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Openclaw Wiki Docs

Mac Mini M4 Setup

Gateway on macOS (Mac Mini M4)

Section titled “Gateway on macOS (Mac Mini M4)”

OpenClaw is optimized for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4). Running on a dedicated Mac Mini is the recommended setup for a 24/7 personal assistant.

Hardware Requirements

Section titled “Hardware Requirements”

Install the CLI (required)

Section titled “Install the CLI (required)”

You need Node 22+ on the Mac, then install openclaw globally:

  1. Install Node.js Ensure you have Node.js 22 or higher installed.

  2. Install OpenClaw CLI

    Terminal window
    npm install -g openclaw@latest

Launchd (Gateway as LaunchAgent)

Section titled “Launchd (Gateway as LaunchAgent)”

The best way to keep OpenClaw running is using launchd. The CLI can set this up for you automatically during onboarding.

Terminal window
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

This will:

  1. Create a bot.molt.gateway.plist in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/.
  2. Load the service immediately.
  3. Ensure it restarts automatically on reboot.

Logging

Section titled “Logging”

If you need to check logs:

  • launchd stdout/err: /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-gateway.log

Smoke check

Section titled “Smoke check”

Verify your installation:

Terminal window
openclaw --version


# Test gateway health (if running)
openclaw gateway call health --url ws://127.0.0.1:18789 --timeout 3000