How to Deploy OpenClaw with Docker — Complete Guide

Docker deployments are my preferred pattern for anything production-grade. You get clean isolation, easy updates, and the ability to move your agent between servers without reinstalling dependencies. Here's how to do it properly.

Basic Dockerfile

Create a Dockerfile in a new directory:

FROM node:20-slim

WORKDIR /app

# Install OpenClaw globally
RUN npm install -g openclaw

# Create workspace directory
RUN mkdir -p /root/.openclaw/workspace

# Expose gateway port (if needed for webhooks)
EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["openclaw", "gateway", "start"]

Docker Compose Setup

Using docker-compose is much easier for managing volumes and environment variables. Create docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'

services:
  openclaw:
    build: .
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - OPENCLAW_LLM_PROVIDER=anthropic
      - OPENCLAW_LLM_API_KEY=${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}
      - NODE_ENV=production
    volumes:
      - ./workspace:/root/.openclaw/workspace
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"

Create a .env file (never commit to git):

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-YOUR_KEY_HERE

Add .env to your .gitignore.

Initialize Workspace

Before first run, create your workspace files:

mkdir -p ./workspace

cat > ./workspace/SOUL.md << 'EOF'
# SOUL.md
You are a focused AI assistant. Be direct, resourceful, and earn trust through competence.
EOF

Build and Run

docker-compose build
docker-compose up -d
docker-compose logs -f

Updating OpenClaw

This is where Docker shines. To update to the latest OpenClaw version:

docker-compose build --no-cache
docker-compose up -d

Your workspace files are on the host (via the volume mount), so they're completely safe during updates.

Multiple Agents

services:
  agent-main:
    build: .
    volumes:
      - ./workspace-main:/root/.openclaw/workspace
    environment:
      - OPENCLAW_LLM_API_KEY=${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}

  agent-nova:
    build: .
    volumes:
      - ./workspace-nova:/root/.openclaw/workspace
    environment:
      - OPENCLAW_LLM_API_KEY=${OPENAI_API_KEY}

Health Checks

Add a health check to auto-restart if the gateway crashes:

healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "openclaw", "gateway", "status"]
  interval: 30s
  timeout: 10s
  retries: 3

The OpenClaw Playbook has a production Docker deployment chapter with reverse proxy configuration (Nginx/Caddy), SSL termination, and monitoring setup for self-hosted agents running in containers.