Self-host ɳClaw in 5 minutes

Install the ɳSelf CLI

The ɳSelf CLI manages your backend stack. Install via Homebrew (macOS / Linux) or the one-liner installer.

brew tap nself-org/nself
brew install nself

curl -fsSL https://install.nself.org | sh

Verify: nself --version should output v1.1.0 or later.

Clone the nclaw repo

nclaw is an open-source reference app. Clone it and navigate into the backend project.

git clone https://github.com/nself-org/nclaw
cd nclaw/.backend

The .backend/ directory contains the ɳSelf CLI config for the ɳClaw backend stack.

Set your ɳClaw bundle key

The ɳClaw bundle key enables the 13 paid plugins, ai, claw, mux, voice, browser, and more. Get one at nself.org/pricing.

nself license set nself_pro_...

The key is saved locally and validated against ping.nself.org on each build. It works on any number of servers.

Install the ɳClaw bundle plugins

Install all 13 plugins in the ɳClaw bundle. The CLI validates your key and downloads each plugin binary.

nself plugin install ai claw claw-web mux voice browser google notify cron claw-budget claw-news mcp knowledge-base

Configure your AI provider key

ɳClaw routes AI requests through the ai plugin. Set your provider API key: OpenAI, Anthropic, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

# .env.local (gitignored)
AI_PROVIDER=openai
AI_API_KEY=sk-...

# or Anthropic
AI_PROVIDER=anthropic
AI_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

The ai plugin supports model routing, you can use cheaper models for topic detection and stronger models for complex reasoning.

Build and start your stack

Build generates your docker-compose with all plugins, then start spins up Postgres, pgvector, Redis, Hasura, Auth, and the plugin services.

nself build && nself start

First start downloads Docker images (~2 GB). Subsequent starts are instant. Check status with nself status.

Download the client app

Point the ɳClaw mobile or desktop app at your server URL. Your instance runs at https://your-domain.com via Nginx + auto TLS.