Installation

Netclaw has two components: a CLI (netclaw) and a daemon (netclawd). The CLI is a thin client — all inference, tool execution, and session state live in the daemon. Install both on the same machine to get started; for remote setups, see Pairing Remote Devices.

Linux (recommended)

curl -sSL https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.sh | bash

Installs both CLI and daemon to ~/.netclaw/bin and adds it to your PATH. Supports x86_64 and ARM64.

# CLI only
curl -sSL https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- cli

# Daemon only
curl -sSL https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- daemon

# Pin a version
NETCLAW_VERSION=0.1.0 curl -sSL https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.sh | bash

# Custom install directory
INSTALL_DIR=/opt/netclaw curl -sSL https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.sh | bash

Windows

iwr -useb https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.ps1 | iex

Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\netclaw. To install a specific component or version:

$script = Join-Path $env:TEMP "netclaw-install.ps1"
iwr -useb https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.ps1 -OutFile $script
& $script -Component cli           # CLI only
& $script -Component daemon        # Daemon only
& $script -Version 0.1.0           # Pinned version

Docker

Run the daemon as a container — useful for servers, homelab setups, or if you don’t want to install anything on the host.

docker run -d \
  --name netclaw \
  -v netclaw-home:/home/netclaw/.netclaw \
  ghcr.io/netclaw-dev/netclaw

Setting	Value
Image	`ghcr.io/netclaw-dev/netclaw`
Architectures	`linux/amd64`, `linux/arm64`
Runs as	non-root user `netclaw` (UID 1654)
Port	5199 (loopback inside the container)
Volume	`/home/netclaw/.netclaw` (config, identity, sessions, logs)

The image runs as the non-root netclaw user, so persist state in a named volume (a host bind mount has to be chowned to UID 1654 first). The container runs the daemon only, bound to loopback — drive it with docker exec netclaw netclaw <command>. To reach it from a host CLI or another machine (including pairing), configure a non-local exposure mode. See Docker Deployment for the full setup.

Pass provider credentials as environment variables:

docker run -d \
  --name netclaw \
  -v netclaw-home:/home/netclaw/.netclaw \
  -e NETCLAW_Providers__openrouter__Type=openrouter \
  -e NETCLAW_Providers__openrouter__ApiKey=sk-or-v1-... \
  -e NETCLAW_Models__Main__Provider=openrouter \
  -e NETCLAW_Models__Main__ModelId=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4 \
  ghcr.io/netclaw-dev/netclaw

For Docker Compose setups (including bundling Ollama), see Docker Deployment.

Build from source

Requires .NET 10 SDK.

git clone https://github.com/netclaw-dev/netclaw.git
cd netclaw
dotnet publish src/Netclaw.Cli/Netclaw.Cli.csproj -c Release -o ./out
dotnet publish src/Netclaw.Daemon/Netclaw.Daemon.csproj -c Release -o ./out
export PATH="$PWD/out:$PATH"

Verify the install

netclaw --version

You should see the version, commit hash, and build timestamp.

Next step

netclaw init

The init wizard walks you through provider setup, security posture, channels, identity, and network exposure — then starts the daemon. See the Quickstart for the full walkthrough.

Switching release channels

By default, the install script and daemon pull from the stable channel — release builds only.

If Netclaw is already installed, switch channels with the CLI:

netclaw update --channel beta

This installs the newest build on that channel right away and saves to your config, so later update checks and self-updates follow the beta feed. Pass --channel stable to switch back.

To choose a channel at first install instead, pass --channel to the install script:

Linux:

curl -sSL https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- --channel beta

Windows:

.\install.ps1 --channel beta

Docker:

Use the ghcr.io/netclaw-dev/netclaw:beta image tag instead of the default ghcr.io/netclaw-dev/netclaw (which resolves to the latest stable).

The install script only swaps which binaries it pulls. Also set Daemon.UpdateChannel: "beta" in your config so the daemon checks the beta feed for self-updates. (Switching with netclaw update --channel does this for you.)

Note: The install script is idempotent — running it on an existing install will update the binaries without breaking your configuration. If the daemon is running, stop it first:
Terminal window
sudo systemctl stop netclawd
curl -sSL https://releases.netclaw.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- --channel beta
sudo systemctl start netclawd

Updating

netclaw update                 # check for and install updates
netclaw update --check         # check only, don't install
netclaw update --channel beta  # switch channel (saved to config), then update

Self-update is disabled in the Docker image — update by pulling a new image tag instead.

Channel	Description
`stable`	Official releases only. The default.
`beta`	Prereleases. Resolves to the newest of {stable, prerelease}, so a stable release that supersedes a beta is still offered.

Resources

.NET 10 SDK — required for building from source
Docker Engine — container runtime for the Docker install method
Docker Deployment — Docker Compose, Ollama sidecar, and production container configuration