OpenClaw Helm Chart

A slim Helm chart for OpenClaw designed without Chromium browser integration. This chart focuses on minimal resource usage while maintaining full OpenClaw functionality for text-based interactions.

Install

helm install openclaw oci://ghcr.io/thepagent/openclaw-helm -n openclaw --create-namespace

The --create-namespace flag will create the openclaw namespace if it doesn't exist.

Verify Installation

Run the built-in connectivity test to verify the gateway is responding:

helm test openclaw -n openclaw

This validates that the OpenClaw gateway is accessible on localhost within the pod.

Design Philosophy

This chart is designed with three core principles:

1. Minimal Resource Footprint - Optimized to run on small cloud instances (2 vCPU, 2GB RAM). Tested on Zeabur and similar constrained environments.

2. Decoupled Browser Architecture - We exclude the Chromium sidecar container. Browser capabilities should be decoupled from the gateway. For browser automation, we recommend using Vercel agent-browser with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Browser.

3. Security by Design - The gateway binds to loopback (127.0.0.1) even in Kubernetes environments. This ensures the gateway is only accessible through Kubernetes Service boundaries, not directly exposed on all network interfaces.

Post-Installation Setup

After installing the chart, run the OpenClaw onboarding wizard to configure your AI provider:

sudo kubectl exec -it deployment/openclaw-openclaw-helm -n openclaw -c main -- openclaw onboard

This interactive wizard will guide you through:

• Security acknowledgment
• AI provider selection (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
• Authentication setup (OAuth or API keys)
• Optional: Channel configuration (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, etc.)
• Optional: Skills installation

Your configuration will be stored in the pod's persistent volume.

Configure Channels (e.g. Telegram)

To configure channels after onboarding:

# Enter the container
sudo kubectl exec -it deployment/openclaw-openclaw-helm -n openclaw -c main -- openclaw configure --section channels

# Approve a pairing request
sudo kubectl exec -it deployment/openclaw-openclaw-helm -n openclaw -c main -- openclaw pairing approve telegram *******

Alternative: API Key via Secret

If you prefer to skip the wizard and use API keys directly:

sudo kubectl create secret generic openclaw-api-key \
  --from-literal=OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

Update your values.yaml:

envFrom:
  - secretRef:
      name: openclaw-api-key

Upgrade the release:

helm upgrade openclaw oci://ghcr.io/thepagent/openclaw-helm -f values.yaml

Verify Setup

POD=$(sudo kubectl get pod -n openclaw -l app.kubernetes.io/name=openclaw-helm -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')
sudo kubectl exec -n openclaw $POD -- openclaw models status

Backup

Before upgrading or making changes, backup your OpenClaw configuration:

POD=$(sudo kubectl get pod -n openclaw -l app.kubernetes.io/name=openclaw-helm -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')
sudo kubectl cp openclaw/$POD:/home/node/.openclaw ~/openclaw-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)

This backs up all configuration, credentials, and channel settings to your host machine.

Note: This Helm chart will NOT override openclaw.json if it already exists in the PVC, but it's always best practice to backup before upgrading.

Restore from Backup

To restore a backup:

POD=$(sudo kubectl get pod -n openclaw -l app.kubernetes.io/name=openclaw-helm -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')
sudo kubectl cp ~/openclaw-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS/. openclaw/$POD:/home/node/.openclaw/
sudo kubectl rollout restart deployment/openclaw-openclaw-helm -n openclaw

Upgrade

To upgrade to the latest version:

helm upgrade openclaw oci://ghcr.io/thepagent/openclaw-helm -n openclaw

For k3s users: You need to specify the kubeconfig path:

export KUBECONFIG=/etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml
sudo -E helm upgrade openclaw oci://ghcr.io/thepagent/openclaw-helm -n openclaw

The -E flag preserves the KUBECONFIG environment variable when running with sudo.

Uninstall

helm uninstall openclaw

Further Reading

To customize your own backup or auto-upgrade strategy, read:

• docs/backup.md — backup concept, workflow, and restore steps
• docs/auto_upgrade.md — automated version checking and upgrade workflow

Share these docs with your AI agent and ask it to implement the scripts for your environment.

Example: Add more skills

skills:
  - weather
  - gog
  - your-skill-name