OpenClaw

The self-hosted OpenClaw agent, with the software in the image instead of downloaded on every start.

What this fixes

The existing OpenClaw templates run npm install -g openclaw@ in the entrypoint - so every container start reaches out to the npm registry before the app can serve anything. That puts a network call on the start path, makes a cold start slow, and turns any registry hiccup into a failed deploy. Both variants report 44% health.

Here the install happens at build time, in the image. The start path does no network I/O at all.

The override still works exactly as before: the entrypoint compares the installed version with OPENCLAW_VERSION and only installs when they differ, so setting a different version in the service variables still switches it at boot - the default just costs nothing now.

The version is also current: 2026.7.1-2 rather than the 2026.6.6 the upstream template pins.

Verified

By using the setup surface, not by pinging it. Deployed from this template: /setup returns 401 with no credentials and 401 with a wrong password, 200 with the generated SETUP_PASSWORD, and /setup/api/status reports OpenClaw 2026.7.1-2 - which is the wrapper actually executing the binary that was installed during the build.

Using it

Open the domain, sign in with the generated SETUP_PASSWORD (the username is ignored), and follow the setup to connect your channels. State and workspace live on the volume at /data.

Configuration

Nothing to fill in. SETUP_PASSWORD and OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN are generated. ENABLE_WEB_TUI is off by default - turn it on only if you want a terminal in the browser, and understand that it is one.

Built on the MIT-licensed Railway template by praveen-ks-2001, with the install moved to build time: https://github.com/praveen-ks-2001/openclaw-railway-template-new

Our fork: https://github.com/ak40u/openclaw-railway-starter