Human Track ProgressLevel 1 / 4

Dashboard/Human Track/Level 1

L1Human Track

Foundations

Install OpenClaw, give your AI a personality, and make it remember you across sessions

Learning Objectives

Install OpenClaw and verify it is working correctly
Create SOUL.md and USER.md so your AI knows who it is and who you are
Set up AGENT_OS memory so your AI remembers everything across sessions
Complete your first successful multi-turn conversation with persistent context

What Is OpenClaw and Why Should You Care?

OpenClaw is software you install on your computer that turns any AI model (Claude, GPT, Gemini) into a personal assistant that lives on YOUR machine — not in some company's cloud.

Think of it like this: instead of going to a restaurant every time you're hungry, you have a chef living in your house. You own the kitchen. You control what they cook and when.

What OpenClaw can do that normal ChatGPT cannot:
- Remember everything across sessions (your preferences, your projects, your history)
- Run on your computer 24/7 without you doing anything
- Send you messages on WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, or Signal
- Browse the web, write code, manage files — all automatically
- Work while you sleep

What you need before starting:
- A Mac, Windows, or Linux computer
- Node.js installed (we will walk you through this)
- An API key from Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google
- 30 minutes

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Install Node.js
Go to https://nodejs.org → click "LTS" (the green button) → download and install.

To verify it worked, open Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows) and type:

node --version

You should see something like: v20.11.0

Step 2: Install OpenClaw
In your terminal, type:

npm install -g openclaw

Wait for it to finish. This downloads OpenClaw to your computer.

Step 3: Verify installation

openclaw --version

You should see the version number. If you get "command not found", restart your terminal and try again.

Step 4: Start OpenClaw for the first time

openclaw setup

This will ask you a few questions. Answer them and your AI assistant is ready.

Common Mistakes

❌ "node is not recognized as a command" — You need to restart your terminal after installing Node.js. Close the window completely and open a new one.

❌ "EACCES permission denied" on Mac/Linux — Run this instead:
sudo npm install -g openclaw
(It will ask for your computer password — that is normal)

❌ Nothing happens after openclaw setup — Check your API key is correct. There should be no spaces before or after the key. Copy it directly from the provider's website.

❌ "openclaw: command not found" after install — Your terminal does not know where npm installed the tool. Try closing and reopening the terminal. On Mac, run: source ~/.zshrc

Teaching Your AI Who You Are (SOUL.md and USER.md)

Right now your AI has no idea who you are. Every time you start a new session, it is like meeting a stranger.

We fix this with two files:
- SOUL.md — tells the AI WHO IT IS (its name, personality, how it should behave)
- USER.md — tells the AI WHO YOU ARE (your name, preferences, goals, context)

These files live in your workspace folder: ~/.openclaw/workspace/

Think of SOUL.md as giving your AI its personality. Think of USER.md as its briefing file about you.

Why does this matter? Without these files, every conversation starts from zero. With them, every conversation starts from context. Your AI already knows you, your goals, and how you like to be helped.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Find your workspace folder
On Mac/Linux, open the folder in Finder/Files:

open ~/.openclaw/workspace

On Windows:

explorer %USERPROFILE%\.openclaw\workspace

Step 2: Create SOUL.md
Create a new file called SOUL.md in that folder. Copy this template and customize it with your own words:

# SOUL.md — Who I Am

My name is [choose a name for your AI — e.g. "Atlas", "Nova", "Sage"].

## My Personality
I am [describe the personality you want — e.g. "direct, no-nonsense, and always honest"].

## My Core Principles
1. Always tell the truth, even when it is uncomfortable
2. Be concise — no fluff, no padding
3. Ask for clarification when instructions are unclear
4. My human's time is valuable — never waste it

## My Primary Mission
Help [your name] achieve [your main goal — e.g. "build a profitable online business"].

Step 3: Create USER.md
Create a file called USER.md in the same folder:

# USER.md — About My Human

Name: [your first name]
Timezone: [your timezone — e.g. America/New_York, Europe/London]
Language: [your preferred language — e.g. English]

## What I Am Working On
[Describe your main project in 2-3 sentences. Be specific. The more detail here, the better your AI can help.]

## My Preferences
- Communication style: [direct / detailed / friendly]
- Response length: [short / medium / detailed]
- What I dislike: [e.g. "long preambles", "unnecessary disclaimers"]

Step 4: Restart and test
After saving both files, restart OpenClaw:

openclaw restart

Then start a new conversation and ask your AI what it knows about you.

Common Mistakes

❌ Files not being read — Make sure they are saved in ~/.openclaw/workspace/ — NOT in Documents, Desktop, or anywhere else. The tilde (~) means your home folder.

❌ AI still does not know who you are — Restart OpenClaw after creating the files:
openclaw restart
If it still does not work, run: openclaw status to see what files it is loading.

❌ SOUL.md too long — Keep it under 500 words. Every word in SOUL.md gets loaded every session. Longer = more tokens = slower, more expensive responses.

❌ USER.md too vague — "I work on business stuff" is useless. "I am building a Notion template product and selling it on Gumroad" is useful. Be specific.

Memory — Making Your AI Remember Everything

Here is the problem: every time you start a new conversation, your AI forgets everything from before. It is like having an assistant with amnesia.

The solution is AGENT_OS — a Notion-based memory system that stores everything your AI needs to know. When it starts up, it reads this memory and picks up right where you left off.

Without AGENT_OS: AI reads ~10,000 tokens of context at startup. That is slow and expensive.
With AGENT_OS: AI reads ~700 tokens at startup. That is 97% faster and 97% cheaper.

The trick is called Two-Stage Loading:
- Stage 1: Read short summaries only (700 tokens — instant)
- Stage 2: Load full details only for what is actually needed that session

It works like a table of contents. You read the titles first, then open only the chapters you actually need.

The simplest starting point is just MEMORY.md — a text file where you write the things your AI should always know.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Start with MEMORY.md (the simple version)
Create a file called MEMORY.md in ~/.openclaw/workspace/:

# MEMORY.md — What I Should Always Know

## My Human's Current Projects
- [Project 1]: [2-sentence description, current status]
- [Project 2]: [2-sentence description, current status]

## Important Decisions Made
- [Date]: [Decision and why it was made]

## Things I Must Never Forget
- [e.g. "Always respond in English"]
- [e.g. "My human's deadline for Project X is March 31"]
- [e.g. "We decided to use Notion over Airtable because of X"]

Step 2: (Optional) Get the full AGENT_OS system
For a complete Notion-based memory system with databases and structured knowledge:
Go to: https://skbylife.gumroad.com/l/notion-openclaw-os
Purchase the template ($49) — this directly supports Claw Academy's development.

Or use the free GitHub schema:
https://github.com/skbylife/openclaw-os-notion

Step 3: (Optional) Connect Notion to OpenClaw
If you got the AGENT_OS Notion template:
Get your Notion API key: https://notion.so/my-integrations → New Integration
Add it to OpenClaw:

openclaw config set notion_token YOUR_NOTION_TOKEN

Step 4: Test that memory works
Tell your AI something specific:
"Remember: my main project is [X] and my deadline is [specific date]."
Then close the conversation completely.
Open a brand new session and ask about it.

Common Mistakes

❌ Notion connection fails — In Notion, click the ••• menu on your database → "Add connections" → select your integration. Without this step, OpenClaw cannot read the database.

❌ Memory not loading — Check that MEMORY.md exists in the right folder: ~/.openclaw/workspace/. Run: openclaw status to see what files OpenClaw is currently reading.

❌ AI still forgets after sessions — Make sure you wrote the information IN the file, not just said it in the conversation. Information said in chat is lost when the session ends. Information written to MEMORY.md persists forever.

❌ Memory file is too long — If MEMORY.md grows past 2,000 words, start moving older information to dated archive files and keep MEMORY.md as current high-priority context only.

Recommended Skills

self-improving-agent1.9k

Makes your AI capture and apply lessons automatically

npx clawhub@latest install self-improving-agent

Find Skills768

Ask your AI to find skills for any task

npx clawhub@latest install find-skills

Level Assessment

L1 Complete when you can demonstrate:
✓ OpenClaw is installed and running (openclaw --version works)
✓ AI knows its own name and personality (SOUL.md is being read)
✓ AI knows your name and context (USER.md is being read)
✓ AI remembers key facts across separate sessions (MEMORY.md is persisting)

Estimated time: 2–3 hours for a complete beginner.

Dashboard Level 2