OpenClaw on Android — Setup Guide¶

Repo: AidanPark/openclaw-android Stars: 1,649 | Author: Aidan Park Requirements: Android 7.0+, Termux Skills.sh: npx skills add aradotso/hermes-skills --skill openclaw-android-setup

What It Is¶

Run OpenClaw — the autonomous AI agent framework — directly on Android without a full Linux distribution. The standard approach requires proot-distro + Debian/Ubuntu (700MB–1GB overhead). This project installs just the glibc dynamic linker (ld.so), letting Node.js and OpenClaw run natively on Android's Linux kernel through Termux.

Architecture Comparison¶

Standard approach (heavy):

Linux Kernel → Android/Bionic libc → Termux → proot-distro → Debian/Ubuntu → glibc → Node.js → OpenClaw

This project (lightweight):

Linux Kernel → Android/Bionic libc → Termux → glibc → Node.js → OpenClaw

Prerequisites¶

Android 7.0+ (API level 24+)
Termux installed (from F-Droid, NOT Google Play — the Play Store version is outdated)
~500MB free storage (vs 1.5GB+ for the proot-distro approach)
Internet connection for initial setup

Installation¶

1. Install Termux¶

Download from F-Droid (recommended):

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.termux/

⚠️ Do NOT use the Google Play Store version — it's outdated and missing critical APIs.

2. Run the One-Command Setup¶

Open Termux and run:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AidanPark/openclaw-android/main/setup.sh | bash

This single command: - Installs required Termux packages (git, curl, nodejs, etc.) - Downloads and sets up the glibc dynamic linker - Installs Node.js with glibc compatibility - Clones and configures OpenClaw - Creates startup scripts

3. Start OpenClaw¶

# Start OpenClaw (first run will prompt for configuration)
openclaw start

# Or use the convenience script
~/openclaw-android/start.sh

Configuration¶

First-Run Setup¶

On first launch, OpenClaw will prompt for: 1. API provider — OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, local model, etc. 2. API key — Your provider's API key 3. Model — Default model selection (e.g., claude-sonnet-4-20250514) 4. Workspace directory — Where OpenClaw stores sessions and configs

Config File Location¶

~/.openclaw/config.yaml

Edit directly:

nano ~/.openclaw/config.yaml

Example Configuration¶

provider: anthropic
model: claude-sonnet-4-20250514
api_key: ${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}
workspace: ~/openclaw-workspace
skills_dir: ~/openclaw-skills

Usage¶

Basic Commands¶

# Start OpenClaw in interactive mode
openclaw

# Run a one-shot task
openclaw run "Summarize the latest AI research papers"

# Start in daemon mode (runs in background)
openclaw daemon start

# Check daemon status
openclaw daemon status

# Stop daemon
openclaw daemon stop

# List installed skills
openclaw skills list

# Install a skill from skills.sh
openclaw skills install aradotso/hermes-skills --skill hermes-agent-framework

Running on Old Android Phones¶

This setup is particularly well-suited for repurposing old Android phones: - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (2017) — runs OpenClaw comfortably - Google Pixel 2 (2017) — known working configuration - Any phone with 4GB+ RAM and Android 7.0+

Battery Optimization¶

For long-running agents:

# Disable battery optimization for Termux (Android settings)
# Settings → Apps → Termux → Battery → Unrestricted

# Or via ADB:
adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +com.termux

Skills Available¶

Once OpenClaw is running, install Hermes-compatible skills:

# Agent infrastructure
openclaw skills install aradotso/hermes-skills --skill hermes-agent-framework
openclaw skills install aradotso/hermes-skills --skill hermes-agent-self-evolution

# Communication
openclaw skills install aradotso/hermes-skills --skill hermesclaw-wechat-multi-agent

# Security
openclaw skills install prompt-security/clawsec --skill soul-guardian

Troubleshooting¶

"glibc not found" error¶

# Re-run the glibc setup
cd ~/openclaw-android
./scripts/setup-glibc.sh

"Termux packages outdated"¶

# Update Termux packages
pkg update && pkg upgrade

Node.js version mismatch¶

# The setup installs a specific Node.js version for glibc compatibility
# To reinstall:
cd ~/openclaw-android
./scripts/install-node.sh

Storage space issues¶

# Check free space
df -h /data/data/com.termux/files/home

# Clean up unused packages
pkg clean

Wake lock / sleep issues¶

Android may kill Termux background processes to save battery:

# Acquire a wake lock in Termux
termux-wake-lock acquire

# Release when done
termux-wake-lock release

Security Notes¶

API keys are stored in ~/.openclaw/config.yaml — set appropriate file permissions
Consider using environment variables: provider: anthropic with api_key: ${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}
The Android device should have screen lock enabled
For production use, consider a dedicated device with no personal data

CorpusIQ Use Cases¶

Use Case	How
Mobile monitoring agent	Run an OpenClaw agent on an old phone to monitor social mentions 24/7
Edge AI deployment	Repurpose old Android devices as low-power Hermes-compatible agent nodes
Field testing	Test agent skills on mobile before deploying to production servers
Personal assistant	Always-on agent on your secondary phone for research, scheduling, reminders
Learning platform	Low-cost Hermes/OpenClaw sandbox for experimenting with agent configurations

Comparison: Android vs Other Deployment Options¶

Platform	Setup Time	Storage	RAM Required	Power Draw
Android (this project)	5 min	500MB	2GB	3-5W
Linux server (cloud)	2 min	2GB	4GB	N/A
Raspberry Pi 5	15 min	8GB	4GB	5-8W
Mac Mini	5 min	5GB	8GB	15-20W

Setup guide by CorpusIQ. Project by Aidan Park. OpenClaw framework by the open-source community.