Docker (optional)

Docker is optional. Use it only if you want a containerized gateway or to validate the Docker flow.

Is Docker right for me?

Yes: you want an isolated, throwaway gateway environment or to run OpenClaw on a host without local installs.
No: you are running on your own machine and just want the fastest dev loop. Use the normal install flow instead.
Sandboxing note: agent sandboxing uses Docker too, but it does not require the full gateway to run in Docker. See Sandboxing.

Prerequisites

Docker Desktop (or Docker Engine) + Docker Compose v2
At least 2 GB RAM for image build (pnpm install may be OOM-killed on 1 GB hosts with exit 137)
Enough disk for images and logs
If running on a VPS/public host, review Security hardening for network exposure, especially Docker DOCKER-USER firewall policy.

Containerized Gateway

Build the image

From the repo root, run the setup script:

./scripts/docker/setup.sh

This builds the gateway image locally. To use a pre-built image instead:

export OPENCLAW_IMAGE="ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:latest"
./scripts/docker/setup.sh

Pre-built images are published at the GitHub Container Registry. Common tags: main, latest, <version> (e.g. 2026.2.26).

Complete onboarding

The setup script runs onboarding automatically. It will:

prompt for provider API keys
generate a gateway token and write it to .env
start the gateway via Docker Compose

Open the Control UI

Open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ in your browser and paste the token into Settings.Need the URL again?

docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli dashboard --no-open

Configure channels (optional)

Use the CLI container to add messaging channels:

# WhatsApp (QR)
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli channels login

# Telegram
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli channels add --channel telegram --token "<token>"

# Discord
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli channels add --channel discord --token "<token>"

Docs: WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord

Manual flow

If you prefer to run each step yourself instead of using the setup script:

docker build -t openclaw:local -f Dockerfile .
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli onboard
docker compose up -d openclaw-gateway

Run docker compose from the repo root. If you enabled OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS or OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME, the setup script writes docker-compose.extra.yml; include it with -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.extra.yml.

Environment variables

The setup script accepts these optional environment variables:

Variable	Purpose
`OPENCLAW_IMAGE`	Use a remote image instead of building locally
`OPENCLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES`	Install extra apt packages during build (space-separated)
`OPENCLAW_EXTENSIONS`	Pre-install extension deps at build time (space-separated names)
`OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS`	Extra host bind mounts (comma-separated `source:target[:opts]`)
`OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME`	Persist `/home/node` in a named Docker volume
`OPENCLAW_SANDBOX`	Opt in to sandbox bootstrap (`1`, `true`, `yes`, `on`)
`OPENCLAW_DOCKER_SOCKET`	Override Docker socket path

Health checks

Container probe endpoints (no auth required):

curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18789/healthz   # liveness
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18789/readyz     # readiness

The Docker image includes a built-in HEALTHCHECK that pings /healthz. If checks keep failing, Docker marks the container as unhealthy and orchestration systems can restart or replace it. Authenticated deep health snapshot:

docker compose exec openclaw-gateway node dist/index.js health --token "$OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN"

LAN vs loopback

scripts/docker/setup.sh defaults OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_BIND=lan so host access to http://127.0.0.1:18789 works with Docker port publishing.

lan (default): host browser and host CLI can reach the published gateway port.
loopback: only processes inside the container network namespace can reach the gateway directly.

Use bind mode values in gateway.bind (lan / loopback / custom / tailnet / auto), not host aliases like 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1.

Storage and persistence

Docker Compose bind-mounts OPENCLAW_CONFIG_DIR to /home/node/.openclaw and OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR to /home/node/.openclaw/workspace, so those paths survive container replacement. For full persistence details on VM deployments, see Docker VM Runtime - What persists where. Disk growth hotspots: watch media/, session JSONL files, cron/runs/*.jsonl, and rolling file logs under /tmp/openclaw/.

Shell helpers (optional)

For easier day-to-day Docker management, install ClawDock:

mkdir -p ~/.clawdock && curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openclaw/openclaw/main/scripts/shell-helpers/clawdock-helpers.sh -o ~/.clawdock/clawdock-helpers.sh
echo 'source ~/.clawdock/clawdock-helpers.sh' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc

Then use clawdock-start, clawdock-stop, clawdock-dashboard, etc. Run clawdock-help for all commands. See the ClawDock Helper README.

Enable agent sandbox for Docker gateway

export OPENCLAW_SANDBOX=1
./scripts/docker/setup.sh

Custom socket path (e.g. rootless Docker):

export OPENCLAW_SANDBOX=1
export OPENCLAW_DOCKER_SOCKET=/run/user/1000/docker.sock
./scripts/docker/setup.sh

The script mounts docker.sock only after sandbox prerequisites pass. If sandbox setup cannot complete, the script resets agents.defaults.sandbox.mode to off.

Automation / CI (non-interactive)

Disable Compose pseudo-TTY allocation with -T:

docker compose run -T --rm openclaw-cli gateway probe
docker compose run -T --rm openclaw-cli devices list --json

Shared-network security note

openclaw-cli uses network_mode: "service:openclaw-gateway" so CLI commands can reach the gateway over 127.0.0.1. Treat this as a shared trust boundary. The compose config drops NET_RAW/NET_ADMIN and enables no-new-privileges on openclaw-cli.

Permissions and EACCES

The image runs as node (uid 1000). If you see permission errors on /home/node/.openclaw, make sure your host bind mounts are owned by uid 1000:

sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /path/to/openclaw-config /path/to/openclaw-workspace

Faster rebuilds

Order your Dockerfile so dependency layers are cached. This avoids re-running pnpm install unless lockfiles change:

FROM node:24-bookworm
RUN curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
ENV PATH="/root/.bun/bin:${PATH}"
RUN corepack enable
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml pnpm-workspace.yaml .npmrc ./
COPY ui/package.json ./ui/package.json
COPY scripts ./scripts
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
COPY . .
RUN pnpm build
RUN pnpm ui:install
RUN pnpm ui:build
ENV NODE_ENV=production
CMD ["node","dist/index.js"]

Power-user container options

The default image is security-first and runs as non-root node. For a more full-featured container:

Persist /home/node: export OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME="openclaw_home"
Bake system deps: export OPENCLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES="git curl jq"

Install Playwright browsers:

docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli \
  node /app/node_modules/playwright-core/cli.js install chromium

Persist browser downloads: set PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/home/node/.cache/ms-playwright and use OPENCLAW_HOME_VOLUME or OPENCLAW_EXTRA_MOUNTS.

OpenAI Codex OAuth (headless Docker)

If you pick OpenAI Codex OAuth in the wizard, it opens a browser URL. In Docker or headless setups, copy the full redirect URL you land on and paste it back into the wizard to finish auth.

Base image metadata

The main Docker image uses node:24-bookworm and publishes OCI base-image annotations including org.opencontainers.image.base.name, org.opencontainers.image.source, and others. See OCI image annotations.

Running on a VPS?

See Hetzner (Docker VPS) and Docker VM Runtime for shared VM deployment steps including binary baking, persistence, and updates.

Agent Sandbox

When agents.defaults.sandbox is enabled, the gateway runs agent tool execution (shell, file read/write, etc.) inside isolated Docker containers while the gateway itself stays on the host. This gives you a hard wall around untrusted or multi-tenant agent sessions without containerizing the entire gateway. Sandbox scope can be per-agent (default), per-session, or shared. Each scope gets its own workspace mounted at /workspace. You can also configure allow/deny tool policies, network isolation, resource limits, and browser containers. For full configuration, images, security notes, and multi-agent profiles, see:

Sandboxing — complete sandbox reference
OpenShell — interactive shell access to sandbox containers
Multi-Agent Sandbox and Tools — per-agent overrides

Quick enable

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      sandbox: {
        mode: "non-main", // off | non-main | all
        scope: "agent", // session | agent | shared
      },
    },
  },
}

Build the default sandbox image:

scripts/sandbox-setup.sh

Troubleshooting

Image missing or sandbox container not starting

Build the sandbox image with scripts/sandbox-setup.sh or set agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.image to your custom image. Containers are auto-created per session on demand.

Permission errors in sandbox

Set docker.user to a UID:GID that matches your mounted workspace ownership, or chown the workspace folder.

Custom tools not found in sandbox

OpenClaw runs commands with sh -lc (login shell), which sources /etc/profile and may reset PATH. Set docker.env.PATH to prepend your custom tool paths, or add a script under /etc/profile.d/ in your Dockerfile.

OOM-killed during image build (exit 137)

The VM needs at least 2 GB RAM. Use a larger machine class and retry.

Unauthorized or pairing required in Control UI

Fetch a fresh dashboard link and approve the browser device:

docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli dashboard --no-open
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli devices list
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli devices approve <requestId>

More detail: Dashboard, Devices.

Gateway target shows ws://172.x.x.x or pairing errors from Docker CLI

Reset gateway mode and bind:

docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli config set gateway.mode local
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli config set gateway.bind lan
docker compose run --rm openclaw-cli devices list --url ws://127.0.0.1:18789

Install overview

Containers

Hosting

Maintenance

Docker

Docker (optional)

Is Docker right for me?

Prerequisites

Containerized Gateway

Manual flow

Environment variables

Health checks

LAN vs loopback

Storage and persistence

Shell helpers (optional)

Running on a VPS?

Agent Sandbox

Quick enable

Troubleshooting

​Docker (optional)

​Is Docker right for me?

​Prerequisites

​Containerized Gateway

​Manual flow

​Environment variables

​Health checks

​LAN vs loopback

​Storage and persistence

​Shell helpers (optional)

​Running on a VPS?

​Agent Sandbox

​Quick enable

​Troubleshooting

Docker (optional)

Is Docker right for me?

Prerequisites

Containerized Gateway

Manual flow

Environment variables

Health checks

LAN vs loopback

Storage and persistence

Shell helpers (optional)

Running on a VPS?

Agent Sandbox

Quick enable

Troubleshooting