OpenClaw Tips and Tricks: Power User Guide

Introduction

You’ve got OpenClaw set up and working, but are you using it to its full potential? This power user guide covers advanced tips and tricks that will transform your OpenClaw experience. From keyboard shortcuts to prompt engineering, from memory management to self-improving skills—these techniques will help you become an OpenClaw power user.

Whether you’re looking to speed up your workflow, optimize performance, or unlock advanced features, these tips will take your OpenClaw setup to the next level.

Keyboard Shortcuts and Quick Access

Chat App Shortcuts

WhatsApp:

Pin OpenClaw chat for quick access
Use quick replies for common commands
Set up message templates

Telegram:

Use / commands for quick actions
Set up inline keyboards
Create custom bot commands

Discord:

Use slash commands (/openclaw query)
Set up reaction-based interactions
Create custom command aliases

System Shortcuts

macOS Companion App:

Cmd+Shift+C — Open quick query
Cmd+Shift+A — Toggle assistant
Cmd+Shift+S — Show status

CLI Shortcuts:

Ctrl+C — Interrupt current operation
Ctrl+D — Exit OpenClaw
Tab completion for commands

Prompt Engineering for Better Results

Structured Prompts

Use Clear Structure:

Instead of: "check my email"
Use: "Check my email inbox. Categorize emails by:
     1. Urgent (needs immediate response)
     2. Important (respond today)
     3. Can wait (respond this week)
     4. Archive (no response needed)
     
     For urgent emails, draft a reply."

Context Setting

Provide Context:

Instead of: "schedule a meeting"
Use: "Schedule a meeting with Sarah about the Q4 project.
     Preferred times: Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon.
     Duration: 1 hour.
     Include: Project timeline and budget discussion.
     Send calendar invite to both of us."

Refine Based on Results:

You: "Draft an email to the client"
OpenClaw: [Drafts email]

You: "Make it more formal and add the project timeline"
OpenClaw: [Refines email]

You: "Shorten it and add a call-to-action"
OpenClaw: [Final version]

Role-Based Prompts

Assign Roles:

"You are a senior developer reviewing this code. 
 Analyze for:
 - Security vulnerabilities
 - Performance issues
 - Code quality
 - Best practices"

Multi-Channel Setup Strategies

Channel Specialization

Assign Different Roles:

WhatsApp — Personal tasks and quick queries
Telegram — Work-related communications
Discord — Team collaboration and development
Slack — Business operations

Configuration:

# WhatsApp - Personal
WHATSAPP_PERSONA="You are a friendly personal assistant..."

# Telegram - Work
TELEGRAM_PERSONA="You are a professional business assistant..."

# Discord - Development
DISCORD_PERSONA="You are a technical development assistant..."

Unified Experience

Sync Across Channels:

# Enable cross-channel memory
CROSS_CHANNEL_MEMORY=true
SHARED_CONTEXT_ENABLED=true

This allows OpenClaw to remember context across different chat platforms.

Channel-Specific Skills

Load Different Skills:

# WhatsApp skills
WHATSAPP_SKILLS=personal,health,smart-home

# Telegram skills
TELEGRAM_SKILLS=work,calendar,email

# Discord skills
DISCORD_SKILLS=github,sentry,deployment

Memory Management

Backup Memory

Regular Backups:

# Manual backup
openclaw memory backup

# Automated daily backup
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/openclaw memory backup

Backup Locations:

Local: ~/.openclaw/backups/
Cloud: Configure cloud storage sync
Version control: Git-based backups

Memory Optimization

Clean Up Old Data:

# Remove old memories
openclaw memory clean --older-than 90d

# Compress memory database
openclaw memory compress

# Export important memories
openclaw memory export --important-only

Selective Memory

Control What’s Remembered:

You: "Remember that I prefer morning meetings"
OpenClaw: "✅ Saved to memory: Meeting preference - mornings"

You: "Don't remember this conversation"
OpenClaw: "✅ This conversation won't be saved to memory"

Self-Improving Skills

Skill Auto-Update

Enable Auto-Updates:

# Check for skill updates daily
SKILL_AUTO_UPDATE=true
UPDATE_CHECK_INTERVAL=24h

Skill Learning

Let Skills Improve:

// Skill with learning capability
{
  name: 'adaptive-email',
  learn: true,
  improveBasedOnFeedback: true,
  trackSuccessRate: true
}

Feedback Loop

Provide Feedback:

You: "That email categorization was wrong"
OpenClaw: "Thanks for the feedback. What category should 
           'Newsletter from Tech Weekly' be in?"
You: "Newsletters"
OpenClaw: "✅ Updated. Similar emails will be categorized 
           as newsletters in the future."

Cron Job Automation

Setting Up Cron Jobs

Basic Cron Setup:

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Daily health summary at 7am
0 7 * * * /usr/local/bin/openclaw send "daily health summary"

# Weekly report every Monday
0 9 * * 1 /usr/local/bin/openclaw send "weekly report"

# Backup memory daily at 2am
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/openclaw memory backup

Advanced Cron Patterns

Complex Schedules:

# Every weekday at 8am
0 8 * * 1-5 /usr/local/bin/openclaw send "morning briefing"

# Every 6 hours
0 */6 * * * /usr/local/bin/openclaw send "status check"

# First day of month
0 9 1 * * /usr/local/bin/openclaw send "monthly summary"

Cron with Environment Variables

Pass Context:

# Cron with environment
0 7 * * * export OPENCLAW_CHANNEL=whatsapp && /usr/local/bin/openclaw send "good morning"

Cloudflare Tunnel for Remote Access

Setting Up Cloudflare Tunnel

Install Cloudflare Tunnel:

# Install cloudflared
brew install cloudflared  # macOS
# or
wget https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-amd64

# Authenticate
cloudflared tunnel login

# Create tunnel
cloudflared tunnel create openclaw

Configure Tunnel

Tunnel Configuration:

# ~/.cloudflared/config.yml
tunnel: <tunnel-id>
credentials-file: /Users/yourname/.cloudflared/<tunnel-id>.json

ingress:
  - hostname: openclaw.yourdomain.com
    service: http://localhost:3000
  - service: http_status:404

Start Tunnel

Run Tunnel:

# Start tunnel
cloudflared tunnel run openclaw

# Or run as service
cloudflared service install
systemctl start cloudflared

Benefits

Remote Access:

Access OpenClaw from anywhere
Secure HTTPS connection
No port forwarding needed
Free subdomain option

Performance Optimization

Model Selection

Use Appropriate Models:

# Simple queries - use Haiku
SIMPLE_QUERY_MODEL=claude-3-haiku-20240307

# Complex tasks - use Sonnet
COMPLEX_TASK_MODEL=claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

# Critical tasks - use Opus
CRITICAL_TASK_MODEL=claude-3-opus-20240229

Caching Strategies

Enable Caching:

# Cache common responses
ENABLE_RESPONSE_CACHE=true
CACHE_TTL=3600

# Cache API responses
ENABLE_API_CACHE=true

Resource Management

Optimize Resources:

# Limit concurrent requests
MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS=5

# Set memory limits
NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=2048"

# Optimize database
DATABASE_OPTIMIZATION=true

Advanced Configuration

Environment-Specific Configs

Different Configs:

# Development
openclaw --config dev.config.json

# Production
openclaw --config prod.config.json

# Staging
openclaw --config staging.config.json

Feature Flags

Enable/Disable Features:

# Enable experimental features
EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES=true

# Disable specific features
DISABLE_BROWSER_CONTROL=false
DISABLE_FILE_OPS=false

Logging and Debugging

Advanced Logging:

# Verbose logging
LOG_LEVEL=debug

# Log to file
LOG_FILE=/var/log/openclaw.log

# Structured logging
LOG_FORMAT=json

Security Best Practices

API Key Management

Secure Storage:

# Use environment variables
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

# Or use secrets management
# macOS Keychain
security add-generic-password -a openclaw -s anthropic-api-key -w "sk-ant-..."

# Linux secret-tool
secret-tool store --label="OpenClaw API Key" anthropic-api-key

Access Control

Limit Access:

# Whitelist chat users
ALLOWED_USERS=user1,user2,user3

# Require authentication
REQUIRE_AUTH=true

# Rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE=60

Network Security

Secure Connections:

# Use HTTPS
HTTPS_ENABLED=true
SSL_CERT=/path/to/cert.pem
SSL_KEY=/path/to/key.pem

# Firewall rules
# Only allow localhost and Cloudflare tunnel

Troubleshooting Tips

Debug Mode

Enable Debugging:

# Verbose output
openclaw --debug

# Check logs
tail -f ~/.openclaw/logs/openclaw.log

# Test connections
openclaw test --all

Common Issues

Memory Issues:

# Clear cache
openclaw cache clear

# Restart with fresh memory
openclaw restart --clear-cache

Connection Problems:

# Test API connection
openclaw test api

# Check chat bridges
openclaw test bridges

# Verify credentials
openclaw verify credentials

Pro Tips Summary

Daily Workflow

Morning: Check daily briefing
Throughout Day: Use quick queries
Evening: Review and provide feedback
Weekly: Review and optimize setup

Optimization Checklist

Continuous Improvement

Regularly review OpenClaw actions
Provide feedback for better results
Update skills regularly
Optimize based on usage patterns
Experiment with new features

Conclusion

These power user tips will transform your OpenClaw experience. From keyboard shortcuts to advanced automation, from memory management to remote access—these techniques unlock OpenClaw’s full potential.

Start implementing these tips gradually. Focus on areas that will have the biggest impact on your workflow. As you become more comfortable, add more advanced features.

For more help, check out our installation guide, skills documentation, and FAQ. Explore more tutorials or join the community to share your own tips and tricks.

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