Viktor Vasylkovskyi
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Running an AI Coding Bot on Raspberry Pi — Part 2 Installing & Wiring Up OpenClaw

Viktor Vasylkovskyi•

Previous: Part 1 - Secure Setup

With the security model in place from Part 1, it's time to actually install OpenClaw and get it talking on Discord. There are a few rough edges along the way — a missing plugin dependency and a pairing step that's easy to miss — but by the end of this post the bot is responding.

Install Node.js 22+

OpenClaw requires Node.js 22 or newer. The cleanest way to get it on a Pi:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
node --version  # should be v22+

Installing OpenClaw

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

You should see output like this:

  🦞 OpenClaw Installer
  It's not "failing," it's "discovering new ways to configure the same thing wrong."

✓ Detected: linux

Install plan
OS: linux
Install method: npm
Requested version: latest

[1/3] Preparing environment
✓ Node.js v22.22.2 found
· Active Node.js: v22.22.2 (/usr/bin/node)
· Active npm: 10.9.7 (/usr/bin/npm)

[2/3] Installing OpenClaw
✓ Git already installed
· Configuring npm for user-local installs
✓ npm configured for user installs
· Installing OpenClaw v2026.4.2
✓ OpenClaw npm package installed
✓ OpenClaw installed

[3/3] Finalizing setup

! PATH missing npm global bin dir: /home/vvasylkovskyi/.npm-global/bin
  This can make openclaw show as "command not found" in new terminals.
  Fix (zsh: ~/.zshrc, bash: ~/.bashrc):
    export PATH="/home/vvasylkovskyi/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"

🦞 OpenClaw installed successfully (OpenClaw 2026.4.2 (d74a122))!

Pay attention to the PATH warning. Add that export to your shell rc file, otherwise openclaw will show as "command not found" after you open a new terminal.

Running onboard

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

Follow the onboarding daemon. When you reach the channels section, add Discord:

◇  Discord bot token ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│                                                                                           │
│  1) Discord Developer Portal -> Applications -> New Application                           │
│  2) Bot -> Add Bot -> Reset Token -> copy token                                           │
│  3) OAuth2 -> URL Generator -> scope 'bot' -> invite to your server                       │
│  Tip: enable Message Content Intent if you need message text. (Bot -> Privileged Gateway  │
│  Intents -> Message Content Intent)                                                       │
│  Docs: discord                                                                            │
│                                                                                           │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Fixing the missing Discord plugin dependency

After onboarding, running openclaw status threw this:

14:11:04+01:00 [plugins] discord failed to load from /home/vvasylkovskyi/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/extensions/discord/index.js: Error: Cannot find module '@buape/carbon'
Require stack:
- /home/vvasylkovskyi/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/ui-Cvzn7c_3.js
[openclaw] Failed to start CLI: PluginLoadFailureError: plugin load failed: discord: Error: Cannot find module '@buape/carbon'

The Discord plugin depends on @buape/carbon which doesn't get pulled in automatically. Fix it:

npm install -g @buape/carbon

After that, openclaw status comes up clean with the Discord channel showing OK.

Setting up the Discord bot correctly

I still couldn't get answers from the bot after fixing the dependency. The bot needs to be in a server you share, even for DMs to work. If you haven't added it to a server yet:

  • Generate an invite link in Discord Developer Portal → OAuth2 → URL Generator
  • Scopes: bot
  • Permissions: Send Messages, Read Message History, Read Messages

Also make sure Message Content Intent is enabled under Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents. Without it the bot can't read message text.

Setting the Discord token in config

Export your bot token and set it via the CLI:

export DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN="..."
openclaw config set channels.discord.token --ref-provider default --ref-source env --ref-id DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN
openclaw config set channels.discord.enabled true --strict-json

Then restart the gateway to apply:

openclaw gateway stop
openclaw gateway

When the gateway comes up you should see:

14:51:49+01:00 [discord] logged in to discord as 1490334905945821204 (AI)

Accessing the dashboard from your laptop

The dashboard runs on the Pi at port 18789. To access it from your laptop without exposing it to the internet:

ssh -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 vvasylkovskyi@raspberry-4b.local -N

Now open http://127.0.0.1:18789 in your browser. It will ask for an auth token. Get it from the Pi:

ssh vvasylkovskyi@raspberry-4b.local
cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json | grep token

Approving your Discord pairing

Very important — the first message always has to be a DM to the bot. It will reply with a pairing code:

AI
APP
 — 15:07
OpenClaw: access not configured.

Your Discord user id: ...
Pairing code: ...

Ask the bot owner to approve with:
openclaw pairing approve discord ...

Then approve from the Pi:

openclaw pairing approve discord ...

After this the bot responds to your messages. Test it in the dashboard UI first to confirm the core is working, then test Discord.

What's working now

  • OpenClaw installed and running as a daemon
  • Discord channel connected and authenticated
  • Dashboard accessible via SSH tunnel
  • Bot responding to messages

The next post covers the unglamorous but important stuff — the Pi running out of swap memory, timeouts, and making the whole thing persistent so it doesn't silently die overnight.

Previous: Part 1 - Secure Setup | Next: Part 3 - Performance & Stability