OpenClaw VPS setup with OpenAI and Telegram

This tutorial walks through a minimal OpenClaw installation on an Ubuntu VPS, then connects the assistant to Telegram. The presenter uses Hetzner, but says another provider or a virtual machine can work. Viewers need a server, its IP address and SSH access before following the installation steps.

The setup updates Ubuntu packages, installs Node.js 24 through Node Version Manager, and installs OpenClaw globally with npm. The presenter recommends Node.js 24 and tentatively names 22 as the minimum. Quick-start onboarding installs the daemon and connects an OpenAI API key. The selected model is described as GPT 5.5. This is a self-hosted AI agent with a cloud model backend; the demonstration does not run inference locally.

Telegram setup covers creating a bot through BotFather, entering its token and approving a pairing code in the CLI. The presenter also selects DuckDuckGo search and a summarization skill, while skipping optional API keys and hooks. For browser access, the guide retrieves the gateway token from OpenClaw's JSON configuration and forwards localhost port 18789 through an SSH tunnel.

The final example creates a Markdown shopping list through chat, then adds items using a Telegram voice memo processed through OpenAI's API. The presenter warns that broad system access can expose sensitive information or allow destructive actions, and recommends an isolated environment. This covers basic installation and messaging rather than a full feature course.