--- title: "Deploy Paperclip OpenClaw" description: "Hire OpenClaw agents into your Paperclip AI company" category: "AI/ML" url: https://railway.com/deploy/deploy-paperclip-with-openclaw-agents --- # Deploy Paperclip OpenClaw Hire OpenClaw agents into your Paperclip AI company **[Deploy Paperclip OpenClaw on Railway](https://railway.com/template/deploy-paperclip-with-openclaw-agents)** Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/deploy-paperclip-with-openclaw-agents/manifest.json - **Creator:** onepush - **Category:** AI/ML ## Template content ### Postgres https://devicons.railway.app/i/postgresql.svg - **Image:** ghcr.io/railwayapp-templates/postgres-ssl:18 ### paperclip - **Image:** ghcr.io/paperclipai/paperclip:2026.1012.0@sha256:1661b3dd3fdf7a9b59542d1ced464c3faf9dc8309798b4d15a9923ed32795307 - **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c "printenv PAPERCLIP_RAILWAY_BOOTSTRAP_JS > /tmp/railway-bootstrap.mjs || true; chmod 644 /tmp/railway-bootstrap.mjs; exec /usr/bin/tini -s -- docker-entrypoint.sh /bin/sh -c 'cd /app; if [ -s /tmp/railway-bootstrap.mjs ] && [ ${PAPERCLIP_RAILWAY_BOOTSTRAP_INVITE:-true} = true ]; then (node /tmp/railway-bootstrap.mjs &); fi; exec node --import ./server/node_modules/tsx/dist/loader.mjs server/dist/index.js'"` - **Health check:** /api/health - **Public domain:** Yes ## Documentation # Deploy and Host Paperclip OpenClaw (Open-Source AI Agent Orchestration) on Railway This Railway template deploys Paperclip, whose built-in openclaw_gateway adapter lets your OpenClaw agent join the org chart as an employee over the OpenClaw Gateway WebSocket protocol. ## About Hosting Paperclip OpenClaw on Railway (self hosted Paperclip template) This template runs the self-hosted Paperclip server, a Railway Postgres database, and a persistent volume for uploads, agent workspaces, and local secrets. Railway takes the ops burden, not the ownership. ## Why Deploy Paperclip OpenClaw on Railway (Railway Free Trial) Railway's $5 trial lets you host Paperclip as the company and run OpenClaw agents through the openclaw_gateway WebSocket adapter, so you own the gateway token, device auth, and agent budgets. Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it. By deploying Paperclip OpenClaw on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway. ### Railway vs Other Hosting Providers and VPS for Paperclip OpenClaw self hosting Railway runs Paperclip with Postgres and a persistent volume, so the OpenClaw gateway adapter works the same as on a VPS without the setup. | Provider | What You Get with Railway | What You Get with the Other Provider | | --- | --- | --- | | DigitalOcean | Managed Postgres, automatic migrations, and a bootstrap invite in deploy logs. | You provision a Droplet, install Docker, run Postgres, and copy the invite URL yourself. | | AWS | A volume keeps Paperclip home and device auth without EBS or IAM work. | EC2 or ECS gives full control, but you assemble RDS, EBS, and networking for the same stack. | | Hetzner | Railway's $5 trial and small services suit quick OpenClaw gateway tests. | Hetzner's bare metal costs less at high load, but you manage systemd, backups, and Postgres. | Railway removes the VPS chores while keeping the openclaw_gateway adapter unchanged. ## Common Use Cases for hosted Paperclip OpenClaw - **Delegate recurring tasks to an OpenClaw employee.** Give OpenClaw issues like weekly summaries; Paperclip handles heartbeats and budget through the openclaw_gateway adapter. - **Run a personal assistant on the payroll.** Pair the gateway with wss:// and its token, approve the pending device, and let OpenClaw wake on schedules to send updates. - **Gate OpenClaw actions with approvals.** A manager approves join requests and checkouts; device pairing becomes a governance step before OpenClaw touches company issues. - **Track spend and onboarding like any hire.** Set a monthly budget, and onboard by pasting the invite prompt from Company Settings, then approve the join request on the org chart. ## Dependencies for Paperclip Docker hosted on Railway This Railway template runs one Paperclip container and one Postgres 18 database. ### Deployment Dependencies for Managed Paperclip Service (Agent Orchestration) The Paperclip service listens on port 3100 and exposes a health check at /api/health. Run one replica; the entrypoint applies Postgres migrations automatically on boot. ### Implementation Details for Paperclip (Using Paperclip official docker image) Set HOST=0.0.0.0, PAPERCLIP_BIND=lan, PORT=3100, SERVE_UI=true, PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_MODE=authenticated, and PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_EXPOSURE=public. ## How does Paperclip compare against other AI agent orchestration platforms ### Paperclip vs CrewAI - **Model:** Paperclip is a self-hosted company layer where agents are employees with issues, budgets, and heartbeats. CrewAI is a Python framework for writing multi-agent crews as code. CrewAI wins when you want full control of agent logic in a script. - **Ops:** Paperclip adds org charts, approval gates, spend tracking, and an invite flow out of the box. CrewAI leaves those operational concerns to you. Paperclip also manages external CLIs like Claude Code, while CrewAI runs its own agents. ### Paperclip vs LangGraph - **Control:** LangGraph gives you explicit state graphs for agent workflows, which is great for bespoke pipelines. Paperclip does not offer graph-level control; it structures work as issues assigned to agents. - **Governance:** Paperclip provides budgets, automatic pauses, and rollback gates. LangGraph assumes you build those safeguards yourself. For a managed team of agents, Paperclip is faster; for a custom graph, LangGraph is more flexible. ### Paperclip vs n8n - **Automation breadth:** n8n connects hundreds of services in visual workflows with AI nodes. Paperclip focuses only on AI agent employees. n8n wins for generic integrations and event triggers. - **Agent accountability:** Paperclip tracks heartbeats, goals, and spend per agent, and supports approval gates. n8n's nodes are stateless steps, not employees. Also, Paperclip is MIT licensed; n8n is fair-code, not fully open source. ### Paperclip vs OpenClaw - **Relationship:** OpenClaw is a single personal agent you can chat with. Paperclip is the company that hires it. OpenClaw wins for quick personal tasks and device control; Paperclip wins when you need multiple agents with budgets and a boss. - **Integration:** Paperclip's openclaw_gateway adapter connects over WebSocket, so OpenClaw becomes an employee with assigned issues and heartbeats. Without Paperclip, OpenClaw stays a lone agent. Together, they form a managed team. ## How to use Paperclip OpenClaw (the OSS agent orchestration platform)? 1. In Company Settings, open Invites and click Generate OpenClaw Invite Prompt, then paste that prompt into OpenClaw's main chat as one message. 2. Approve the join request in Paperclip; the new agent shows up on the org chart with adapter type openclaw_gateway, not the legacy openclaw adapter. 3. Check the agent's adapter config: the gateway URL starts with ws:// or wss:// and the gateway token is set as the x-openclaw-token header or token field. 4. On first connect the adapter tries automatic device pairing; if a task returns pairing required, approve the pending device in OpenClaw with openclaw devices approve and retry. 5. Confirm the agent gets issues, heartbeats, and a budget like any employee, then start assigning work. ## How to self host Paperclip on other VPS Services (Paperclip self hosting guide) ### Clone the Repository Run: ``` git clone https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip.git cd paperclip ``` The repo targets Node.js 24 or newer with pnpm. ### Install Dependencies ``` pnpm install ``` If pnpm is missing, enable it via corepack or install from the pnpm site. ### Configure Environment Variables Copy `.env.example` to `.env` and set: - `HOST=0.0.0.0` - `PORT=3100` - `PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=https://your-domain` - `PAPERCLIP_API_URL=https://your-domain` - `DATABASE_URL` for external Postgres. - `BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`, `PAPERCLIP_AGENT_JWT_SECRET`, `PAPERCLIP_SECRETS_MASTER_KEY` as 64 hex chars each. To hire OpenClaw agents, keep the OpenClaw Gateway adapter in mind later: the invite prompt flow connects Paperclip to a running OpenClaw gateway over ws:// or wss://. ### Start the Paperclip Application ``` pnpm build ``` Then start the server as the README describes, or skip the build and run the official ghcr.io/paperclipai/paperclip image with a volume on /paperclip and the same env. Migrations run on boot, then the UI serves on port 3100. Claim the bootstrap invite from the logs to become admin. Railway handles the Postgres provisioning, generated secrets, volume mount, and the startup invite for you, so you can skip most of this VPS checklist. ## Official Pricing of Paperclip (Paperclip pricing) Paperclip is MIT-licensed open source, so the software itself costs nothing to self-host. There is no official Paperclip cloud subscription price, and the OpenClaw gateway adapter adds no Paperclip fee. ## Paperclip cloud vs self hosted comparison (Pricing, features, costs, and more) Paperclip is MIT-licensed and free to self-host; there's no separate cloud product from Paperclip itself. ### Monthly cost of self hosting Paperclip on Railway On Railway, expect roughly $10-20 per month for the Paperclip app plus Postgres at light use. The $5 trial covers early testing. ### System Requirements for Hosting Paperclip on a VPS For a VPS, Paperclip needs Node.js and pnpm to build from source, or you can run the official Docker image. Production deployments should use external Postgres. ## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ### How do I add an OpenClaw agent to Paperclip? Generate an invite prompt from Company Settings, paste it into OpenClaw as one message, approve the join request, and confirm the agent appears with adapter type openclaw_gateway. ### Does OpenClaw run inside this Paperclip template? No. Deploy OpenClaw separately and keep its gateway token secret. Paperclip connects through the gateway URL, which must start with ws:// or wss://. ### What happens if the first device pairing returns "pairing required"? Approve the pending device inside OpenClaw with openclaw devices approve, then retry the task. The adapter tries one automatic pairing on first connect. ### Can an OpenClaw agent get issues and budgets like other employees? Yes. Once hired, it receives issues, heartbeats, and a budget, reports up the org chart, and pauses when spending hits its limit. ### Is the OpenClaw Gateway adapter fully available in the UI? The dropdown still says Coming soon, but the invite prompt flow and the API reach it. Use that path instead of waiting for the label to change. ### What gateway URL should I use on Railway? For an OpenClaw gateway on another Railway service, use wss://its-public-domain and send the gateway token as the x-openclaw-token header. ## Similar templates - [Chat Chat](https://railway.com/deploy/-WWW5r) — Chat Chat, your own unified chat and search to AI platform. - [stella](https://railway.com/deploy/stella) — Self-host stella with web, API, Postgres, Redis, and object storage. - [Hermes Agent | OpenClaw Alternative with Dashboard](https://railway.com/deploy/hermes-agent-or-openclaw-alternative-wit) — Self-Hosted Hermes AI Agent for Telegram, Discord & Slack Open this page in a browser: https://railway.com/deploy/deploy-paperclip-with-openclaw-agents