NemoClaw Quickstart with OpenClaw

Follow these steps to get started with NemoClaw and your first sandboxed OpenClaw agent.

Note:

Make sure you have completed reviewing the Prerequisites (use the

nemoclaw-user-get-started

skill) before following this guide.

Install NemoClaw and Onboard OpenClaw Agent

Download and run the installer script. The script installs Node.js if it is not already present, then runs the guided onboard wizard to create a sandbox, configure inference, and apply security policies.

Note:

NemoClaw creates a fresh OpenClaw instance inside the sandbox during the onboarding process.

bash

curl -fsSL https://www.nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash

The piped installer prompts through your terminal. In headless scripts or CI, pass explicit acceptance to the

bash

side of the pipe:

console

$ curl -fsSL https://www.nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | NEMOCLAW_NON_INTERACTIVE=1 NEMOCLAW_ACCEPT_THIRD_PARTY_SOFTWARE=1 bash

If you use nvm or fnm to manage Node.js, the installer might not update your current shell's PATH. If

nemoclaw

is not found after install, run

source ~/.bashrc

(or

source ~/.zshrc

for zsh) or open a new terminal.

On Linux, the installer checks Docker before it installs NemoClaw. If Docker is missing, the installer downloads the official Docker convenience script, asks for

sudo

, installs Docker, and starts the Docker service when systemd is available. If Docker is installed but your current shell cannot use the Docker socket yet, the installer adds your user to the

docker

group when needed and exits with a recovery command.

On macOS, the installer uses the Docker-driver OpenShell gateway path with Docker Desktop or Colima.

console

$ newgrp docker
$ curl -fsSL https://www.nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash

On DGX Spark, DGX Station, and Windows WSL, an interactive installer offers express install after you accept the third-party software notice. Express install switches onboarding to non-interactive mode, allows

sudo

password prompts for required host changes, applies the suggested security policy, and selects the managed local inference path for that platform. On WSL, express install selects the Windows-host Ollama setup path. Set

NEMOCLAW_NO_EXPRESS=1

to skip the express prompt, or set

NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER

before launching the installer when you want to choose a provider yourself.

The installer auto-launches

nemoclaw onboard

when it can locate the freshly-installed binary. If it cannot locate the binary, or if blocking host preflight checks fail, it does not launch the wizard automatically. In that case, the installer prints the relevant diagnostics and a

To finish setup, run:

block with the explicit

nemoclaw onboard

command.

Note:

The onboard flow builds the sandbox image with

NEMOCLAW_DISABLE_DEVICE_AUTH=1

so the dashboard is immediately usable during setup. This is a build-time setting baked into the sandbox image, not a runtime knob. If you export

NEMOCLAW_DISABLE_DEVICE_AUTH

after onboarding finishes, it has no effect on an existing sandbox.

Respond to the Onboard Wizard

After the installer launches

nemoclaw onboard

, the wizard runs preflight checks, starts or reuses the OpenShell gateway, and asks for an inference provider, sandbox name, optional web search, optional messaging channels, and network policy presets. At any prompt, press Enter to accept the default shown in

[brackets]

, type

back

to return to the previous prompt, or type

exit

to quit. If existing sandbox sessions are running, the installer warns before onboarding because the setup can rebuild or upgrade sandboxes after the new sandbox launches.

The inference provider prompt presents a numbered list.

text

  1) NVIDIA Endpoints
  2) OpenAI
  3) Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint
  4) Anthropic
  5) Other Anthropic-compatible endpoint
  6) Google Gemini
  7) Local Ollama (localhost:11434)
  8) Model Router (experimental)
  Choose [1]:

Pick the option that matches where you want inference traffic to go, then expand the matching helper below for the follow-up prompts and the API key environment variable to set. For the full list of providers and validation behavior, refer to Inference Options (use the

nemoclaw-user-configure-inference

skill). Local Ollama appears when NemoClaw detects a usable local Ollama path or can offer an install or start action for your platform. The Model Router option appears when the blueprint router profile is enabled.

Tip:

Export the API key before launching the installer so the wizard does not have to ask for it. For example, run

export NVIDIA_API_KEY=<your-key>

before

curl ... | bash

. If you entered a key incorrectly, refer to Reset a Stored Credential (use the

nemoclaw-user-manage-sandboxes

skill) to clear and re-enter it.

Option 1: NVIDIA Endpoints:

Routes inference to models hosted on build.nvidia.com.

Use

NVIDIA_API_KEY

for the API key. Get one from the NVIDIA build API keys page.

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, press Enter (or type
```
1
```
) to select NVIDIA Endpoints.
At the
```
NVIDIA_API_KEY:
```
prompt, paste your key if it is not already exported.
At the
```
Choose model [1]:
```
prompt, pick a curated model from the list (for example,
```
Nemotron 3 Super 120B
```
,
```
GLM-5
```
,
```
MiniMax M2.7
```
,
```
GPT-OSS 120B
```
, or
```
DeepSeek V4 Pro
```
), or pick
```
Other...
```
to enter any model ID from the NVIDIA Endpoints catalog.

NemoClaw validates the model against the catalog API before creating the sandbox.

Tip:

Use this option for Nemotron and other models hosted on

build.nvidia.com

. If you run NVIDIA Nemotron from a self-hosted NIM, an enterprise gateway, or any other endpoint, choose Option 3 instead, since all Nemotron models expose OpenAI-compatible APIs.

Option 2: OpenAI:

Routes inference to the OpenAI API at

https://api.openai.com/v1

Use

OPENAI_API_KEY

for the API key. Get one from the OpenAI API keys page.

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, type
```
2
```
to select OpenAI.
At the
```
OPENAI_API_KEY:
```
prompt, paste your key if it is not already exported.
At the
```
Choose model [1]:
```
prompt, pick a curated model (for example,
```
gpt-5.4
```
,
```
gpt-5.4-mini
```
,
```
gpt-5.4-nano
```
, or
```
gpt-5.4-pro-2026-03-05
```
), or pick Other... to enter any OpenAI model ID.

Option 3: Other OpenAI-Compatible Endpoint:

Routes inference to any server that implements

/v1/chat/completions

, including OpenRouter, LocalAI, llama.cpp, vLLM behind a proxy, and any compatible gateway.

Use

COMPATIBLE_API_KEY

for the API key. Set it to whatever credential your endpoint expects. If your endpoint does not require auth, use any non-empty placeholder.

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, type
```
3
```
to select Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
At the
```
OpenAI-compatible base URL
```
prompt, enter the provider's base URL. Find the exact value in your provider's API documentation. NemoClaw appends
```
/v1
```
automatically, so leave that suffix off.
At the
```
COMPATIBLE_API_KEY:
```
prompt, paste your key if it is not already exported.
At the
```
Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint model []:
```
prompt, enter the model ID exactly as it appears in your provider's model catalog.

For example, when you use NVIDIA's OpenAI-compatible inference endpoint, enter

https://inference-api.nvidia.com

as the base URL and the model ID your endpoint exposes, such as

openai/openai/gpt-5.5

NemoClaw sends a real inference request to validate the endpoint and model. If the endpoint does not return the streaming events OpenClaw needs from the Responses API, NemoClaw falls back to the chat completions API and configures OpenClaw to use

openai-completions

Tip:

NVIDIA Nemotron models expose OpenAI-compatible APIs, so this option is the right choice for any Nemotron deployment that does not live on

build.nvidia.com

. Common examples include a self-hosted NIM container, an enterprise NVIDIA AI Enterprise gateway, or a vLLM/SGLang server running Nemotron weights. Point the base URL at your endpoint and enter the Nemotron model ID exactly as your server reports it.

Option 4: Anthropic:

Routes inference to the Anthropic Messages API at

https://api.anthropic.com

Use

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

for the API key. Get one from the Anthropic console keys page.

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, type
```
4
```
to select Anthropic.
At the
```
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:
```
prompt, paste your key if it is not already exported.
At the
```
Choose model [1]:
```
prompt, pick a curated model (for example,
```
claude-sonnet-4-6
```
,
```
claude-haiku-4-5
```
, or
```
claude-opus-4-6
```
), or pick Other... to enter any Claude model ID.

Option 5: Other Anthropic-Compatible Endpoint:

Routes inference to any server that implements the Anthropic Messages API at

/v1/messages

, including Claude proxies, Bedrock-compatible gateways, and self-hosted Anthropic-compatible servers.

Use

COMPATIBLE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

for the API key. Set it to whatever credential your endpoint expects.

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, type
```
5
```
to select Other Anthropic-compatible endpoint.
At the
```
Anthropic-compatible base URL
```
prompt, enter the proxy or gateway's base URL from its documentation.
At the
```
COMPATIBLE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:
```
prompt, paste your key if it is not already exported.
At the
```
Other Anthropic-compatible endpoint model []:
```
prompt, enter the model ID exactly as it appears in your gateway's model catalog.

Option 6: Google Gemini:

Routes inference to Google's OpenAI-compatible Gemini endpoint at

https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/

Use

GEMINI_API_KEY

for the API key. Get one from Google AI Studio API keys.

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, type
```
6
```
to select Google Gemini.
At the
```
GEMINI_API_KEY:
```
prompt, paste your key if it is not already exported.

At the

Choose model [5]:

prompt, pick a curated model (for example,

gemini-3.1-pro-preview

gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview

gemini-3-flash-preview

gemini-2.5-pro

gemini-2.5-flash

, or

gemini-2.5-flash-lite

), or pick Other... to enter any Gemini model ID.

Option 7: Local Ollama:

Routes inference to a local Ollama instance. Depending on your platform, the wizard can use an existing daemon, start an installed daemon, or offer an install action.

No API key is required. On non-WSL hosts, NemoClaw generates a token and starts an authenticated proxy so containers can reach Ollama without exposing the daemon directly to your network. On WSL, NemoClaw can also use Ollama on the Windows host through

host.docker.internal

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, type
```
7
```
to select Local Ollama.
At the
```
Choose model [1]:
```
prompt, pick from Ollama models if any are already installed. If none are installed, pick a starter model to pull and load now, or pick Other... to enter any Ollama model ID.

For setup details, including GPU recommendations and starter model choices, refer to Use a Local Inference Server (use the

nemoclaw-user-configure-inference

skill).

Option 8: Model Router:

Starts a host-side model router and routes sandbox inference through OpenShell to that router. The router chooses from the model pool in

nemoclaw-blueprint/router/pool-config.yaml

for each request.

Use

NVIDIA_API_KEY

for the model pool credentials.

Respond to the wizard as follows.

At the
```
Choose [1]:
```
prompt, type
```
8
```
to select Model Router (experimental).
At the
```
NVIDIA_API_KEY:
```
prompt, paste your key if it is not already exported.
Review the configuration summary and continue with the sandbox build.

For scripted setup, set:

console

$ NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=routed NVIDIA_API_KEY=<your-key> nemoclaw onboard --non-interactive

The router listens on the host at port

. The sandbox still calls

https://inference.local/v1

, so do not point in-sandbox tools at the host router port directly.

Local NIM and Local vLLM:

Local NVIDIA NIM appears when
```
NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1
```
is set and the host has a NIM-capable GPU. NemoClaw pulls and manages a NIM container.
Local vLLM (already running) appears whenever NemoClaw detects a vLLM server on
```
localhost:8000
```
. No flag is required for the menu entry. NemoClaw auto-detects the loaded model.
Local vLLM (managed install/start) appears by default on DGX Spark and DGX Station. Generic Linux NVIDIA GPU hosts require
```
NEMOCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL=1
```
or
```
NEMOCLAW_PROVIDER=install-vllm
```
. NemoClaw pulls and starts a vLLM container on supported hosts.

For setup, refer to Use a Local Inference Server (use the

nemoclaw-user-configure-inference

skill).

Review the Configuration Before the Sandbox Build

After you enter the sandbox name, the wizard prints a review summary and asks for final confirmation before registering the provider, prompting for optional integrations, and building the sandbox image. For example, if you picked an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, the summary looks like the following:

text

  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Review configuration
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Provider:      compatible-endpoint
  Model:         openai/openai/gpt-5.5
  API key:       COMPATIBLE_API_KEY (staged for OpenShell gateway registration)
  Web search:    disabled
  Messaging:     none
  Sandbox name:  my-gpt-claw
  Note:          Sandbox build typically takes 5–15 minutes on this host.
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Web search and messaging channels will be prompted next.
  Apply this configuration? [Y/n]:

The default is

, so you can press Enter once to continue. Answer

to abort cleanly, fix the entries, and re-run

nemoclaw onboard

Non-interactive runs (

NEMOCLAW_NON_INTERACTIVE=1

) print the summary for log clarity but skip the prompt.

Configure Web Search and Messaging

After you confirm the summary, NemoClaw registers the selected provider with the OpenShell gateway and sets the

inference.local

route. The wizard then asks whether to enable Brave Web Search. If you enable it, enter a Brave Search API key when prompted.

The wizard also offers messaging channels such as Telegram, Discord, Slack, and WhatsApp. Press a channel number to toggle it, then press Enter to continue. If you select a channel, NemoClaw validates the token format before it bakes the channel configuration into the sandbox. For example, Slack bot tokens must start with

xoxb-

Choose Network Policy Presets

After the sandbox image builds and OpenClaw starts inside the sandbox, NemoClaw asks which network policy tier to apply. The default Balanced tier includes common development presets such as npm, PyPI, Hugging Face, Homebrew, and Brave Search when the selected agent supports web search. Use the arrow keys or

and

to move, Space to select, and Enter to confirm.

The preset selector lets you include more destinations, such as GitHub, Jira, Slack, Telegram, or local inference. Press

to toggle a selected preset between read-only and read-write when the preset supports both modes.

When the install completes, a summary confirms the running environment. Before printing the summary, NemoClaw verifies that the sandbox gateway and dashboard port forward are reachable. Inference route and messaging bridge checks are reported as warnings when they need more time or additional configuration. The

Model

and provider line reflects the inference option you picked during onboarding. The example below shows the result if you picked an OpenAI-compatible endpoint during onboarding.

text

──────────────────────────────────────────────────
NemoClaw is ready

Sandbox:  my-gpt-claw
Model:    openai/openai/gpt-5.5 (Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint)

Start chatting

  Browser:
    http://127.0.0.1:18789/

  Terminal:
    nemoclaw my-gpt-claw connect
    then run: openclaw tui

Authenticated dashboard URL, if needed:
  nemoclaw my-gpt-claw dashboard-url --quiet

Manage later

  Status:      nemoclaw my-gpt-claw status
  Logs:        nemoclaw my-gpt-claw logs --follow
  Model:       nemoclaw inference set --model <model> --provider <provider> --sandbox my-gpt-claw
  Policies:    nemoclaw my-gpt-claw policy-add
  Credentials: nemoclaw credentials reset <KEY> && nemoclaw onboard
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

[INFO]  === Installation complete ===

If you picked a different option, the

Model

line shows that provider's model and label instead. For example, you might see

gpt-5.4 (OpenAI)

claude-sonnet-4-6 (Anthropic)

gemini-2.5-flash (Google Gemini)

llama3.1:8b (Local Ollama)

nvidia-routed (Model Router)

, or

<your-model> (Other OpenAI-compatible endpoint)

Run Your First Agent Prompt

You can chat with the agent from the terminal or the browser.

Open the OpenClaw UI in a Browser to Chat with the Agent

The onboard wizard starts a background port forward to the sandbox dashboard, then prints the dashboard URL in the install summary. The default host port is

. If that port is already taken, NemoClaw uses the next free dashboard port, such as

, and prints that port in the final URL. If the chosen port becomes occupied after the sandbox build starts, onboarding rolls back the newly-created sandbox and asks you to retry instead of printing an unreachable dashboard URL. The install transcript does not print the gateway token. If the browser requires authentication, use the

dashboard-url --quiet

command to print a complete URL explicitly.

text

nemoclaw my-gpt-claw dashboard-url --quiet

Open the dashboard URL in your browser. If the browser asks for authentication, run

nemoclaw my-gpt-claw dashboard-url --quiet

and open the returned URL. Treat the authenticated URL like a password.

Chat with the Agent from the Terminal

Connect to the sandbox and use the OpenClaw CLI.

bash

nemoclaw my-assistant connect
# inside the sandbox:
openclaw tui

References

Load references/quickstart-hermes.md when users ask for Hermes setup, NemoHermes onboarding, or running Hermes inside OpenShell. Installs NemoClaw, selects the Hermes agent, and launches a sandboxed Hermes API endpoint.
Load references/prerequisites.md when verifying prerequisites before installation. Lists the hardware, software, and container runtime requirements for running NemoClaw.
Load references/windows-preparation.md when preparing a Windows machine for NemoClaw, enabling WSL 2, configuring Docker Desktop for Windows, or troubleshooting a Windows-specific install error. Covers Windows-only preparation steps required before the Quickstart.

Related Skills

```
nemoclaw-user-overview
```
— NemoClaw Overview (use the
```
nemoclaw-user-overview
```
skill) to learn what NemoClaw is and its capabilities

nemoclaw-user-get-started

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

NemoClaw Quickstart with OpenClaw

Install NemoClaw and Onboard OpenClaw Agent

Respond to the Onboard Wizard

Review the Configuration Before the Sandbox Build

Configure Web Search and Messaging

Choose Network Policy Presets

Run Your First Agent Prompt

Open the OpenClaw UI in a Browser to Chat with the Agent

Chat with the Agent from the Terminal

References

Related Skills