ClawDen

Developer experience layer for the xxxclaw ecosystem. Install any claw runtime in one command, run it through one CLI, and manage updates without hand-rolling runtime-specific setup.

ClawDen combines three roles:

• UX Shell: one CLI and dashboard experience across runtimes
• Runtime Manager: install, pin, and update runtime versions
• SDK Platform: build cross-runtime skills with @clawden/sdk

Quick start

Guided onboarding

1. Initialize a project with the setup wizard:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- init
2. For CI or scripts, use non-interactive mode:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- init --yes --runtime zeroclaw
3. Use a starter template when needed:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- init --template telegram-bot --yes
4. Validate local setup before startup:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- doctor
5. Start runtimes:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- up

Transparent run model (uv run style)

clawden run forwards everything after the runtime name directly to that runtime:

• cargo run -p clawden-cli -- run zeroclaw --verbose --model gpt-4
• cargo run -p clawden-cli -- run --channel telegram zeroclaw --verbose

Rules:

• ClawDen flags go before runtime name: --channel, --with, --provider, --model, --allowed-users, -d
• Runtime flags go after runtime name and are passed through verbatim
• clawden run zeroclaw --help shows runtime help output (passthrough)
• Docker-specific execution uses clawden docker run (for -p/--port, --rm, --restart, --network, --volume, --image)

Docker runtime image

ClawDen Docker images are runtime-specific — pick the one you need:

• OpenClaw: docker run -e OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-... ghcr.io/codervisor/openclaw:latest
• ZeroClaw: docker run -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-... ghcr.io/codervisor/zeroclaw:latest
• Via CLI: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- docker run openclaw

Preferred immutable tags come from the pinned runtime versions in docker/Dockerfile, for example ghcr.io/codervisor/openclaw:2026.3.7 and ghcr.io/codervisor/zeroclaw:0.1.7-browser.

Moving aliases remain available per runtime repository: :latest, :browser, and :computer.

Docker Compose (in docker/):

cp docker/.env.example docker/.env  # add provider keys and optional channel tokens
cd docker && docker compose up openclaw

To enable full config translation, channel token mapping, and allowed-users in Docker, set CLAWDEN_USE_CLI=1:

# CLI-managed Docker mode (validates credentials, maps tokens, applies allowlists)
CLAWDEN_USE_CLI=1 CLAWDEN_CHANNELS=telegram CLAWDEN_ALLOWED_USERS=123456789 \
  docker compose up zeroclaw

Without CLAWDEN_USE_CLI=1, the container launches the runtime binary directly (the default for simplicity).

Config translation pipeline

Use one clawden.yaml; ClawDen translates it to runtime-native config automatically at run/start time.

• Config-dir runtimes (zeroclaw, picoclaw, nullclaw, openfang): generated under ~/.clawden/configs/<project_hash>/<runtime>/
• Env-only runtimes (openclaw, nanoclaw): injected via CLAWDEN_* and runtime-specific environment variables

Validation happens before execution so missing provider keys or channel credentials fail with actionable errors.

Provider key management: - List configured providers: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- providers - Test provider credentials: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- providers test - Store a key in local encrypted vault: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- providers set-key openai

Choose your path

• Hobbyist or student: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- run zeroclaw
• Solo developer: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- install openclaw then cargo run -p clawden-cli -- run --channel telegram --token $TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN --allowed-users 123456789 openclaw
• Skill author: use sdk/ and build with pnpm --filter @clawden/sdk build
• Team workflow: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- up and cargo run -p clawden-cli -- dashboard

Rust backend and CLI

• Build: cargo build
• Test: cargo test
• Run server: cargo run -p clawden-server
• Run CLI: cargo run -p clawden-cli -- --help

Direct install quickstart (no Docker)

1. Install one runtime:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- install zeroclaw
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- install openclaw
2. Verify local prerequisites and installed runtimes:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- doctor
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- install --list
3. Run directly on host:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- run zeroclaw
4. Manage runtime processes:
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- up
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- ps
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- logs zeroclaw --lines 50
   • cargo run -p clawden-cli -- stop

Notes:

• Direct installs are stored under ~/.clawden/runtimes/.
• Use mode: direct in clawden.yaml to force direct mode for clawden up.
• Use cargo run -p clawden-cli -- docker run ... or cargo run -p clawden-cli -- docker up to force Docker mode explicitly.
• To enable health checks in clawden ps, set runtime-specific health env vars such as CLAWDEN_HEALTH_PORT_ZEROCLAW=8080 (or CLAWDEN_HEALTH_URL_ZEROCLAW=http://127.0.0.1:8080/health).

Dashboard and SDK

• Install deps: pnpm install
• Dashboard dev: pnpm --filter @clawden/dashboard dev
• Dashboard test: pnpm --filter @clawden/dashboard test
• SDK build: pnpm --filter @clawden/sdk build
• SDK test: pnpm --filter @clawden/sdk test