How to Install OpenClaw on a VPS and Run Your Own 24/7 AI Agent on Telegram

Want your own AI assistant that's online all day, that you can message from your phone like a friend? That's exactly what this setup gives you.

In this guide I put OpenClaw — a self-hosted AI agent — on a cheap cloud server (a DigitalOcean VPS), and connect it to a Telegram bot. Once it's running, you just text your bot and it replies, runs tasks, and works for you around the clock. No laptop needed.

Here's the whole thing in plain words.

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an AI agent you host yourself. Think of it like ChatGPT, but:

• It runs on your own server, not someone else's.
• It stays online 24/7, even when your laptop is off.
• You talk to it through Telegram, so it's always in your pocket.
• It can use tools, run tasks, and remember what you're doing.

You bring your own AI "brain" (an API key from Claude or OpenAI), and OpenClaw handles the rest.

Why put it on a VPS?

You can run OpenClaw on your laptop. But the moment you close the lid, your agent goes to sleep.

A VPS (a small always-on cloud computer) fixes that. It runs day and night, so your agent is always ready. A basic DigitalOcean server costs about $6/month — that's all you need to start.

Why Telegram? Because it's the easiest way to reach a server-hosted agent. You don't need a website, a domain, or any port setup. Telegram talks to your bot directly, and you talk to it from any phone.

What you'll do (the big picture)

The whole thing takes about 20 minutes. Here are the six steps:

1. Create a server on DigitalOcean (Ubuntu).
2. Log in and install Node.js and OpenClaw.
3. Create a Telegram bot with @BotFather and copy its token.
4. Run the setup wizard — add your AI key, pick Telegram, paste the token.
5. Approve the pairing and test it by messaging your bot.
6. Turn on 24/7 mode so it keeps running after you log out.

That's it. The full commands are in SETUP-GUIDE.md, and a quick command cheat-sheet is in COMMANDS.md.

What you'll need before you start

• A DigitalOcean account (or any VPS provider — Hetzner, Fluence, etc.)
• An LLM API key — from Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI. Claude is the most popular in the OpenClaw community.
• A Telegram account on your phone.
• About $6/month for the smallest server, and 20 minutes.

The setup, step by step

1. Create the server

In DigitalOcean, create a new Droplet:

• Image: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• Size: Basic — 1 GB RAM is enough to start (2 GB is smoother)
• Add your SSH key (or a password), then create it and note the IP address.

Tip: DigitalOcean even has a 1-Click OpenClaw image in its Marketplace that skips most of the install — but doing it by hand once teaches you how it works.

2. Log in and install

Connect to your server and install everything:

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

apt update && apt upgrade -y

# Install Node.js (OpenClaw needs Node 22 or newer)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | bash -
apt install -y nodejs

# Install OpenClaw
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

Then create a normal (non-root) user to run it safely:

adduser openclaw
usermod -aG sudo openclaw
loginctl enable-linger openclaw
su - openclaw
openclaw --version

3. Create your Telegram bot

On your phone, open Telegram and message @BotFather:

1. Send /newbot
2. Give it a name and a username (must end in bot)
3. BotFather sends you a token that looks like 123456789:ABCdef... — copy it.

4. Run the setup wizard

Back on the server, start onboarding:

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

The wizard will ask you a few things:

• Pick QuickStart mode.
• Paste your LLM API key (Claude or OpenAI) and pick a model.
• Choose Telegram as your channel.
• Paste the bot token from BotFather.
• Skip the optional extras (web search, skills) for now.

The --install-daemon part sets it up to run automatically in the background.

5. Approve and test

Approve the Telegram connection, then message your bot:

openclaw pairing approve telegram --notify

Now open your bot in Telegram, send /start, then say hi. If it replies — you're done. You have a live AI agent.

6. Keep it running 24/7

Make sure it survives reboots and logouts:

sudo loginctl enable-linger $USER
openclaw status

If your server has only 1 GB of RAM, add a little swap space so it never runs out of memory (see SETUP-GUIDE.md).

Handy checks

• openclaw status — is it running?
• openclaw gateway status — is the gateway healthy?
• openclaw logs --follow — watch live logs if something's off

More fixes are in TROUBLESHOOTING.md.

That's it

You now have your own AI agent, running 24/7 on a $6 server, that you can message from Telegram anytime. Bring your own AI key, and it's yours to shape.

Grab the guides below and follow along. If you'd rather have this set up for you — or want a custom agent built for your business — that's exactly what we do.