🦞 MicroClaw

中文版

MicroClaw makes OpenClaw instantly available on Windows through a familiar, low-friction install experience. It packages the desktop client, local Gateway, managed runtime, preloaded skills, and permission-controlled sandbox into one product so users can get to real tasks quickly. You bring the LLM connection; MicroClaw brings the Windows app, local runtime, and trust boundary.

Warning

AI & Security Notice MicroClaw is an experimental open-source project initiated by Microsoft that provides a secure execution environment and user interface for the open-source OpenClaw software that users have installed on their devices. MicroClaw is not an AI service, it doesn't contain an AI model, nor does it generate or alter user prompts, responses, or any AI-generated contents on behalf of users.

All AI tasks including inferencing and content generation are solely performed by OpenClaw software with the AI model of your choice, accessed via your own API key and credentials. AI-generated content may be incorrect, AI is not a human, and it has no personality. The sandbox restricts what OpenClaw can access but does not prevent OpenClaw or the LLM from performing actions within the permissions you have granted. You are responsible for reviewing all prompts before submission and for not running prompts from untrusted sources.

📄 See DISCLAIMER.md for the full disclaimer, including prompt injection risks, sandbox scope, and limitation of liability.

Why MicroClaw

MicroClaw is designed to remove the usual Windows setup friction around OpenClaw. Instead of asking users to assemble Node.js, OpenClaw, local configuration, skills, and sandboxing by hand, it installs and wires those pieces together in a single flow.

Instant Availability

• Familiar Windows install flow: packaged installer with desktop shortcut, Start menu entry, and one-click uninstall
• One run sets up the runtime: Git, managed Node.js, OpenClaw Gateway, the MicroClaw desktop app, managed skills, and AppContainer provisioning
• Ready after install: launch the app immediately after setup instead of building a local OpenClaw environment by hand

Ready-to-Use Experience

• Only the LLM is bring-your-own: the user supplies the model endpoint, API key, and model name; the rest of the stack is installed and configured by MicroClaw
• Fast path on first launch: if no provider is configured, the app opens a setup wizard that asks only for model credentials; if MODEL_* values already exist in .env, MicroClaw can auto-configure them
• Recommended tasks on day one: the home screen ships with starter task cards and prompt suggestions so users can begin with concrete tasks instead of a blank chat box
• Preloaded capability surface: 52 bundled skills plus 7 managed skills are available as part of the default Windows experience

Built-In Trust

• Transparent, permission-controlled actions: file and tool access requests are surfaced to the user instead of being silently granted
• Sandboxed with Windows AppContainer: tool execution runs inside an OS-enforced AppContainer boundary on supported systems
• Hooks plus sandbox, defense in depth: hook-based prechecks improve UX while AppContainer ACL enforcement remains the actual security boundary
• Hard blocks for sensitive paths: credential-heavy locations such as .ssh and cloud config folders are denied rather than merely warned about

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Architecture

graph TB
    User(("👤 User"))

    Desktop["Desktop App"]
    Gateway["OpenClaw Gateway"]
    Skills["Skills<br/><i>52 built-in + 7 managed</i>"]
    Plugins["Plugins<br/><i>WeChat · Teams</i>"]
    PermMgr["Permission Manager"]
    Installer["Installer"]

    subgraph External["External Services"]
        LLM["LLM API"]
        ThirdParty["WeChat · Bing · M365"]
    end

    User --> Desktop
    User --> PermMgr
    Desktop <--> Gateway
    Gateway --> Skills
    Gateway --> Plugins
    Gateway --> LLM
    Skills --> ThirdParty
    Plugins --> ThirdParty
    Installer -.->|"sets up"| Desktop
    Installer -.->|"sets up"| Gateway

    classDef app fill:#4A90D9,stroke:#2C5F8A,color:#fff
    classDef gw fill:#3AAA6D,stroke:#2B7F52,color:#fff
    classDef ext fill:#E8744F,stroke:#B85636,color:#fff
    classDef tool fill:#78C0E0,stroke:#5090B0,color:#333

    class Desktop app
    class Gateway,Skills,Plugins gw
    class LLM,ThirdParty ext
    class PermMgr,Installer tool

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Key Interactions

Path	Protocol	Description
Renderer ↔ Main Process	Electron IPC	namespace:action pattern (e.g. chat:send-message, gateway:restart)
Main Process ↔ Gateway	WebSocket JSON-RPC	Port 18789 loopback, Ed25519 device auth, streaming chat events
Main Process → Gateway	HTTP	/health polled every 10s; process spawn with auto-restart
Gateway → LLM	HTTPS	Streaming API calls to Claude / OpenAI / Gemini
Gateway → Skills	In-process	Agent loop invokes tool calls; results fed back to LLM
WeChat Plugin → WeChat	HTTPS	Long-poll getUpdates + sendMessage
Permission Manager → AppContainer	Win32 API	AppContainer security capabilities + Job Object resource limits

---

Components

Component	Path	Stack	Description
Desktop App	desktop/	Electron 33 + TypeScript + Vue 3 + Element Plus	Chat UI, Gateway lifecycle management, system tray
AppContainer Sandbox	appcontainer/	.NET 9 + Node.js preload hooks	Windows AppContainer launcher + permission hooks for tool isolation
Installer	deploy.py + deployer/	Python 3 + Tkinter	Wizard-style graphical installer (can be packaged as a single exe)
Skill Packs	skills/	Markdown + JSON + Python/Node	Office, search, browser automation managed skills
WeChat Plugin	plugins/openclaw-weixin/	TypeScript + OpenClaw Plugin SDK	WeChat channel integration

---

Quick Start

MicroClaw targets Windows 10/11. For most users, the only thing you need to bring is an LLM endpoint and API key.

1. Install

Note on releases: The MicroClaw GitHub release page does not ship a pre-built installer binary. Users build the installer from source themselves using the steps below. This is intentional — see the Releases section.

Build the installer from source, then run it:

Build prerequisites (only needed to run build.ps1): Node.js 22+ and Python 3.10+. Install the Python build dependencies with pip install -r requirements.txt (this includes PyInstaller, used to package the installer exe). End users running the packaged MicroClawInstaller.exe do not need Python.

.\build.ps1                                        # produces dist/MicroClawInstaller/MicroClawInstaller.exe
.\dist\MicroClawInstaller\MicroClawInstaller.exe   # run the installer wizard

The installer handles the Windows-side setup in a single run:

• Git for Windows (PortableGit → ~/.openclaw-git)
• Node.js 22+ via the official signed .msi (per-machine install to %ProgramFiles%\nodejs\, UAC-elevated; an existing system Node ≥22.16 at that path is reused as-is)
• OpenClaw Gateway (npm install -g openclaw)
• Configures the npm registry mirror and V8 compile cache
• Installs the MicroClaw desktop client, managed skills, AppContainer sandbox, WeChat plugin
• Adds Windows Defender exclusions, creates desktop shortcuts (including one-click Uninstall)

After install, launch MicroClaw from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut. The desktop app auto-starts the Gateway.

2. Add your model credentials

On first launch, the desktop app opens a SetupWizard only when model configuration is missing. The required user input is your model connection:

• Base URL
• API Key
• Model name

You can add or edit models any time under Settings → Models. Credentials are stored locally by the desktop app. If .env already contains MODEL_BASE_URL, MODEL_API_KEY, and MODEL_NAME, MicroClaw can prefill or auto-apply that configuration.

3. Start working immediately

The default home screen is not empty. It ships with starter task cards such as daily news, desktop organization, and travel help, plus prompt suggestions for common work. The bundled and managed skills are already installed, so optional service-specific credentials can be added later only when a particular workflow needs them.

---

Uninstall

One-click uninstall — double-click the Uninstall MicroClaw shortcut on your desktop (or run MicroClawInstaller.exe --uninstall). This removes the desktop app, skills, sandbox config, shortcuts, and the Node.js / Git / OpenClaw dependencies that the installer set up.

---

Desktop App

The Electron desktop app is the primary user interface:

• Chat Interface: Built with Vue 3 + Element Plus, supports multiple sessions
• Gateway Management: Automatically starts/restarts the local OpenClaw Gateway
• WebSocket Communication: JSON RPC protocol with Ed25519 device authentication
• Skill Integrity Detection: SHA-256 checksums on all skill files at startup, Ed25519 signature verification
• System Tray: Runs in the background with status indicators

Development mode:

cd desktop
npm install
npm run dev

Linting

ESLint is configured for both the main process and renderer. Run lint before committing to avoid CI failures:

# Desktop main process
cd desktop
npm run lint

# Renderer (Vue 3)
cd desktop/renderer
npm run lint

To generate SARIF output for CI integration:

npm run lint:sarif    # outputs eslint-results.sarif

---

Sandbox Isolation

appcontainer/ provides a Windows AppContainer-based sandbox for isolating tool execution:

• .NET launcher (AppContainerLauncher.exe) runs child processes inside an AppContainer with restricted ACLs
• Node.js preload hooks (sandbox-preload.js, sandbox-fs-hooks.js, …) intercept fs.* / child_process.* calls and prompt the user for permission
• Sensitive-path shield hard-denies access to ~/.ssh, ~/.azure, and other credential directories — no override

See appcontainer/README.md for details.

---

Skill System

Built-in Skills (52)

Installed alongside OpenClaw and controlled via the skills.allowBundled allowlist. Categories include:

Category	Example Skills
Productivity	obsidian, notion, trello, slack, discord, things-mac
AI / Coding	coding-agent, gh-issues, oracle, skill-creator
Communication	imsg, bluebubbles, wacli, voice-call
Smart Home	openhue, blucli, sonoscli, eightctl
Media	spotify-player, songsee, video-frames
Utilities	weather, healthcheck, session-logs, model-usage, tmux
Voice	openai-whisper, sherpa-onnx-tts, sag

Managed Skills (7)

Installed to ~/.openclaw/skills/, these are custom advanced skills included in this project:

Skill	Description
excel-xlsx	Create and edit Excel workbooks
powerpoint-pptx	Create and edit PowerPoint presentations
word-docx	Create and edit Word documents
officecli	Office document CLI tool (create/edit .docx/.xlsx/.pptx)
desktop-organizer	Scan and organize files on the Windows desktop
desktop-beautify	Tidy desktop files and create sticky notes
security-practice	AI agent safety practices (red/yellow line rules, install audit protocol)

---

WeChat Plugin

plugins/openclaw-weixin/ — Connects OpenClaw to WeChat:

• QR code login, no username/password needed
• Multi-account + sender isolation
• Supports text, image, video, and file messages
• Long-polling message updates

---

Security Features

Mechanism	Description
Skill Integrity Checks	SHA-256 hashes + Ed25519 signatures — detects tampering of all skill files at startup
Device Authentication	Each device generates an Ed25519 key pair; Gateway connections are signature-authenticated
Skill Allowlist	allowBundled / allowManaged control the available skill scope
Sandbox Isolation	OS-native AppContainer + Job Object isolation for file system, network, and resource limits
Local Gateway	Binds to loopback only — does not accept remote connections

---

Build

Full build pipeline (PowerShell):

.\build.ps1

This script sequentially:

1. Builds the desktop app (desktop/ → Electron Builder)
2. Creates portable zip package (dist/microclaw-portable.zip)
3. Packages the installer exe (PyInstaller → dist/MicroClawInstaller.exe)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• Python 3.10+ — install build deps with pip install -r requirements.txt (includes PyInstaller)
• .NET 9 SDK (for the AppContainer launcher)
• npm dependencies installed (cd desktop && npm install)

---

Project Structure

Operational Windows scripts now live under scripts/windows/. Root .bat and .ps1 files are retained as compatibility wrappers so existing commands keep working.

├── deploy.py                    # Stable installer entry point (Tkinter GUI)
├── deployer/
│   ├── config.py                # Configuration management (.env + YAML)
│   ├── logger.py                # Thread-safe logger + in-memory ring buffer
│   ├── skill_catalog.py         # 52 built-in + 7 managed skill catalog
│   ├── skill_manager_ui.py      # Skill selector dialog
│   └── windows_setup.py         # Windows install logic (Node/npm/OpenClaw)
├── desktop/                     # Electron desktop app
│   ├── src/                     # Main process (TypeScript)
│   └── renderer/                # Vue 3 renderer process
├── appcontainer/                # Windows AppContainer sandbox (.NET + preload hooks)
├── skills/                      # Managed skill definitions
├── plugins/openclaw-weixin/     # WeChat channel plugin
├── scripts/
│   ├── windows/                 # Canonical Windows helper scripts
│   ├── generate-skill-snapshot.js
│   └── sync-studio-assets.js
├── docs/
│   ├── architecture/            # Repo structure and architectural decisions
│   ├── plans/                   # Planning docs
│   └── reference/               # Design and setup reference material
├── build.ps1                    # One-click build script
├── launch.bat                   # Compatibility wrapper -> scripts/windows/launch.bat
├── setup.bat                    # Compatibility wrapper -> scripts/windows/setup.bat
├── setup-dependencies.ps1       # Compatibility wrapper -> scripts/windows/setup-dependencies.ps1
├── uninstall.bat                # Compatibility wrapper -> scripts/windows/uninstall.bat
├── uninstall-dependencies.ps1   # Compatibility wrapper -> scripts/windows/uninstall-dependencies.ps1
├── start-gateway.cmd            # Manual Gateway start
├── MicroClawDeployer.spec       # PyInstaller packaging config
└── requirements.txt             # Python dependencies

See docs/architecture/repository-layout.md for the structural rules and the long-term migration target.

Configuration

Most users can do everything from Settings inside the desktop app — models, Brave API key, skill allowlist, etc. Runtime settings live in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json; you can hand-edit it if needed.

For developers / unattended installs, the installer also accepts a .env file (MODEL_BASE_URL, MODEL_API_KEY, MODEL_NAME, MODEL_API_FORMAT, MODEL_REASONING_EFFORT, BRAVE_API_KEY) — see .env.example. python deploy.py reads .env from the repo root; the packaged MicroClawInstaller.exe reads .env from next to the exe.

System Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• Python 3.10+ (only required to run the installer)
• Network connection (mainland China mirror support included)
• Optional: Microsoft Edge (browser skills)

Releases

The MicroClaw GitHub release page is intentionally source-only: it does not publish prebuilt installer binaries (MicroClawInstaller.exe, portable zips, or any other packaged artifacts). Users obtain MicroClaw by cloning this repository and running build.ps1 themselves. This keeps the distribution channel transparent and auditable — you only ever run binaries you produced from source you can inspect.

If you fork this project, please honor the same policy unless you intend to take on responsibility for code signing, malware scanning, and supply-chain attestation of any binaries you publish.

Contributing

This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com.

When you submit a pull request, a CLA bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., status check, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed contribution guidelines.

Security

Please see SECURITY.md for information on reporting security vulnerabilities.

License

MIT — see LICENSE for the full license text.