So you've installed OpenClaw — now what? This guide covers everything you need to know to get the most out of your personal AI assistant, from basic chat to advanced multi-step workflows.
Your First Conversation
Once OpenClaw is running and connected to Telegram, simply open your bot and send a message. OpenClaw uses Claude under the hood, so you get the same world-class reasoning, but in a convenient chat format:
- Ask questions and get detailed answers
- Request summaries of articles or documents
- Brainstorm ideas and get structured suggestions
- Draft emails, messages, and documents
Working with Files
OpenClaw can read and create files on your server. Send a document to the bot on Telegram, and it'll be saved to the workspace. You can then ask the bot to:
- Summarize a PDF or document
- Extract data from spreadsheets
- Create new files based on templates
- Organize your documents into folders
Setting Up Channels
OpenClaw supports multiple messaging channels simultaneously:
- Telegram — the primary and most full-featured channel
- WhatsApp — via WhatsApp Business API
- Slack — great for team use
- Discord — ideal for community management
Each channel is configured in config.json under the channels section.
Customizing Personality
The system_prompt in your configuration controls how your bot behaves. Here are some examples:
// Professional assistant
"You are a professional executive assistant. Be concise, proactive, and organized."
// Creative writer
"You are a creative writing partner. Be imaginative, suggest bold ideas, and use vivid language."
// Technical advisor
"You are a senior software engineer. Give precise technical advice with code examples."Using Skills
Skills are plugins that extend OpenClaw's capabilities. Popular skills include:
- Web Search — search the internet in real-time
- Calendar — manage Google Calendar events
- Email — read and draft emails
- Code Execution — run Python and JavaScript code
- Image Generation — create images from text descriptions
Install skills from ClawdHub: openclaw skill install web-search
Multi-Step Workflows
OpenClaw excels at chaining multiple actions together. For example:
"Research the top 5 project management tools, compare their pricing, and create a summary document with a recommendation for a 10-person team."
The bot will search the web, analyze pricing pages, compare features, and create a structured report — all from a single message.
Tips for Power Users
- Be specific — the more context you give, the better the results
- Use follow-ups — OpenClaw remembers conversation context
- Set daily tasks — schedule recurring actions like morning briefings
- Pin important messages — the bot can reference pinned messages for ongoing projects
Skip the Setup
Don't want to manage servers and configurations? Clawby gives you a fully managed OpenClaw instance with all skills pre-configured. One click to deploy, zero maintenance.