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Raspberry Pi

Mirrored from OpenClaw (MIT)
Canonical source: https://docs.openclaw.ai/install/raspberry-pi
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Raspberry Pi

Run a persistent, always-on OpenClaw Gateway on a Raspberry Pi. Since the Pi is just the gateway (models run in the cloud via API), even a modest Pi handles the workload well.

Prerequisites

  • Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with 2 GB+ RAM (4 GB recommended)
  • MicroSD card (16 GB+) or USB SSD (better performance)
  • Official Pi power supply
  • Network connection (Ethernet or WiFi)
  • 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS (required -- do not use 32-bit)
  • About 30 minutes

Setup

  1. Flash the OS

    Use Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) -- no desktop needed for a headless server.

    1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager.
    2. Choose OS: Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit).
    3. In the settings dialog, pre-configure:
      • Hostname: gateway-host
      • Enable SSH
      • Set username and password
      • Configure WiFi (if not using Ethernet)
    4. Flash to your SD card or USB drive, insert it, and boot the Pi.
  2. Connect via SSH
    ssh user@gateway-host
  3. Update the system
    sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y git curl build-essential

# Set timezone (important for cron and reminders)
sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago
  4. Install Node.js 24
    curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
node --version
  5. Add swap (important for 2 GB or less)
    sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Reduce swappiness for low-RAM devices
echo 'vm.swappiness=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p
  6. Install OpenClaw
    curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
  7. Run onboarding
    openclaw onboard --install-daemon

    Follow the wizard. API keys are recommended over OAuth for headless devices. Telegram is the easiest channel to start with.

  8. Verify
    openclaw status
systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway.service
journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway.service -f
  9. Access the Control UI

    On your computer, get a dashboard URL from the Pi:

    ssh user@gateway-host 'openclaw dashboard --no-open'

    Then create an SSH tunnel in another terminal:

    ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@gateway-host

    Open the printed URL in your local browser. For always-on remote access, see Tailscale integration.

Performance tips

Use a USB SSD -- SD cards are slow and wear out. A USB SSD dramatically improves performance. See the Pi USB boot guide.

Enable module compile cache -- Speeds up repeated CLI invocations on lower-power Pi hosts:

grep -q 'NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache' ~/.bashrc || cat >> ~/.bashrc <<'EOF' # pragma: allowlist secret
export NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache
mkdir -p /var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache
export OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1
EOF
source ~/.bashrc

Reduce memory usage -- For headless setups, free GPU memory and disable unused services:

echo 'gpu_mem=16' | sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt
sudo systemctl disable bluetooth

Troubleshooting

Out of memory -- Verify swap is active with free -h. Disable unused services (sudo systemctl disable cups bluetooth avahi-daemon). Use API-based models only.

Slow performance -- Use a USB SSD instead of an SD card. Check for CPU throttling with vcgencmd get_throttled (should return 0x0).

Service will not start -- Check logs with journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway.service --no-pager -n 100 and run openclaw doctor --non-interactive. If this is a headless Pi, also verify lingering is enabled: sudo loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)".

ARM binary issues -- If a skill fails with "exec format error", check whether the binary has an ARM64 build. Verify architecture with uname -m (should show aarch64).

WiFi drops -- Disable WiFi power management: sudo iwconfig wlan0 power off.

Next steps