Block IX · Agents that work on their own · Lesson 48
OpenClaw: your personal assistant on your phone
You'll set up an agent that answers on WhatsApp, Telegram and Discord, uses skills from ClawHub and controls the browser. And you'll learn to lock it down, because hundreds of malicious skills ended up circulating.
- 11 min
- 9 animated slides
- 4-question quiz
- Narrated in 6 languages
What you'll see in this lesson
- OpenClaw: your assistant, in the apps you already use
It's an open-source, MIT-licensed assistant that runs on your machine and answers you on WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and more.
- Installation and first run
An official installer and a wizard, openclaw onboard, leave the gateway running as a service.
- WhatsApp, Telegram and Discord
Each channel connects differently: a QR code for WhatsApp, a bot token for Telegram and Discord.
- Pairing: nobody gets in without your OK
If a stranger messages the assistant, they get a code and nothing is processed until you approve it.
- ClawHub skills: install wisely
ClawHub is OpenClaw's skill catalog; each skill expands what your assistant can do.
- The warning: hundreds of malicious skills
In February 2026, Koi Security reviewed 2,857 ClawHub skills and found 341 malicious ones, almost all from the ClawHavoc campaign.
- Browser control without needless risk
OpenClaw can open websites, click, type and take screenshots; by default it does so in an isolated browser.
- Lock it down: Tailscale and minimal permissions
Keep the gateway listening only on your machine, connect through a private network and give the agent only what it needs.
- Summary: OpenClaw, useful and safe
An assistant on your phone that works on your machine, with the door closed to strangers and dubious skills.
Tools and concepts
- OpenClaw
- ClawHub
- Tailscale
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