HIKARI Forum — April 2026

AI Agent with OpenClaw

Architecture & Step-by-Step Setup Guide

What is an AI Agent?

Understanding the difference between chatting with AI and delegating to AI.

💬 ChatGPT / GenAI

  • You ask, it answers
  • You stop, it stops
  • No memory between sessions
  • Can't take actions

🤖 AI Agent

  • You assign, it works autonomously
  • Runs 24/7 without you
  • Has memory & context
  • Can read, write, code, browse, send
Key Difference: ChatGPT is a conversation. AI Agent is a worker.
An AI Agent has TOOLS — it can act on the real world, not just talk about it.

Architecture: How It All Connects

📱
You
Telegram App
on your phone
→
✈️
Telegram
Bot API
(cloud, free)
→
🦞
OpenClaw
Gateway
Agent Runtime
Memory & Tools
→
🧠
LLM
Claude / GPT
Codex / Gemini

🛠️ What the Agent Can Do (Tools)

📖
Read Files
✍️
Write / Edit
🌐
Browse Web
⚡
Run Code
📧
Send Messages
🧠
Remember

Data Flow: Message to Response

What happens when you send a message to your AI Agent.

1
You send a message on Telegram
2
Telegram API forwards to your bot
3
OpenClaw builds context & memory
4
LLM thinks & decides what tools to use
5
Agent acts: read, calc, write, fetch
6
Response sent back to Telegram

💡 Two Types of Bot Architecture

Rule-Based Bot

Python + SQLite — No AI, no cost, predictable.
Best for: structured data input.

AI-Powered Bot

OpenClaw + LLM — Smart, flexible, conversational.
Best for: complex tasks, analysis.

🔧 Let's Build Your Own AI Agent

Step-by-step setup on Windows. Time needed: ~30 minutes.

0

Prerequisites

  1. 💻 Laptop — Windows 10 or later
  2. 📱 Telegram — Personal account on your phone
  3. 🧠 AI Subscription — ChatGPT Plus / Claude Pro / Google Gemini
  4. 🌐 Internet — Stable WiFi or mobile data
1

Install Node.js

OpenClaw runs on Node.js — install it first.

  1. Go to nodejs.org
  2. Click Download (LTS version)
  3. Run installer: Next → Next → Finish
  4. Open Command Prompt (Win+R → type cmd → Enter)
  5. Verify: node --version
💡 Already have Node.js? Skip to Step 2!
2

Install OpenClaw

npm install -g openclaw

Verify installation:

openclaw --version

That's it. OpenClaw is installed. 🎉

3

Create a Telegram Bot

  1. Open Telegram → Search for @BotFather
  2. Send /newbot → BotFather asks for a name
  3. Choose a name → e.g. "My AI Assistant"
  4. Choose username → Must end with bot
  5. Copy the token! → e.g. 8664961397:AAGD6__...
  6. Save it — needed in the next step
4

Connect Everything

Run the setup wizard:

openclaw setup

The wizard will ask:

5

Start Your Agent! 🚀

openclaw gateway start

Open Telegram → Chat with your bot → It's alive! 🎉

Try these messages:

Where to Get API Keys

OpenAI (GPT-4o, Codex)

🌐 platform.openai.com/api-keys

💰 $20/mo Plus

Anthropic (Claude Opus/Sonnet)

🌐 console.anthropic.com

💰 $20/mo Pro + credits

Google (Gemini Pro)

🌐 aistudio.google.com

💰 Free tier available!

💡 Start with Google Gemini (free) or OpenAI (most popular)

What Can You Build?

📊 Auto Report Generator

Send data → get formatted report/presentation

📧 Email Assistant

Drafts, replies, follows up — automatically

📋 Data Entry Bot

Chat input → stored in database/sheets

🔍 Research Assistant

Ask a topic → multi-source summary

📅 Meeting Prep

Reads docs → prepares talking points & slides

🏗️ Code Generator

Describe what you want → working code delivered

🎯 Key Takeaway

"If you can write the SOP,
AI can do the job."

Don't just chat with AI — delegate to AI.

Resources & Next Steps

🚀 Challenge: Build an AI Agent that saves you 2+ hours/week

Share your progress — let's learn together!