OpenClaw’s flexibility shines when paired with popular messaging platforms. This guide walks you through installing OpenClaw, configuring the WhatsApp bridge, and creating a simple automation.

Prerequisites

  • macOS, Linux, or Windows machine with Node.js installed
  • OpenClaw installed (see the official docs)
  • A WhatsApp Business API account or a personal phone with the Twilio sandbox

Installation

1. Clone the OpenClaw repo and install dependencies: `` git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git cd openclaw npm install ` 2. Run the setup script to initialize your config: ` node scripts/setup.js ``

Connecting WhatsApp

OpenClaw includes a whatsapp skill that forwards messages. Configure whatsapp.json with your API credentials, then enable the skill via the dashboard.

json
{
  "accountSid": "ACxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "authToken": "your_auth_token",
  "fromNumber": "whatsapp:+14155238886"
}

Sample Automation

Create a simple skill that echoes incoming messages back to the sender:

javascript
module.exports = async function(context) {
  const msg = context.message;
  await context.sendMessage(msg.from, `You said: ${msg.body}`);
};

Bottom Line

Integrating WhatsApp expands OpenClaw’s reach, enabling automated customer support, notifications, and more. With the steps above, you can have a functional setup in under an hour.

Sources

> From The Wire