claw

A Claude-Code-style terminal interface for OpenClaw.

$ claw

What it is

The bundled openclaw tui is functional but rough. claw is a focused replacement — built to feel like a daily-driver tool rather than a setup wizard. Conversations persist, your input has a real cursor, slash commands work, and the rendering is calm.

Install

npm install -g @getnodus/claw

That's it. The installer auto-detects your OpenClaw setup. If openclaw is on your PATH, it uses that. Otherwise it tries ssh server openclaw. If neither works, run claw setup and the wizard walks you through it.

Requires Node 22+.

Use it

claw                 Open the TUI. Auto-resumes your last conversation.
claw --new           Start a fresh session.
claw --agent main    Pick a specific OpenClaw agent for this run.
claw setup           Re-run the first-run wizard.
claw config          Print the saved config.
claw sessions        List recent sessions in a table.

Inside the TUI:

Enter        Submit
Ctrl-J       Insert newline
← →          Move cursor
Home / End   Jump to start/end of line
Up / Down    Cycle through your message history
Tab          Complete a slash command
Esc          Clear buffer (or quit if empty)

Slash commands:

/help            Show available commands
/new             Start a fresh session
/clear           Clear the visible transcript
/sessions        List recent sessions
/resume <id>     Switch to a saved session
/agent <id>      Switch to a different OpenClaw agent
/config          Show the current claw config
/quit            Quit

How it works

Every message uses openclaw agent --json --session-id <id> so OpenClaw manages the conversation context server-side. claw remembers which session id was last used and resumes it on launch. Session metadata (title, model, last-used) lives at ~/.claw/sessions.json.

When openclaw isn't installed locally, claw falls back to SSH: ssh server openclaw …. Either path is transparent.

Status

Working: session persistence, slash commands, multi-line composer, markdown rendering, footer with token/model stats, friendly error handling, auto-detect on install.

Not yet: real token-by-token streaming (currently a typewriter reveal on the full response), tool-call rendering, in-app scrollback. See DEVELOPMENT.md for the roadmap.

License

MIT