nanoclaw

<p align="center">
  <img src="assets/nanoclaw-logo.png" alt="NanoClaw" width="400">
</p>

<p align="center">
  An AI assistant that runs agents securely in their own containers. Lightweight, built to be easily understood and completely customized for your needs.
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<p align="center">
  <a href="https://nanoclaw.dev">nanoclaw.dev</a>&nbsp; • &nbsp;
  <a href="https://docs.nanoclaw.dev">docs</a>&nbsp; • &nbsp;
  <a href="README_zh.md">中文</a>&nbsp; • &nbsp;
  <a href="README_ja.md">日本語</a>&nbsp; • &nbsp;
  <a href="https://discord.gg/VDdww8qS42"><img src="https://img.shields.io/discord/1470188214710046894?label=Discord&logo=discord&v=2" alt="Discord" valign="middle"></a>&nbsp; • &nbsp;
  <a href="repo-tokens"><img src="repo-tokens/badge.svg" alt="repo tokens" valign="middle"></a>
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---

## Why I Built NanoClaw

[OpenClaw](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw) is an impressive project, but I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I had given complex software I didn't understand full access to my life. OpenClaw has nearly half a million lines of code, 53 config files, and 70+ dependencies. Its security is at the application level (allowlists, pairing codes) rather than true OS-level isolation. Everything runs in one Node process with shared memory.

NanoClaw provides that same core functionality, but in a codebase small enough to understand: one process and a handful of files. Claude agents run in their own Linux containers with filesystem isolation, not merely behind permission checks.

## Quick Start

```bash
git clone https://github.com/qwibitai/nanoclaw.git nanoclaw-v2
cd nanoclaw-v2
bash nanoclaw.sh
```

`nanoclaw.sh` walks you from a fresh machine to a named agent you can message. It installs Node, pnpm, and Docker if missing, registers your Anthropic credential with OneCLI, builds the agent container, and pairs your first channel (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, or a local CLI). If a step fails, Claude Code is invoked automatically to diagnose and resume from where it broke.

## Philosophy

**Small enough to understand.** One process, a few source files and no microservices. If you want to understand the full NanoClaw codebase, just ask Claude Code to walk you through it.

**Secure by isolation.** Agents run in Linux containers and they can only see what's explicitly mounted. Bash access is safe because commands run inside the container, not on your host.

**Built for the individual user.** NanoClaw isn't a monolithic framework; it's software that fits each user's exact needs. Instead of becoming bloatware, NanoClaw is designed to be bespoke. You make your own fork and have Claude Code modify it to match your needs.

**Customization = code changes.** No configuration sprawl. Want different behavior? Modify the code. The codebase is small enough that it's safe to make changes.

**AI-native, hybrid by design.** The install and onboarding flow is an optimized scripted path, fast and deterministic. When a step needs judgment, whether a failed install, a guided decision, or a customization, control hands off to Claude Code seamlessly. Beyond setup there's no monitoring dashboard or debugging UI either: describe the problem in chat and Claude Code handles it.

**Skills over features.** Trunk ships the registry and infrastructure, not specific channel adapters or alternative agent providers. Channels (Discord, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, …) live on a long-lived `channels` branch; alternative providers (OpenCode, Ollama) live on `providers`. You run `/add-telegram`, `/add-opencode`, etc. and the skill copies exactly the module(s) you need into your fork. No feature you didn't ask for.

**Best harness, best model.** NanoClaw natively uses Claude Code via Anthropic's official Claude Agent SDK, so you get the latest Claude models and Claude Code's full toolset, including the ability to modify and expand your own NanoClaw fork. Other providers are drop-in options: `/add-codex` for OpenAI's Codex (ChatGPT subscription or API key), `/add-opencode` for OpenRouter, Google, DeepSeek and more via OpenCode, and `/add-ollama-provider` for local open-weight models. Provider is configurable per agent group.

## What It Supports

- **Multi-channel messaging** — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams, iMessage, Matrix, Google Chat, Webex, Linear, GitHub, WeChat, and email via Resend. Installed on demand with `/add-<channel>` skills. Run one or many at the same time.
- **Flexible isolation** — connect each channel to its own agent for full privacy, share one agent across many channels for unified memory with separate conversations, or fold multiple channels into a single shared session so one conversation spans many surfaces. Pick per channel via `/manage-channels`. See [docs/isolation-model.md](docs/isolation-model.md).
- **Per-agent workspace** — each agent group has its own `CLAUDE.md`, its own memory, its own container, and only the mounts you allow. Nothing crosses the boundary unless you wire it to.
- **Scheduled tasks** — recurring jobs that run Claude and can message you back
- **Web access** — search and fetch content from the web
- **Container isolation** — agents are sandboxed in Docker (macOS/Linux/WSL2), with optional [Docker Sandboxes](docs/docker-sandboxes.md) micro-VM isolation or Apple Container as a macOS-native opt-in
- **Credential security** — agents never hold raw API keys. Outbound requests route through [OneCLI's Agent Vault](https://github.com/onecli/onecli), which injects credentials at request time and enforces per-agent policies and rate limits.

## Usage

Talk to your assistant with the trigger word (default: `@Andy`):

```
@Andy send an overview of the sales pipeline every weekday morning at 9am (has access to my Obsidian vault folder)
@Andy review the git history for the past week each Friday and update the README if there's drift
@Andy every Monday at 8am, compile news on AI developments from Hacker News and TechCrunch and message me a briefing
```

From a channel you own or administer, you can manage groups and tasks:
```
@Andy list all scheduled tasks across groups
@Andy pause the Monday briefing task
@Andy join the Family Chat group
```

## Customizing

NanoClaw doesn't use configuration files. To make changes, just tell Claude Code what you want:

- "Change the trigger word to @Bob"
- "Remember in the future to make responses shorter and more direct"
- "Add a custom greeting when I say good morning"
- "Store conversation summaries weekly"

Or run `/customize` for guided changes.

The codebase is small enough that Claude can safely modify it.

## Contributing

**Don't add features. Add skills.**

If you want to add a new channel or agent provider, don't add it to trunk. New channel adapters land on the `channels` branch; new agent providers land on `providers`. Users install them in their own fork with `/add-<name>` skills, which copy the relevant module(s) into the standard paths, wire the registration, and pin dependencies.

This keeps trunk as pure registry and infra, and every fork stays lean — users get the channels and providers they asked for and nothing else.

### RFS (Request for Skills)

Skills we'd like to see:

**Communication Channels**
- `/add-signal` — Add Signal as a channel

## Requirements

- macOS or Linux (Windows via WSL2)
- Node.js 20+ and pnpm 10+ (the installer will install both if missing)
- [Docker Desktop](https://docker.com/products/docker-desktop) (macOS/Windows) or Docker Engine (Linux)
- [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/download) for `/customize`, `/debug`, error recovery during setup, and all `/add-<channel>` skills

## Architecture

```
messaging apps → host process (router) → inbound.db → container (Bun, Claude Agent SDK) → outbound.db → host process (delivery) → messaging apps
```

A single Node host orchestrates per-session agent containers. When a message arrives, the host routes it via the entity model (user → messaging group → agent group → session), writes it to the session's `inbound.db`, and wakes the container. The agent-runner inside the container polls `inbound.db`, runs Claude, and writes responses to `outbound.db`. The host polls `outbound.db` and delivers back through the channel adapter.

Two SQLite files per session, each with exactly one writer — no cross-mount contention, no IPC, no stdin piping. Channels and alternative providers self-register at startup; trunk ships the registry and the Chat SDK bridge, while the adapters themselves are skill-installed per fork.

For the full architecture writeup see [docs/architecture.md](docs/architecture.md); for the three-level isolation model see [docs/isolation-model.md](docs/isolation-model.md).

Key files:
- `src/index.ts` — entry point: DB init, channel adapters, delivery polls, sweep
- `src/router.ts` — inbound routing: messaging group → agent group → session → `inbound.db`
- `src/delivery.ts` — polls `outbound.db`, delivers via adapter, handles system actions
- `src/host-sweep.ts` — 60s sweep: stale detection, due-message wake, recurrence
- `src/session-manager.ts` — resolves sessions, opens `inbound.db` / `outbound.db`
- `src/container-runner.ts` — spawns per-agent-group containers, OneCLI credential injection
- `src/db/` — central DB (users, roles, agent groups, messaging groups, wiring, migrations)
- `src/channels/` — channel adapter infra (adapters installed via `/add-<channel>` skills)
- `src/providers/` — host-side provider config (`claude` baked in; others via skills)
- `container/agent-runner/` — Bun agent-runner: poll loop, MCP tools, provider abstraction
- `groups/<folder>/` — per-agent-group filesystem (`CLAUDE.md`, skills, container config)

## FAQ

**Why Docker?**

Docker provides cross-platform support (macOS, Linux and Windows via WSL2) and a mature ecosystem. On macOS, you can optionally switch to Apple Container via `/convert-to-apple-container` for a lighter-weight native runtime. For additional isolation, [Docker Sandboxes](docs/docker-sandboxes.md) run each container