🦀 OpenClaw
The recommended personal agent for Companion Hub. OpenClaw is a coding and computer-use agent harness that runs entirely on your hardware, wired into your Companion Memory so it knows your context — your projects, people, and history — without any of it leaving your appliance.
This is one of the two agent frameworks the Onboarding Wizard offers during first-time setup. If you’re unsure which to pick, pick OpenClaw.
Already running your own OpenClaw? You can connect it to Companion Hub and Companion Memory directly. This page describes the packaged version, which installs stock OpenClaw from npm, so the same endpoints and credentials work against your own install. See Connect OpenClaw.
What it does
- Acts, not just chats — runs multi-step tasks (files, shell, web) against your local environment using the model you selected in the wizard (local Ollama models by default; optional cloud API keys under Advanced).
- Remembers through Companion Memory — when Memory is installed and connected, OpenClaw automatically receives a profile context block, recalls relevant memories for each request, and syncs conversation turns back so your memory keeps growing.
- Speaks the Companion tool catalog — OpenClaw consumes Companion Memory’s typed tools and intents (search, knowledge, people, places, calendar, media) rather than raw database access.
Install & availability
| Hub App Store | Search OpenClaw → Install |
| Works with | Companion Memory (optional but strongly recommended) |
| Model backend | Your Hub’s configured inference (Ollama by default) |
On first launch, the setup terminal walks you through choosing an AI provider and entering an API key — you can skip the hooks prompt for now.
Mobile apps
OpenClaw provides official iOS and Android clients for chat, voice, approvals, and device-aware automations. Install and configure CI-OpenClaw first, expose it through Hub’s Private VPN or Web mode, then pair the phone from OpenClaw → Nodes → Devices → Pair mobile device.
Follow the complete OpenClaw mobile setup guide.
Memory integration controls
Operators can tune how much OpenClaw touches memory via environment variables in the app’s settings — useful for privacy-tiered setups:
| Variable | Controls |
|---|---|
CI_MEMORY_CONTEXT_ENABLED | Profile context block injection |
CI_MEMORY_RECALL_ENABLED | Per-request memory recall |
CI_MEMORY_TURN_ENABLED | Conversation-turn sync back to Memory |
CI_MEMORY_WRITE_ENABLED | Whether the agent may write new memories |
CI_INTENTS_ENABLED | The typed intent catalog |
Each defaults to on when Memory is connected; turn any off to run, for example, a recall-only agent that never writes.
Choosing between OpenClaw and Hermes: both integrate with Companion Memory the same way and behave equivalently against the same memory contract. OpenClaw is the recommended default and leans toward hands-on computer-use and coding tasks; Hermes leans toward conversational reasoning with its own terminal-style dashboard.