How to set up OpenClaw AI assistant with Meshnet

Learn how to configure a personal AI assistant using OpenClaw and remotely access it over Meshnet.

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant progress in recent years, with AI agents increasingly integrated into our daily lives. These agents automate tasks, manage communications, and execute complex tasks, making workflows more efficient. As AI technology advances, people are relying more heavily on AI agents to boost productivity.

OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant that enables users to automate digital tasks and interact with various applications. With its ability to run on most machines, remember context, and autonomously handle real tasks via different messaging channels, OpenClaw offers a unique solution for people looking to maximize AI power.

With OpenClaw and Meshnet combined, you can access and control your instance remotely, no matter where you are. Meshnet creates a virtual network that connects devices worldwide, mimicking a local area network (LAN). The use of the NordLynx protocol in Meshnet ensures that the communication between devices matches the security standards of a VPN connection.

This article demonstrates how you can set up your OpenClaw instance and use it over Meshnet.

Before you begin

If you’re using a Linux device, you can proceed directly to the next section.

As for Windows devices, it is highly recommended to install OpenClaw using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). WSL installs a light-weight version of a chosen Linux distribution. This approach ensures that the packages required for running OpenClaw can be installed and managed as the creator intended.

Install WSL

To install WSL on your Windows machine:

1. Open PowerShell as an administrator.

   

2. Run the command below to install the recommended version of Ubuntu via WSL.

   wsl.exe --install

3. Wait until the installation process is finished.

4. When requested, create the username and password for your Ubuntu user account.

5. Fetch and install all available updates for your system by running the following command:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

   If required, enter the Ubuntu account password you just created and press Enter.

Your WSL2 instance is now installed and ready for use. To access it, launch Ubuntu from your Windows start menu.

All further instructions should be performed inside the WSL terminal.

Note

When installing WSL for the first time, you may be required to restart your computer.

Configure the OpenClaw AI assistant

The most convenient way to begin with OpenClaw is to use its installation script. It installs software required to run OpenClaw and guides you through the onboarding procedure.

Install OpenClaw

In Terminal, run the following command to download and run the OpenClaw installation script.

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

The script will check your system and install all of the prerequisites needed to run OpenClaw.

Begin OpenClaw onboarding

Once the installation process successfully finishes, it will begin the OpenClaw onboarding procedure.

1. Read through the security warning, choose the Yes option using the arrow keys, and press Enter.

2. Select the QuickStart onboarding mode.

   

Choose OpenClaw settings

1. Pick your preferred AI provider, authenticate using one of the available methods, and select the default AI model your assistant will use.

2. Under Select channel (QuickStart) choose Skip for now.

   

3. Choose whether you want to install any assistant skills right now. Otherwise, select No.

4. Enter any of the shown API key options or choose No.

5. Under Enable hooks? select Skip for now. This is an advanced feature that can be configured later.

6. Lastly, choose Do this later and pick Yes to install the shell completion script.

7. Update your path environment variable to accommodate OpenClaw with this command:

   export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH" && source ~/.bashrc

The onboarding process is now finished.

Allow local and Meshnet connections

By default, OpenClaw is bound to the loopback network interface, meaning that it accepts connections only from the device on which it is installed. You will need to modify the OpenClaw configuration file to permit incoming connections from the local network and via Meshnet.

1. Run the following command to open the OpenClaw configuration file using the Nano text editor:

   nano ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

2. Locate the "bind" field and change its value from "loopback" to "lan" as shown:

   "bind": "lan",

3. Enable remote HTTP-only connections, which will be used for Meshnet access, by adding the following block to the file, under the "bind": "lan", line:

       "controlUi": {
         "enabled": true,
         "allowInsecureAuth": true
       },

   The modified area of the file should look as such:

   

4. Press Ctrl + X, Y, and Enter to save changes and exit.

5. Restart the OpenClaw gateway to apply the changes with the command below:

   openclaw gateway restart

If the changes to the configuration file were done correctly, the OpenClaw gateway should restart successfully and your AI assistant will be able to accept connections from the LAN and over Meshnet.

Set up Meshnet

With the configuration changes applied, you can start setting up Meshnet.

Install NordVPN

Follow these steps to install NordVPN on your device:

1. Download and install the NordVPN Linux client by running the command below.

   sh <(wget -qO - https://downloads.nordcdn.com/apps/linux/install.sh)

2. Log in to your NordVPN account.

Log in to NordVPN

You can log in to your NordVPN account without the use of a graphical user interface (GUI) in two ways:

• By running the nordvpn login command with the --token flag

• By running the nordvpn login command with the --callback flag

Instructions for both methods are outlined below.

Log in using a token

1. On any device, log in to your Nord Account dashboard and select the Meshnet (by NordVPN) card.

   

2. Under Advanced settings, select Get access token.

   

3. Enter the verification code sent to your email address.

4. Under Access token, click Generate new token.

   

5. In the dialog that appears, choose either a token that expires in 30 days or one that never expires, and then select Generate token.

   

6. Select Copy and close.

7. In your Proxmox shell, run the nordvpn login --token <your_token> command, replacing <your_token> with the copied token. Example

   nordvpn login --token 3fe460cefb8dcf1478c92e45903cec9f9bdbadf7a456a6dfb35dc2c58ee39d5b

You should now see a welcome message.

Log in using a URL

1. Run the nordvpn login command.

2. Open the provided link in your browser on any device.

3. Complete the login procedure.

4. Right-click the Continue button and select Copy link address.

5. Run the nordvpn login --callback "<URL>" command, replacing <URL> with the previously copied link address. Example

   nordvpn login --callback "nordvpn://login?action=login&exchange_token=MGFlY2E1NmE4YjM2NDM4NjUzN2VjOWIzYWM3ZTU3ZDliNDdiNzRjZTMwMjE5YjkzZTNhNTI3ZWZlOTIwMGJlOQ%3D%3D&status=done"

You should now see a welcome message.

Tip

To preserve your token when logging out of the NordVPN app, use the nordvpn logout --persist-token command. Otherwise, your token will be revoked.

Enable Meshnet

Upon logging in, enable Meshnet with this command:

nordvpn set meshnet on

To view the Nord name and Meshnet IP address of your instance, enter the following command:

nordvpn meshnet peer list

Access OpenClaw over Meshnet

With Meshnet and OpenClaw setups finalized, you can connect to your OpenClaw instance using Meshnet.

1. Copy the Nord name or the Meshnet IP address of OpenClaw machine from the NordVPN application.

2. Open your internet browser.

3. In the URL bar, paste the copied Nord name or Meshnet IP address followed by :18789/ and press Enter. Example secret.meerkat-fuji.nord:18789/

Once the page loads, you will be greeted with an error message. This is expected, as OpenClaw requires authentication before granting access to the dashboard.

Get the authentication token

The default authentication method for OpenClaw is using a token. The token must be fetched from the device on which OpenClaw is installed. You can choose from two different methods to get it.

Method 1: using OpenClaw CLI

1. Run the following command to display the OpenClaw dashboard details:

   openclaw dashboard --no-open

2. The Dashboard URL address contains the login token for your OpenClaw dashboard. Copy all of the symbols following the ?token= part of the URL to your clipboard.

   

Method 2: using jq tool

Authenticate the OpenClaw dashboard

1. Open your OpenClaw gateway dashboard.

2. From the menu on the left, select Overview.

3. Under Gateway access, locate the Gateway token field.

4. Paste in the authentication token copied earlier and click Connect.

   

You should see the Status on the right change to “Connected”.

Chat to your AI assistant

Lastly, you can finalize setting up your OpenClaw AI assistant and begin chatting with it.

1. In the OpenClaw dashboard, from the menu on the left, select Chat.

2. Send any message to prompt the setup procedure.

3. Answer the questions provided by the AI agent to configure its properties.

That’s it. Your personal OpenClaw AI assistant is now ready to be used over a secure Meshnet connection from anywhere in the world. You can further improve it by setting up any of the various integrations available for OpenClaw.