Discover ClawdBot, the viral open-source personal AI agent with 20.8K GitHub stars. Learn setup, features, use cases, and how to supercharge it with BrowserAct..

In the past few days, a personal AI assistant called ClawdBot has been sweeping through Silicon Valley, dominating conversations across social media platforms. After testing it out, users have been giving it exceptionally high praise.

"It's the greatest AI application to date—essentially your own 24/7 AI employee," raves Alex Finn, founder and CEO of Creator Buddy. "This is exactly what Anthropic wanted Claude Cowork to be."

The ClawdBot project is now open-source and has already racked up an impressive 20.8K stars on GitHub: github.com/clawdbot/clawdbot

What Makes ClawdBot Different from Every Other AI Chatbot

ClawdBot isn't your typical question-and-answer chatbot. At its core, it's a continuously running personal AI agent that can execute tasks autonomously.

You can install it on your own device—Mac, Windows, or Linux—and it stays online 24/7, constantly receiving instructions, processing tasks, remembering your preferences and conversation history. Over time, it becomes smarter about you and develops genuine "memory."

The Three Most Impressive Features

1. Full Computer Control

ClawdBot doesn't have traditional "guardrails" limiting it to specific functions. Instead, it can operate like a real person sitting at your computer, controlling virtually everything on your system.

2. Near-Infinite Long-Term Memory

ClawdBot features a sophisticated memory system. Everything you discuss and every task it performs gets recorded. After each conversation, it automatically summarizes the content and extracts key information into long-term memory storage.

3. Chat-Based Interface Across All Your Apps

Whatever messaging apps you already use, ClawdBot can communicate through them. Currently supported platforms include:

• Slack
• Discord
• Telegram
• Microsoft Teams
• Signal
• iMessage
• Google Chat
• WebChat
• Matrix

Real-World Use Cases That Will Blow Your Mind

Alex Finn demonstrated sending his ClawdBot a message to book a reservation at a restaurant for the following Saturday. When the online booking failed, ClawdBot used ElevenLabs' voice technology to actually call the restaurant and complete the reservation.

What People Are Actually Using ClawdBot For

The Story Behind ClawdBot: From Retirement to Viral Sensation

The project's creator, Peter Steinberger, recently appeared on "Open Source Friday" to share the story of how he single-handedly built ClawdBot—from concept to creation to maintenance.

Interestingly, there were rumors that Peter might be a bot, an agent, or even AI himself. His appearance confirmed to followers that he's very much human.

Peter's Background

Peter had technically "retired" after running a B2B company for thirteen years. The company built what became the world's leading PDF framework, growing to about 70 employees at its peak. After receiving an acquisition offer he couldn't refuse, Peter stepped back—but not for long.

"I'm the type of person who loves creating and building things. I knew I'd be back eventually."

When AI suddenly went from "this doesn't really work" to "wait, this is actually interesting" last year, Peter dove back in and has been pulling countless others into the AI rabbit hole ever since.

The "Soul" File: ClawdBot's Secret Sauce

Here's something fascinating: while ClawdBot is almost entirely open-source, Peter deliberately kept one thing closed—a file he calls the "soul".

This file represents only 0.00001% of the project but contains the agent's core values, synchronization methods, interaction patterns, and what matters most to the user.

"Part of the reason is that this is my 0.00001% 'secret asset.' The other part is that it serves as a penetration testing target. People are genuinely trying to hack it, and so far, no one has managed to extract the soul."

This gives Peter confidence that the latest generation of AI models have genuinely improved their prompt injection defenses.

How ClawdBot Actually Works: Technical Deep Dive

The Heartbeat Mechanism

Unlike typical agents that only respond when prompted, ClawdBot features a "heartbeat mechanism" that activates every 30 minutes to an hour (depending on the model). During each heartbeat, the agent asks itself:

• Is there anything I need to check?
• Are there any pending tasks that got missed?

If it finds something important, it can either remind you or stay silent based on your preferences. It can even greet you each morning or check in on how you're doing.

Multi-Agent Family Setup

One of the coolest features is the ability to set up multiple agents for different family members. These agents can communicate with each other and sync information—like shared to-do lists that automatically stay aligned across everyone's agents.

"I'd rather talk to your agent than talk to you directly," one Discord user joked—but there's real utility there.

Which AI Models Work Best with ClawdBot?

For budget-conscious users, MiniMax offers approximately $10/month for usage comparable to $100/month plans from other providers.

Security Considerations: The Elephant in the Room

⚠️ Important: ClawdBot's permissive design means it has almost no guardrails, which creates significant security concerns. There are currently 500+ security-related issues on GitHub.

Most experienced users recommend the following precautions:

• Don't install on your primary computer initially—use a separate environment until you're familiar with it
• Use strong models like Claude Opus that better resist prompt injection
• Consider sandbox mode to limit permissions
• Never run on a work computer

The Allow List Feature (Coming Soon)

Peter is actively developing an "allow list" mechanism where you can pre-define which operations are safe. For sensitive operations, the agent will prompt you to choose "allow once" or "allow permanently."

Getting Started: Your ClawdBot Setup Guide

Option 1: Use an Old Computer (Recommended)

The simplest approach is to repurpose an old Mac or PC you have lying around. Many people are buying Mac Minis specifically for this purpose—they're affordable, compatible, low-power, quiet, and compact.

Even Google DeepMind's product manager Logan Kilpatrick couldn't resist ordering a Mac Mini. One user even posted about buying 40 Mac Minis to run ClawdBot instances!

Option 2: Cloud VPS (Budget-Friendly)

You don't need to spend $600 on hardware. A simple VPS from providers like Hetzner or Fly.io works perfectly fine and costs just a few dollars per month.

Option 3: Hybrid Gateway Setup

For advanced users, you can run a "Gateway" service in the cloud and a node on your local machine, connected securely via Tailscale. This lets your cloud agent access Mac-specific features like Photos and iMessage.

Why PRs Have Become "Problem Statements"

What truly excites the tech community isn't just that ClawdBot "gets things done"—it's the radically different approach to collaboration.

Because ClawdBot was built 100% with AI (Peter hasn't written a single line of code himself), pull requests have transformed from "look at this beautiful code I wrote" to "I encountered this problem."

"I'm seeing PRs from people who have never learned to code and never submitted a PR before. Because this bot has full computer access and understands how GitHub works, anyone can contribute."

Peter views PRs more as "problem signals" or "intent expressions" rather than finished code submissions. The focus is on understanding what pain point someone is trying to solve, not whether their code is elegant.

Supercharge ClawdBot with BrowserAct for Advanced Automation

While ClawdBot excels at executing tasks and maintaining context, it can become even more powerful when combined with specialized tools for web automation and data extraction.

🚀 Pro Tip: BrowserAct is a browser automation and AI scraping platform that perfectly complements ClawdBot's capabilities.

Why Pair ClawdBot with BrowserAct?

Real Integration Example

Imagine telling your ClawdBot: "Monitor competitor pricing across these 50 e-commerce sites and alert me when anything changes by more than 10%."

ClawdBot handles the orchestration, scheduling, and alerting—while BrowserAct handles the heavy lifting of actually extracting that data reliably from websites with anti-bot protection, rotating through global IPs, and mimicking real user behavior to avoid detection.

The Future: "Vibe Orchestration" Has Arrived

As Alex Finn put it after 48 hours of continuous use:

"I've never written this much code in my life. Vibe Coding is dead. Vibe Orchestration has arrived."

He's now planning to upgrade from a Mac Mini to a $10,000 Mac Studio. His ClawdBot "Henry" will control what he calls an "AI supercomputer"—using Opus as the brain and multiple local models as an employee cluster.

Key Takeaways

• ClawdBot is a continuously running AI agent, not just a chatbot—it executes tasks autonomously 24/7
• 20.8K GitHub stars and rapidly growing community adoption
• Works across all major messaging platforms—Slack, Discord, Telegram, Teams, and more
• Built 100% with AI—enabling non-coders to contribute
• Start with a separate machine until you understand the security implications
• Claude Opus is the most reliable model; MiniMax 2.1 is the best budget option
• Pair with BrowserAct for advanced web automation and data extraction capabilities

Ready to Supercharge Your AI Agent?

Combine ClawdBot's powerful orchestration with BrowserAct's enterprise-grade web automation. No code required—bypass CAPTCHAs, access global IPs, and simulate real human browsing behavior.

Get Started with BrowserAct →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ClawdBot free to use?

Yes, ClawdBot is open-source under the MIT license. However, you'll need to pay for the AI model API calls (Claude, OpenAI, etc.) or run local models.

Can ClawdBot run on Windows?

Yes, though Mac support is more polished. The community is actively improving Windows compatibility.

Is it safe to give ClawdBot full computer access?

This is the biggest trade-off. Start in sandbox mode with limited permissions, and never use it on a work computer or with sensitive data until you fully understand its capabilities.

What's the minimum hardware requirement?

An old Mac or PC works fine. Alternatively, a $5-10/month VPS can run ClawdBot effectively.

How does ClawdBot integrate with web scraping tools?

ClawdBot can orchestrate tasks while tools like BrowserAct handle the actual data extraction, CAPTCHA bypassing, and anti-detection measures through their API.