Why you should give it a try (and the prerequisites)
OpenClaw will create a genuine software "robot" on your computer, capable of automating your most thankless tasks. The magic upside: you can give it orders remotely via WhatsApp or Discord!
What you need: An ordinary computer (Windows 10/11 or Mac). You don't need any programming knowledge. The installation script will download and configure everything for you in the background, effortlessly.
Step 1: The magic download
To install the agent securely, we won't download a conventional file, but instead use your computer's built-in tool:
Windows 💻
- Open the Start menu, type PowerShell and open the app.
- Copy and paste the magic command below, then press "Enter":
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\install.ps1" ; &"$env:TEMP\install.ps1"
Mac 🍎
- Open the Terminal app (use the magnifying glass in the top right of the screen to find it).
- Copy and paste this command, then press "Enter":
curl -sSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
Step 2: Connecting your "AI Brain"
Once the installation is complete (the terminal will scroll through a lot of text, which is perfectly normal), a nice web page will open by itself on your computer. That's OpenClaw's secure dashboard!
The agent has no "brain" of its own. It will therefore ask you for an API Key. This is simply a password that you generate for free on the website of the artificial intelligence you want to use.
🌟 A practical aside: Generating a key with DeepSeek
Since we talked about DeepSeek V4 very recently in another article (and since it's extremely powerful while also being very affordable), here's how to get your key from them in just 2 minutes:
- Go to the official developer page: platform.deepseek.com/api_keys
- Simply create an account if you don't already have one.
- In the menu on your left, click on the "API keys" section.
- Click the big "Create new API key" button, and name it "OpenClaw" so you remember it in future.
- ⚠️ Warning: The site will show you a very long password (your famous key). Copy it immediately and paste it into your OpenClaw application's dashboard. For security reasons, DeepSeek will never show you this key a second time, so don't lose it during the copy-paste!