd/orchestrator.service is the canonical always-on user-service unit and assumes the repo lives at ~/openclaw-operator. If you clone elsewhere, update the unit paths before enabling it.
• Root commands are the default command hub for this repo.

Next

• Getting Started
• Architecture Overview
• Configuration