OpenClaw & Claude Code Quickstart

Install OpenClaw or use with Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode — connect a wallet and send your first onchain transaction on Base

OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant you run locally or on a server. This guide gets you from zero to a running agent that can check balances and send transactions on Base Sepolia.

Also works with Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode — The wallet skills and onchain tools in this guide are compatible with any skills-enabled AI coding tool. If you use Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode, run the same npx skills add commands and the capabilities work identically. You don’t need OpenClaw to use the skills shown here.

What you’ll need:

• Node 22.16+ (Node 24 recommended)
• A funded Base Sepolia wallet (get testnet ETH from the Base Sepolia faucet)

Install OpenClaw

1. Install the CLI

   macOS / Linux:

   Terminal

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

   Windows (PowerShell):

   Terminal

   iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex
   

   Verify the installation:

   Terminal

   openclaw --version
   
2. Run onboarding

   The onboarding command configures authentication, your gateway settings, and optional messaging channels:

   Terminal

   openclaw onboard --install-daemon
   

   Follow the prompts to connect your preferred LLM provider and set up your wallet plugin.

3. Start the gateway

   Terminal

   openclaw gateway status
   

   If the gateway isn’t running, start it:

   Terminal

   openclaw gateway --port 18789
   

   Open the control dashboard at http://127.0.0.1:18789/ to verify the gateway is live.

Configure your wallet

OpenClaw supports the CDP Agentic Wallet — Coinbase’s standalone wallet for AI agents. Install the pre-built wallet skills using Vercel’s Skills CLI:

Terminal

npx skills add coinbase/agentic-wallet-skills

This same command works in Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode — install the skills package once and your coding tool gains the same onchain capabilities.

Then ask your agent to authenticate:

Sign in to my wallet with [e-mail]

Your agent can now send USDC, trade tokens on Base, and pay for API services. Private keys are managed by Coinbase’s infrastructure — your agent uses the awal CLI and never handles them directly.

CDP Agentic Wallet docs →

Check your balance

Ask your agent to check its wallet balance. If you’re connected via the dashboard (or using Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode in your terminal):

Check my ETH balance on Base Sepolia

OpenClaw invokes the check-balance skill, queries the network, and returns the result in the chat. Claude Code and other coding tools handle this the same way — the skill does the work regardless of which assistant runs it.

Send a transaction

Send 0.001 ETH to 0xRecipientAddress on Base Sepolia

Your agent constructs the transaction, signs it via the wallet plugin, and broadcasts it. The reply includes the transaction hash.

Never share your private key or mnemonic phrase in a message to the agent. Wallet credentials should only live in environment variables or your secure config.

Next steps

Wallet setup

Learn about wallet options and configure a production-ready wallet.

x402 payments

Let your agent pay for API access per-request using stablecoins.

Advanced configuration

Deep dive into config.json fields, env vars, and defaults.

Plugin development

Write and register custom skills for your OpenClaw agent.