Mac Setup March 9, 2026 · 5 min read

OpenClaw Mac Setup in 5 Minutes
(No Wizard, No Pairing Codes)

The official OpenClaw setup involves a multi-step wizard, pairing codes, a second terminal tab, and at least one moment where you're not sure if it worked. We rebuilt the whole flow. Here's how to go from nothing to a working bot on your Mac in about 5 minutes — tested, no surprises.

Platform status

Mac — fully tested ✅ | Linux Beta | Windows WSL Beta

Before you start: what you need

Two things. That's it.

Thing 1

An OpenRouter API key

This is the AI brain. OpenRouter gives you access to Claude, GPT-4, and others through one API. Free to start.

→ Go to openrouter.ai/keys → Create Key → Copy it

Thing 2

A Telegram bot token

This is how you talk to your bot. Open Telegram, message @BotFather, send /newbot, follow the prompts, copy the token it gives you.

Looks like: 8700194773:AAHzSpG5-oQZ0hpwvrBLf6pkUhSyEJqW8K4

The install

One command. It'll ask for your two keys in the terminal — type them there (they never touch any website). Everything else is automatic.

Step 1

Open Terminal and run this

Terminal.app

curl -fsSL https://mechanicbot.io/onboard-mac.sh \
  -o ~/mechanic-setup.sh && bash ~/mechanic-setup.sh \
  --token "YOUR_TOKEN"

Replace YOUR_TOKEN with your Mechanic signup token. Don't have one? Get started here.

What it asks for

Your OpenRouter API key, then your Telegram bot token. Type them directly — nothing is sent to any server except OpenClaw itself.

Step 2

Wait ~2 minutes

The script handles everything in order:

✓ Validates your signup token

✓ Installs Node.js 22 if needed

✓ Installs OpenClaw and sets gateway.mode (the step everyone misses)

✓ Writes the config with the correct internal key paths

✓ Connects Telegram — no pairing code needed

✓ Copies a pre-built workspace (folder structure, SOPs, first conversation guide)

✓ Installs the Mechanic watchdog (auto-restart if gateway dies)

Step 3

Message your bot on Telegram

When the install finishes it opens the TUI automatically. Open Telegram and send your bot a message. It should respond within a few seconds.

Your bot will introduce itself and walk you through first-time setup — what it can do, how to train it on your business, and what to set up first.

If something goes wrong

The most common issues after install:

Bot not responding? Open a new terminal tab and run openclaw gateway status. If it shows stopped, run openclaw gateway restart.

Wrong model? Run openclaw config set agents.defaults.model openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6 then restart the gateway.

Anything else? Run the rescue command:

Terminal

curl -fsSL https://mechanicbot.io/rescue.sh | bash

Get Mechanic Bot with your install.

Every install includes Mechanic monitoring — your bot is watched every 5 minutes and auto-repaired if it goes down. From $19/mo.

Get started →