# Run OpenClaw on a Prized box

> Keep the OpenClaw Gateway running around the clock on a Prized box, so your assistant answers on WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord or Slack with your laptop closed, and open its Control UI on your localhost.

URL: https://prized.dev/docs/openclaw

[OpenClaw](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw) connects your assistant to WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack and more through one Gateway, so it needs a computer that stays on. A Prized box is one. Use a Micro (2 vCPU, 4 GB) or larger: the Gateway alone takes 1 to 2 GB of memory.

## 1. Start a box [#1-start-a-box]

Sign up at [prized.dev](https://prized.dev/sign-in) and follow the tour, picking **Micro** when it asks for a size: it starts the box on $30 of free credit with no card, and the command it shows installs the CLI and adds the box to your SSH config ([Quickstart](https://prized.dev/docs/quickstart)). Replace `mango` with your box's name. If your box is a Nano, resize it; it restarts with its files ([Resize](https://prized.dev/docs/boxes#resize)):

```bash
prized box resize mango micro
```

## 2. Keep it awake [#2-keep-it-awake]

On the free credit, auto-pause is on, and a Gateway waiting for messages looks idle, so the box would pause and stop answering ([Auto-pause](https://prized.dev/docs/boxes#auto-pause)). Switch it off for this box:

```bash
prized box auto-pause mango off
```

A Micro awake around the clock uses about $25 of credit a month ([Billing](https://prized.dev/docs/billing)).

## 3. Install OpenClaw [#3-install-openclaw]

```bash
prized ssh mango
```

Then, on the box:

```bash title="you@mango"
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
```

It installs Node.js and OpenClaw in about 2 minutes, then opens onboarding to pick your model ([OpenClaw's getting started](https://docs.openclaw.ai/start/getting-started)). Quick start leaves the Gateway running in that terminal: press Ctrl+C, open a new shell so `openclaw` is on your PATH, and install the Gateway as a service, which starts again whenever the box boots:

```bash title="you@mango"
openclaw gateway install
```

If it refuses with `unsafe-permissions`, run `chmod go-w` on the directory it names, then install again. Check that it is running:

```bash title="you@mango"
openclaw gateway status
```

## 4. Open the Control UI [#4-open-the-control-ui]

The Gateway listens only on the box's own localhost, port 18789. Forward it from a terminal on your machine, then open `http://localhost:18789`:

```bash
ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 mango
```

To sign in, run `openclaw gateway auth-token --show` in your `prized ssh` session and paste the token into **Gateway secret** ([Control UI](https://docs.openclaw.ai/web/control-ui)). Connect WhatsApp, Telegram and the rest from there or with `openclaw channels add` ([Channels](https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels)).

## When the box sleeps [#when-the-box-sleeps]

A Micro keeps its memory through a pause, so the same Gateway process comes back when the box wakes, about 15 seconds after `prized ssh mango` or `prized box resume mango --wait` ([Pause and resume](https://prized.dev/docs/boxes#pause-and-resume)). Give it a minute or two before the first reply; while the box sleeps, the assistant can't answer.