PicoClaw AI Assistant

Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

PicoClaw is an ultra-lightweight personal AI assistant written in Go. It runs on $10 hardware with under 10MB RAM and boots in under 1 second. It supports multiple LLM providers (OpenAI-compatible, Anthropic, Volcengine), optional web search tools, and deploys as a single self-contained binary on x86_64, ARM64, MIPS, and RISC-V Linux devices.

Installation

Precompiled Binary

Download from the releases page:

bash

# Linux ARM64 (Raspberry Pi, LicheeRV-Nano, etc.)
wget https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases/download/v0.1.1/picoclaw-linux-arm64
chmod +x picoclaw-linux-arm64
./picoclaw-linux-arm64 onboard

Build from Source

bash

git clone https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw.git
cd picoclaw

# Install dependencies
make deps

# Build for current platform
make build

# Build for all platforms
make build-all

# Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W — 32-bit
make build-linux-arm      # → build/picoclaw-linux-arm

# Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W — 64-bit
make build-linux-arm64    # → build/picoclaw-linux-arm64

# Build both Pi Zero variants
make build-pi-zero

# Build and install to system PATH
make install

Docker Compose

bash

git clone https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw.git
cd picoclaw

# First run — generates docker/data/config.json then exits
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile gateway up

# Edit config
vim docker/data/config.json

# Start in background
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile gateway up -d

# View logs
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f picoclaw-gateway

# Stop
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile gateway down

Docker: Web Console (Launcher Mode)

bash

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile launcher up -d
# Open http://localhost:18800

Docker: One-shot Agent Mode

bash

# Single question
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml run --rm picoclaw-agent -m "What is 2+2?"

# Interactive session
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml run --rm picoclaw-agent

Docker: Expose Gateway to Host

If the gateway needs to be reachable from the host, set:

bash

PICOCLAW_GATEWAY_HOST=0.0.0.0 docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile gateway up -d

Or set

PICOCLAW_GATEWAY_HOST=0.0.0.0

docker/data/config.json

Termux (Android)

bash

pkg install wget proot
wget https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases/download/v0.1.1/picoclaw-linux-arm64
chmod +x picoclaw-linux-arm64
termux-chroot ./picoclaw-linux-arm64 onboard

Quick Start

1. Initialize

bash

picoclaw onboard

This creates

~/.picoclaw/config.json

with a starter configuration.

2. Configure

~/.picoclaw/config.json

json

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "workspace": "~/.picoclaw/workspace",
      "model_name": "gpt-4o",
      "max_tokens": 8192,
      "temperature": 0.7,
      "max_tool_iterations": 20
    }
  },
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-4o",
      "model": "openai/gpt-4o",
      "api_key": "$OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "request_timeout": 300
    },
    {
      "model_name": "claude-sonnet",
      "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
      "api_key": "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
    },
    {
      "model_name": "ark-code",
      "model": "volcengine/ark-code-latest",
      "api_key": "$VOLCENGINE_API_KEY",
      "api_base": "https://ark.cn-beijing.volces.com/api/coding/v3"
    }
  ],
  "tools": {
    "web": {
      "brave": {
        "enabled": false,
        "api_key": "$BRAVE_API_KEY"
      },
      "tavily": {
        "enabled": false,
        "api_key": "$TAVILY_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Never hard-code API keys. Reference environment variables using
$VAR_NAME
notation in config, or set them in your shell environment before launch.

3. Run

bash

# Interactive chat
picoclaw

# Single message
picoclaw -m "Summarize the latest Go release notes"

# Use a specific model
picoclaw -model claude-sonnet -m "Refactor this function for clarity"

Key CLI Commands

Command	Description
`picoclaw onboard`	Initialize config and workspace
`picoclaw`	Start interactive chat session
`picoclaw -m "..."`	Send a single message and exit
`picoclaw -model <name>`	Override the default model
`picoclaw -config <path>`	Use a custom config file

Configuration Reference

Model Entry Fields

json

{
  "model_name": "my-model",        // Alias used in -model flag and agent defaults
  "model": "provider/model-id",    // Provider-prefixed model identifier
  "api_key": "$ENV_VAR",           // API key — use env var reference
  "api_base": "https://...",       // Optional: override base URL (for self-hosted or regional endpoints)
  "request_timeout": 300           // Optional: seconds before timeout
}

Supported Provider Prefixes

Prefix	Provider
`openai/`	OpenAI and OpenAI-compatible APIs
`anthropic/`	Anthropic Claude
`volcengine/`	Volcengine (Ark)

Agent Defaults

json

"agents": {
  "defaults": {
    "workspace": "~/.picoclaw/workspace",  // Working directory for file operations
    "model_name": "gpt-4o",                // Default model alias
    "max_tokens": 8192,                    // Max response tokens
    "temperature": 0.7,                    // Sampling temperature
    "max_tool_iterations": 20              // Max agentic tool-call loop iterations
  }
}

Web Search Tools

Get free API keys:

Tavily: https://tavily.com — 1,000 free queries/month
Brave Search: https://brave.com/search/api — 2,000 free queries/month

json

"tools": {
  "web": {
    "tavily": {
      "enabled": true,
      "api_key": "$TAVILY_API_KEY"
    },
    "brave": {
      "enabled": false,
      "api_key": "$BRAVE_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Only enable one search provider at a time unless you want fallback behavior.

Common Patterns

Pattern: Minimal $10 Device Setup

For a LicheeRV-Nano or similar ultra-low-resource board:

bash

# Download the RISC-V or ARM binary from releases
wget https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases/download/v0.1.1/picoclaw-linux-riscv64
chmod +x picoclaw-linux-riscv64

# Initialize
./picoclaw-linux-riscv64 onboard

# Edit config — use a lightweight model, low max_tokens
cat > ~/.picoclaw/config.json << 'EOF'
{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "workspace": "~/.picoclaw/workspace",
      "model_name": "gpt-4o-mini",
      "max_tokens": 2048,
      "temperature": 0.5,
      "max_tool_iterations": 10
    }
  },
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-4o-mini",
      "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
      "api_key": "$OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "request_timeout": 120
    }
  ]
}
EOF

./picoclaw-linux-riscv64

Pattern: Full-Stack Dev Assistant with Web Search

json

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "workspace": "~/projects",
      "model_name": "claude-sonnet",
      "max_tokens": 8192,
      "temperature": 0.3,
      "max_tool_iterations": 30
    }
  },
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "claude-sonnet",
      "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
      "api_key": "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
      "request_timeout": 600
    }
  ],
  "tools": {
    "web": {
      "tavily": {
        "enabled": true,
        "api_key": "$TAVILY_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Pattern: Docker with Environment Variables

yaml

# docker/docker-compose.override.yml
services:
  picoclaw-gateway:
    environment:
      - OPENAI_API_KEY=${OPENAI_API_KEY}
      - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}
      - TAVILY_API_KEY=${TAVILY_API_KEY}
      - PICOCLAW_GATEWAY_HOST=0.0.0.0

bash

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml -f docker/docker-compose.override.yml --profile gateway up -d

Pattern: Build for a Specific Target in Go

bash

# Cross-compile for MIPS (OpenWRT routers)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=mips GOMIPS=softfloat go build -o build/picoclaw-linux-mips ./cmd/picoclaw

# Cross-compile for 32-bit ARM (older Raspberry Pi)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm GOARM=7 go build -o build/picoclaw-linux-arm ./cmd/picoclaw

# Cross-compile for RISC-V 64-bit
GOOS=linux GOARCH=riscv64 go build -o build/picoclaw-linux-riscv64 ./cmd/picoclaw

Troubleshooting

Binary won't execute on device

bash

# Verify the binary matches the device architecture
file picoclaw-linux-arm64
uname -m   # Should match: aarch64 = arm64, x86_64 = amd64

# Ensure executable permission
chmod +x picoclaw-linux-arm64

"Permission denied" on Termux

Termux requires

proot

for some system calls:

bash

pkg install proot
termux-chroot ./picoclaw-linux-arm64 onboard

API key not recognized

Do not use
```
"api_key": "sk-..."
```
literals in config — set env vars and reference them as
```
"$OPENAI_API_KEY"
```
.
Verify the env var is exported in your current shell:
```
echo $OPENAI_API_KEY
```
.

Docker gateway not reachable from host

Set

PICOCLAW_GATEWAY_HOST=0.0.0.0

in the environment or in

config.json

before starting the container.

High memory usage in recent versions

The project notes that recent PRs may push RAM usage to 10–20MB. If this is a concern on ultra-low-memory devices, pin to an earlier release tag:

bash

git checkout v0.1.1
make build

Config file location

Default:

~/.picoclaw/config.json

Override at runtime:

bash

picoclaw -config /path/to/custom-config.json

Rebuild after dependency changes

bash

cd picoclaw
make deps
make build

Hardware Targets Quick Reference

Device	Price	Binary
LicheeRV-Nano (E/W)	~$10	`picoclaw-linux-riscv64`
NanoKVM	~$30–50	`picoclaw-linux-riscv64`
MaixCAM / MaixCAM2	~$50–100	`picoclaw-linux-arm64`
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (32-bit OS)	~$15	`picoclaw-linux-arm`
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (64-bit OS)	~$15	`picoclaw-linux-arm64`
Android via Termux	—	`picoclaw-linux-arm64`
Standard Linux x86_64	—	`picoclaw-linux-amd64`

picoclaw-ai-assistant

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

PicoClaw AI Assistant

Installation

Precompiled Binary

Build from Source

Docker Compose

Docker: Web Console (Launcher Mode)

Docker: One-shot Agent Mode

Docker: Expose Gateway to Host

Termux (Android)

Quick Start

1. Initialize

2. Configure
`~/.picoclaw/config.json`

3. Run

Key CLI Commands

Configuration Reference

Model Entry Fields

Supported Provider Prefixes

Agent Defaults

Web Search Tools

Common Patterns

Pattern: Minimal $10 Device Setup

Pattern: Full-Stack Dev Assistant with Web Search

Pattern: Docker with Environment Variables

Pattern: Build for a Specific Target in Go

Troubleshooting

Binary won't execute on device

"Permission denied" on Termux

API key not recognized

Docker gateway not reachable from host

High memory usage in recent versions

Config file location

Rebuild after dependency changes

Hardware Targets Quick Reference