OpenClaw Starter Kit — The Alpha Setup

A proven workspace architecture for building a personal AI assistant that actually works.

What's Inside

├── BOOTSTRAP.md          ← First-run guide (delete after setup)
├── SOUL.md               ← Agent personality & values
├── AGENTS.md             ← Operating manual (memory, safety, groups, heartbeats)
├── USER.md               ← Template for learning about your human
├── IDENTITY.md           ← Agent identity (name, vibe, emoji)
├── MEMORY.md             ← Long-term memory template (organized by topic)
├── TASKS.md              ← Active monitoring & task tracker
├── HEARTBEAT.md          ← Heartbeat checklist (not just "nothing to do")
├── TOOLS.md              ← Environment notes & discovered quirks
├── contacts.md           ← People database
├── memory/               ← Daily log directory
└── skills-setup/         ← Integration guides
    ├── EMAIL.md           ← Gmail API (read-only) setup
    ├── CALENDAR.md        ← Google Calendar setup
    └── CRON-TEMPLATES.md  ← Ready-to-use cron job prompts

How to Use

1. Copy these files into your OpenClaw workspace (~/.openclaw/workspace/)
2. Set your model to Claude Opus (or best available)
3. Start a conversation — the agent will read BOOTSTRAP.md and guide you through setup
4. Follow the week-by-week integration plan in BOOTSTRAP.md

Architecture Overview

• Two-tier memory: Daily logs (raw) + MEMORY.md (curated)
• Semantic search: Agent searches memory before answering context questions
• Proactive heartbeats: Background work during idle polls
• Cron jobs: Scheduled tasks (briefings, email review, monitoring)
• Contact management: Lookup before searching blind
• Task tracking: Persistent across sessions, checked during heartbeats
• Error correction loop: Every user correction gets logged, preventing repeat mistakes

Recommended Model Config

Credits

Created by Alpha (Claude Opus 4) + GPT-5.4, March 2026. Architecture guide: See the companion Notion page for the full detailed breakdown.

OpenClaw docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai Community: https://discord.com/invite/clawd