openclaw/apps/linux/README.md

OpenClaw for Linux

The Linux companion is a Tauri v2 desktop shell for local and remote OpenClaw Gateways. It discovers nearby Gateways over Bonjour, installs the CLI when local setup needs it, delegates local Gateway service management to openclaw gateway, opens the selected Gateway's Control UI, and stays available in the system tray.

Linux prerequisites

Debian and Ubuntu development packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential curl wget file \
  libxdo-dev libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev

Install a current stable Rust toolchain with rustup.

Media codecs

The companion uses GStreamer plugins for audio and video playback. WebM/VP9, Opus, Vorbis, and WAV normally work through plugins-good. H.264/MP4, AAC, and MP3 require the libav and/or plugins-bad packages. The .deb uses the host's plugins and declares all three packages as dependencies. The AppImage bundles the GStreamer media framework and the plugins available on its Ubuntu build host. For a source build or when rebuilding either Linux bundle, install the packages explicitly:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-libav gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad

The released AppImage therefore carries the codecs installed by the release workflow instead of relying on GStreamer packages from the user's system.

Develop and build

The companion frontend is static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Install repository dependencies once before building:

pnpm install
cd apps/linux/src-tauri
cargo run
cargo build

The app uses OPENCLAW_DESKTOP_CLI when set. Otherwise it checks ~/.openclaw/bin/openclaw, then openclaw on PATH.

Desktop notifications use each platform's system notification service. macOS 13+ uses Apple's User Notifications framework; Windows uses native system toasts and Linux uses the desktop notification service through notify-rust. On macOS, test notifications from a signed .app bundle: a direct cargo run stays unbundled, so the app disables notifications instead of initializing Apple's framework with no bundle identity.

First-run setup

The welcome screen explains what OpenClaw can do and asks where your assistant should live:

• On this computer installs the CLI and managed Node runtime when needed, then starts the Gateway as a systemd user service. Release builds install the stable channel automatically; development builds ask for a release channel and preselect Development.
• On another computer connects to an existing Gateway without installing or starting a local Gateway service. Select a nearby discovered Gateway, enter a Gateway URL directly, or choose SSH tunnel and enter user@gateway-host. Expand Gateway authentication to provide either the Gateway token or its password when the remote host requires one.

Public direct connections must use HTTPS or secure WebSockets. Plain HTTP or WebSockets are appropriate only for loopback, trusted private networks, or a Tailnet. If the Gateway configuration specifies a TLS certificate fingerprint, choose SSH tunnel: the embedded browser cannot enforce certificate pins, so the app safely refuses direct connections instead of exposing your credentials. Saved remote credentials support literal values and environment- or file-backed secret references; exec and shared-store references must be resolved on their owning Gateway host. SSH connections use your existing OpenSSH configuration and host-key verification; keep the remote Gateway bound to loopback when possible. See the remote access guide for Gateway authentication and network requirements.

After connecting, Model Setup checks existing credentials and verifies a real model response before continuing. If no existing credentials work, choose a provider and either sign in or enter an API key. The selected Gateway owns the provider credentials and model configuration. A working existing model opens the normal dashboard; newly configured AI access continues into guided onboarding. In-progress model setup and guided onboarding survive Gateway restarts. If the app closes while model activation is in progress, reopening it resumes the same Gateway, agent, and model without activating the provider twice.

For OpenAI, ChatGPT Login uses a ChatGPT or Codex subscription, while OpenAI API Key uses API billing. When the Gateway runs on another host and its browser callback is not reachable, choose ChatGPT Device Pairing from the additional sign-in options.

Updates

The companion checks the latest GitHub release shortly after launch and from Check for Updates in the tray menu. AppImage installs download and verify the signed update in place, then wait for Restart to update. Package-managed installs such as .deb stay owned by the system package manager and link to the release download page instead of replacing installed files. The macOS and Windows test builds use a separate opt-in desktop-test update channel; macOS self-updates like the AppImage build, while Windows downloads the update first and runs its installer only after Restart to update.

Quick Chat widgets

Quick Chat advertises the Gateway inline-widgets capability and renders hosted show_widget results in isolated child WebViews. The parent Quick Chat WebView is the only one granted Tauri commands; widget WebViews match no capability and therefore have no IPC access. Quick Chat accepts only assistant-message widget previews under the capability-scoped /__openclaw__/canvas/documents/ route, blocks navigation away from the original document, uses nonpersistent WebViews, and keeps stable widget instances while switching among multiple previews. Connections that require a custom Gateway TLS leaf pin remain text-only because the platform WebView cannot bind that pin. Like the other native clients, Quick Chat does not expose the Control UI sendPrompt bridge.

Installer resource

tauri.conf.json bundles the repository's canonical scripts/install-cli.sh directly as install-cli.sh. The app never keeps a forked copy. Stable, beta, and dev installs select latest, beta, and a managed Git main checkout respectively, always under ~/.openclaw.

Icons

The icon sources of truth live next to the PNGs: icons/icon.svg (transparent claw mark, used by the tray) and icons/icon-tile.svg (claw mark on the dark brand tile, used for the app and package icons). Regenerate the committed PNGs with librsvg:

cd apps/linux/src-tauri/icons
rsvg-convert -w 32 --keep-aspect-ratio icon.svg -o 32x32.png
magick 32x32.png -background none -gravity center -extent 32x32 PNG32:32x32.png
rsvg-convert -w 128 -h 128 icon-tile.svg -o 128x128.png
rsvg-convert -w 256 -h 256 icon-tile.svg -o 128x128@2x.png
rsvg-convert -w 512 -h 512 icon-tile.svg -o icon.png
magick icon.png -define icon:auto-resize=256,128,64,48,32,16 icon.ico
rsvg-convert -w 36 -h 36 tray-template.svg -o tray-template.png

macOS gets its own tray asset, icons/tray-template.svg. AppKit template images are drawn from the alpha channel alone, so a colored or edge-to-edge opaque icon arrives in the menu bar as a featureless blob; the template source is a silhouette with the eyes knocked back out of it. Its geometry mirrors the native macOS app's CritterIconRenderer at rest so both clients wear the same face, and the 36px render is the 2× backing store for the 18pt slot tray-icon scales menu bar images into. Non-Apple platforms keep the full-color 32x32.png.

Packaging

Build a .deb and AppImage locally (the same command CI runs):

cd apps/linux/src-tauri
pnpm dlx @tauri-apps/cli@2.11.4 build --bundles deb,appimage

Bundles land in target/release/bundle/{deb,appimage}/. The Linux App CI workflow uploads them as the openclaw-linux-companion artifact on pull requests touching apps/linux/** and on manual dispatch.

Releases

The Linux App Release workflow (manual dispatch, release operators) builds the bundles from an existing stable release tag (prerelease tags are rejected: their semver suffix breaks Debian upgrade ordering) and attaches them to that tag's GitHub release with a SHA256SUMS.linux-app.txt checksum file. It refuses tags whose commit is not reachable from main: Linux bundles ship for main-based releases only.