iClaw

Minimalist agent UI - give it a project, it works only within it. Isolated memory, isolated folders

Demo

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/14a844e3-c1bb-4baf-98af-f52efefe77aa

Pick a mode, then watch iClaw inspect an untrusted shell script inside an isolated sandbox — ~50s, no sound.

Install

Requires Node.js 20+

npx @iclawapp/iclaw

Press g in the terminal to open the UI in your browser

Star history

Chat modes

Mode	What it does	Backend
Work	AI edits files in folders you pick; you approve every change.	iClaw runtime
Safe work & Internet research	Locked Docker sandbox — run untrusted code and research the web.	iClaw runtime
Full Power (default)	The full OpenClaw agent — files, tools, shell, browser.	OpenClaw Gateway
Incognito	Private, read-only research — reads files & the web, never writes, nothing saved.	iClaw runtime

The three runtime modes need Docker running and an OpenRouter key (Settings); without either the composer falls back to Full Power. Architecture: AGENTS.md.

Why iClaw

Today's agents run as you — your shell, your files, your credentials, your cloud bill. That's exactly where it hurts:

🔒 "It ran rm -rf ~/ and wiped my Mac." A real 1,500-upvote thread — the agent runs on your filesystem with nothing between the model and the shell. iClaw runs untrusted code in a Docker sandbox where the command literally cannot see the rest of your computer, and touches real files only in folders you pick.

💸 $20 gone in a day, then rate-limited mid-task. One vendor, one price they can double overnight. iClaw is model-agnostic — cheap DeepSeek + Gemini out of the box, or bring GPT / Claude / anything via OpenRouter. No lock-in, no per-seat plan.

📁 It forgot what it was doing and mixed two projects up. iClaw seals each project off — its own chats, memory and folders. Nothing bleeds between them, and nothing leaves your machine: it's local and loopback-only.

⚡ No setup marathon. npx, paste one OpenRouter key, and you're in — iClaw pre-pulls the sandbox in the background and hands you one-click Install buttons for Docker and OpenClaw. No compose files, no config to hand-edit.

✨ A clean UI, not a cockpit. A minimalist, ChatGPT-style surface — light/dark, a tight design system, nothing you don't need.

	iClaw	OpenClaw	Hermes	Claude Code
Surface	Local browser GUI	CLI	CLI + chat apps	Terminal
Setup pain	💀💀	💀💀💀💀💀	💀💀💀💀	💀
Projects sealed off — own chats, memory, folders	✅	❌	❌	~ per-repo file
Pick your trust level per chat	✅ 4 modes	❌	~	~
Untrusted code can't escape its folders	✅ Docker	❌	~	~
Any model · no lock-in	✅	✅	✅	❌ Anthropic only
Encrypted, self-destructing share links	✅	❌	❌	❌

_{✅ yes · ~ partial · ❌ no · 💀 = setup hassle (fewer = easier)}

→ Only iClaw gives you sealed projects, a per-folder sandbox, and a GUI — with any model you want.

More

• Encrypted chat sharing — hit Share in any chat for an end-to-end encrypted link (AES-256-GCM; password, burn-after-read, TTL). Powered by iClaw-cloud.
• Remote Access (alpha) — reach the UI from another device over an iclaw-relay tunnel (Settings → Remote Access). Not externally audited yet — see docs/REMOTE_ACCESS.md.

For developers

git clone https://github.com/iClawApp/iClaw.git
cd iClaw && npm install && npm run dev

Web UI on http://localhost:3000, Gateway on http://127.0.0.1:18789 (OPENCLAW_BASE_URL). Env vars: .env.example · Architecture & coding rules: AGENTS.md.

License and contributing

CONTRIBUTING.md · ROADMAP.md · CHANGELOG.md

MIT — see LICENSE.