a98852c938
Adds a Daytona hosting guide covering sandbox creation, onboarding, secure preview-URL dashboard access, channel setup, updates, and troubleshooting, and links it from the hosting navigation.
Prepared head SHA: 4faf05211b
Co-authored-by: Mislav Ivanda <72461767+mislavivanda@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Shakker <165377636+shakkernerd@users.noreply.github.com>
Reviewed-by: @shakkernerd
9.1 KiB
summary, read_when, title
| summary | read_when | title | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run OpenClaw in a Daytona cloud sandbox with SSH access and signed preview URLs |
|
Daytona |
Run a persistent OpenClaw Gateway in a Daytona cloud
sandbox: an isolated Linux environment with SSH access and built-in preview
URLs, no VPS management required. OpenClaw comes pre-installed in the
daytona-medium snapshot, so setup starts immediately after SSH.
Keep the Gateway on loopback and reach the dashboard through Daytona's signed preview URLs. Do not expose the Gateway port directly to the public internet.
What you need
- Daytona account (free tier available)
- Daytona API key from the Daytona dashboard
- API key for your model provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.)
Install the Daytona CLI
```bash brew install daytonaio/cli/daytona ``` ```powershell powershell -Command "irm https://get.daytona.io/windows | iex" ```Verify the installation:
daytona --version
Older CLI versions miss newer sandbox commands; keep it current (for example
brew upgrade daytonaio/cli/daytona).
Authenticate
daytona login --api-key=YOUR_API_KEY
Create a sandbox
daytona sandbox create --name openclaw --snapshot daytona-medium --auto-stop 0
| Flag | Why |
|---|---|
--snapshot daytona-medium |
Provides enough memory headroom to run the Gateway |
--auto-stop 0 |
Keeps the sandbox running until manually stopped |
Connect via SSH
daytona ssh openclaw
Run onboarding
Inside the sandbox, configure OpenClaw in one command:
openclaw onboard --non-interactive --accept-risk \
--anthropic-api-key YOUR_ANTHROPIC_KEY \
--skip-daemon --skip-channels --skip-skills --skip-hooks --skip-health
--skip-daemon matters: Daytona sandboxes do not run a service manager, so
you start the Gateway manually below. Swap the key flag for your provider
(--openai-api-key, --openrouter-api-key, and so on); openclaw onboard --help lists them all. Channels, skills, and hooks are skipped here and
configured later.
Running openclaw onboard without flags starts a conversational setup
assistant instead and requires an interactive terminal;
openclaw onboard --classic runs the older step-by-step wizard.
Onboarding configures a gateway auth token. Print it any time from the sandbox:
node -p "require(process.env.HOME + '/.openclaw/openclaw.json').gateway.auth.token"
openclaw config get gateway.auth.token returns __OPENCLAW_REDACTED__
rather than the value, because the CLI masks secrets in its output.
Allow the preview URL origin
The Gateway accepts browser connections only from allowed origins, and Daytona's preview proxy sits in front of it. Configure both before starting the Gateway.
From your local terminal (not the sandbox SSH session), generate a signed preview URL for the Gateway port:
daytona preview-url openclaw --port 18789
Copy the URL it prints. Back in the sandbox SSH session, allow that origin and trust the in-sandbox preview proxy, replacing the example URL with your own:
openclaw config set gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins '["PASTE_YOUR_PREVIEW_URL"]'
openclaw config set gateway.trustedProxies '["127.0.0.1"]'
Paste the URL exactly as printed: scheme and host only, with no trailing slash
and no path. The Gateway compares the browser origin literally, and browsers
send https://host without a trailing slash, so https://host/ fails to
match and the connection is rejected. Browser address bars often display that
trailing slash, so copy from the terminal instead.
Start the Gateway
nohup openclaw gateway run > /tmp/gateway.log 2>&1 &
The Gateway runs in the background and survives SSH disconnects. Verify it is up:
openclaw gateway health
The command reports the Gateway status, so OK means you are good to
continue.
To restart the Gateway later (after config changes or updates):
pkill -f "openclaw gateway" || true
nohup openclaw gateway run > /tmp/gateway.log 2>&1 &
Open the dashboard
Open the preview URL you generated earlier in your browser. The Control UI asks for the gateway token on first connect; paste the value you printed after onboarding.
Approve your device
The first browser connection queues a device pairing request. Back in your sandbox SSH session:
# List pending requests and copy the request id
openclaw devices list
# Approve it
openclaw devices approve REQUEST_ID
Security
Access to the Gateway is protected in three layers:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Preview URL | Time-limited signed URL (expires after 1 hour) |
| Gateway token | Required to connect via the Control UI |
| Device approval | Each new browser or client must be explicitly approved |
Keep your gateway token and preview URLs private. The Gateway stays bound to loopback; Daytona's preview proxy handles external access.
Channel setup
Unknown senders require pairing approval by default; see Pairing.
Telegram
Create a bot with @BotFather (/newbot), copy the
token, then configure OpenClaw from the sandbox SSH session:
openclaw config set channels.telegram.enabled true
openclaw config set channels.telegram.botToken YOUR_BOT_TOKEN
Restart the Gateway (see above), send your bot a DM, then approve the pairing code it reports:
openclaw pairing list telegram
openclaw pairing approve telegram PAIRING_CODE
Pairing codes expire after 1 hour. Full reference: Telegram.
WhatsApp ships as a separate plugin, so install and enable it first:
openclaw plugins install clawhub:@openclaw/whatsapp --acknowledge-clawhub-risk
openclaw plugins enable whatsapp
Installing does not enable a plugin, so the enable step is required;
otherwise the Gateway reports the channel as configured but untrusted. Running
the login command below without installing first prompts you to download the
plugin from ClawHub or npm instead.
Then link the account by scanning a QR code from the sandbox SSH session:
openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp
On your phone: Settings → Linked Devices → Link a Device, then scan the QR code shown in the terminal. Restart the Gateway after linking, then message yourself on WhatsApp and OpenClaw replies in that chat.
No pairing approval is needed: with no allowlist configured, the linked account's own number is allowed by default. Pairing applies to unknown senders, which is why Telegram needs it and self-chat does not. Allowlists, personal-number mode, and self-chat details: WhatsApp.
Updating
The snapshot's global npm tree is owned by root, so plain openclaw update
cannot write to it. Update from the sandbox SSH session with:
sudo env "PATH=$PATH" npm install --global openclaw@latest
openclaw doctor
openclaw doctor migrates any older config after the update. Restart the
Gateway afterwards (see above).
Stop and resume the sandbox
# Stop
daytona sandbox stop openclaw
# Resume
daytona sandbox start openclaw
Sandbox state persists across stop/start cycles, but the Gateway process does not auto-start. After a resume, reconnect and start it again:
daytona ssh openclaw
nohup openclaw gateway run > /tmp/gateway.log 2>&1 &
Troubleshooting
Gateway not running after sandbox restart
The Gateway process does not survive a sandbox restart. Reconnect with
daytona ssh openclaw and start it again with the nohup command above.
Preview URL expired
Preview URLs are time-limited (default 3600 seconds). Regenerate from your local terminal, optionally with a longer expiry:
daytona preview-url openclaw --port 18789 --expires 86400
Each generated URL has a different host, so it is a new origin. After
regenerating, update gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins with the new URL and
restart the Gateway, or the Control UI is rejected with origin not allowed.
Sandbox auto-stopped
If the sandbox was created without --auto-stop 0, it stops automatically
when idle. Resume it with daytona sandbox start openclaw.
Gateway port not reachable
Confirm the Gateway is running and listening:
openclaw gateway health
tail -20 /tmp/gateway.log
If you changed the Gateway port, pass the same port to daytona preview-url.
Notes
- For programmatic sandbox provisioning, see the Daytona OpenClaw SDK guide