Run your own personal AI assistant that lives in your Discord server, automates tasks, tracks your sweepstakes sites, and works 24/7 — even when you're offline. This is the exact setup I use.
Watch the full beginner walkthrough — covers everything from setup to first automation.
OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant framework that gives you a personal Claude/GPT-powered AI that runs on your own machine or VPS, connects to your Discord server, has access to your files and tools, and can automate tasks on your behalf — 24 hours a day.
OpenClaw connects directly to your Discord server as a bot. Talk to it just like you'd message a person — it reads and responds in any channel you give it access to.
Uses the latest Claude or GPT-4 models under the hood. You supply your own API key, so you're in full control of which model and how much you spend.
Can browse the web, read and write files, run shell commands, take screenshots, send messages, execute code — whatever you give it permission to do.
On a VPS it stays online permanently. No need to keep your PC on. It can monitor things, post updates, and complete tasks even while you sleep.
Extend it with skills — pre-built packages that give the AI new capabilities like weather, TTS voice, web search, and more. Install them with one command.
Because it runs on your own machine, your files and conversations don't go through any third-party servers. Full privacy by default.
A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a cloud computer that runs 24/7. You connect to it remotely and install OpenClaw there so your AI assistant is always online — even when your PC is off. I strongly recommend starting with a fresh VPS rather than installing on your personal machine.
This is the VPS provider I personally use for my OpenClaw setup. Windows VPS options, fast provisioning, reliable uptime, and straightforward pricing. Exactly what you need for a 24/7 AI assistant deployment.
The plan I use: WIN VPS M — 6 CPU cores, 16 GB RAM, 100 GB NVMe, unlimited bandwidth. From $27.40/month.
Once your Windows VPS is running, the full setup takes about 15 minutes. Everything below runs in PowerShell on your VPS — connect via Remote Desktop (RDP) first.
Your VPS provider will send you the IP address, username, and password. On Windows, open Remote Desktop Connection (search "mstsc" in Start), enter the IP, and log in with your credentials.
Once connected, open PowerShell as Administrator — right-click the Start menu → Windows PowerShell (Admin).
OpenClaw provides a one-line PowerShell installer that handles Node.js detection, installation, and the initial setup wizard automatically.
The installer will detect if Node.js 22+ is missing and install it for you. Follow the onboarding prompts when they appear.
If you already have Node 22+ installed, you can also run:
npm install -g openclaw@latest
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
OpenClaw needs an API key to power its AI responses. The easiest option is Anthropic's Claude API. Get a key at console.anthropic.com — Claude Sonnet 4 is the recommended model for a good balance of intelligence and cost.
During onboarding OpenClaw will prompt you for this, or you can configure it manually:
Go to discord.com/developers/applications, create a New Application, then:
bot + applications.commands scopes and Send Messages, Read Message History, Embed Links, Attach Files permissionsKeep your bot token — you'll need it in the next step.
Back in your VPS terminal, add Discord as a channel. OpenClaw will prompt you for your bot token and guild (server) ID.
In Discord: User Settings → Advanced → enable Developer Mode. Then right-click your server name and click "Copy Server ID".
Start OpenClaw's background service (the "gateway") and verify everything is working:
If everything is green, head to your Discord server and send your bot a direct message. It should respond within a few seconds.
The gateway daemon is installed as a system service by default, so it restarts automatically if your VPS reboots. Verify it's set to auto-start:
Your AI assistant is now live 24/7. Message it in Discord from anywhere and it will respond.
Once OpenClaw is running on your VPS and connected to Discord, the possibilities expand quickly. Here's what our community uses it for:
Ask it to check for new sites, compare bonus offers, update your spreadsheet, or draft announcements for your community — all from a Discord message.
Tell it what you want to announce and it writes it in your style, formats it, and can even post it directly to your Discord channels.
Generate YouTube Shorts and TikTok videos from screen recordings with auto-generated text overlays and captions — ready to upload.
Brief it on a topic and it writes full SEO-optimized blog articles matching your site's style, then commits and pushes them to your GitHub repo.
Set it to check emails, calendar events, and community activity periodically — and proactively ping you in Discord when something needs attention.
In your Discord server it can answer member questions about your guides, link to resources, and handle FAQs while you're busy.
Join our Discord community where I share my exact OpenClaw configuration, the skills I use, and can answer any setup questions you run into along the way.
Join the Community →