PicoClaw: Ultra-Efficient AI Assistant in Go

$10 Hardware · 10MB RAM · ms Boot · Let's Go, PicoClaw!

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PicoClaw is an independent open-source project initiated by Sipeed, written entirely in Go from scratch — not a fork of OpenClaw, NanoBot, or any other project.

PicoClaw is an ultra-lightweight personal AI assistant inspired by NanoBot. It was rebuilt from the ground up in Go through a "self-bootstrapping" process — the AI Agent itself drove the architecture migration and code optimization.

Runs on $10 hardware with <10MB RAM — that's 99% less memory than OpenClaw and 98% cheaper than a Mac mini!

Caution

Security Notice

• NO CRYPTO: PicoClaw has not issued any official tokens or cryptocurrency. All claims on pump.fun or other trading platforms are scams.
• OFFICIAL DOMAIN: The ONLY official website is picoclaw.io, and company website is sipeed.com
• BEWARE: Many .ai/.org/.com/.net/... domains have been registered by third parties. Do not trust them.
• NOTE: PicoClaw is in early rapid development. There may be unresolved security issues. Do not deploy to production before v1.0.
• NOTE: PicoClaw has recently merged many PRs. Recent builds may use 10-20MB RAM. Resource optimization is planned after feature stabilization.

📢 News

2026-03-31 📱 Android Support! PicoClaw now runs on Android! Download the APK at picoclaw.io

2026-03-25 🚀 v0.2.4 Released! Agent architecture overhaul (SubTurn, Hooks, Steering, EventBus), WeChat/WeCom integration, security hardening (.security.yml, sensitive data filtering), new providers (AWS Bedrock, Azure, Xiaomi MiMo), and 35 bug fixes. PicoClaw has reached 26K Stars!

2026-03-17 🚀 v0.2.3 Released! System tray UI (Windows & Linux), sub-agent status query (spawn_status), experimental Gateway hot-reload, Cron security gating, and 2 security fixes. PicoClaw has reached 25K Stars!

2026-03-09 🎉 v0.2.1 — Biggest update yet! MCP protocol support, 4 new channels (Matrix/IRC/WeCom/Discord Proxy), 3 new providers (Kimi/Minimax/Avian), vision pipeline, JSONL memory store, model routing.

2026-02-28 📦 v0.2.0 released with Docker Compose and Web UI Launcher support.

Earlier news...

2026-02-26 🎉 PicoClaw hits 20K Stars in just 17 days! Channel auto-orchestration and capability interfaces are live.

2026-02-16 🎉 PicoClaw breaks 12K Stars in one week! Community maintainer roles and Roadmap officially launched.

2026-02-13 🎉 PicoClaw breaks 5000 Stars in 4 days! Project roadmap and developer groups in progress.

2026-02-09 🎉 PicoClaw Released! Built in 1 day to bring AI Agents to $10 hardware with <10MB RAM. Let's Go, PicoClaw!

✨ Features

🪶 Ultra-lightweight: Core memory footprint <10MB — 99% smaller than OpenClaw.*

💰 Minimal cost: Efficient enough to run on $10 hardware — 98% cheaper than a Mac mini.

⚡️ Lightning-fast boot: 400x faster startup. Boots in <1s even on a 0.6GHz single-core processor.

🌍 Truly portable: Single binary across RISC-V, ARM, MIPS, and x86 architectures. One binary, runs everywhere!

🤖 AI-bootstrapped: Pure Go native implementation — 95% of core code was generated by an Agent and fine-tuned through human-in-the-loop review.

🔌 MCP support: Native Model Context Protocol integration — connect any MCP server to extend Agent capabilities.

👁️ Vision pipeline: Send images and files directly to the Agent — automatic base64 encoding for multimodal LLMs.

🧠 Smart routing: Rule-based model routing — simple queries go to lightweight models, saving API costs.

*Recent builds may use 10-20MB due to rapid PR merges. Resource optimization is planned. Boot speed comparison based on 0.8GHz single-core benchmarks (see table below).

	OpenClaw	NanoBot	PicoClaw
Language	TypeScript	Python	Go
RAM	>1GB	>100MB	< 10MB*
Boot time (0.8GHz core)	>500s	>30s	<1s
Cost	Mac Mini $599	Most Linux boards ~$50	Any Linux board from $10

Hardware Compatibility List — See all tested boards, from $5 RISC-V to Raspberry Pi to Android phones. Your board not listed? Submit a PR!

🦾 Demonstration

🛠️ Standard Assistant Workflows

Full-Stack Engineer Mode	Logging & Planning	Web Search & Learning
Develop · Deploy · Scale	Schedule · Automate · Remember	Discover · Insights · Trends

🐜 Innovative Low-Footprint Deployment

PicoClaw can be deployed on virtually any Linux device!

• $9.9 LicheeRV-Nano E(Ethernet) or W(WiFi6) edition, for a minimal home assistant
• $30~50 NanoKVM, or $100 NanoKVM-Pro, for automated server operations
• $50 MaixCAM or $100 MaixCAM2, for smart surveillance

https://private-user-images.githubusercontent.com/83055338/547056448-e7b031ff-d6f5-4468-bcca-5726b6fecb5c.mp4

🌟 More Deployment Cases Await!

📦 Install

Download from picoclaw.io (Recommended)

Visit picoclaw.io — the official website auto-detects your platform and provides one-click download. No need to manually pick an architecture.

Download precompiled binary

Alternatively, download the binary for your platform from the GitHub Releases page.

Build from source (for development)

git clone https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw.git

cd picoclaw
make deps

# Build core binary
make build

# Build Web UI Launcher (required for WebUI mode)
make build-launcher

# Build for multiple platforms
make build-all

# Build for Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (32-bit: make build-linux-arm; 64-bit: make build-linux-arm64)
make build-pi-zero

# Build and install
make install

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W: Use the binary that matches your OS: 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS -> make build-linux-arm; 64-bit -> make build-linux-arm64. Or run make build-pi-zero to build both.

🚀 Quick Start Guide

🌐 WebUI Launcher (Recommended for Desktop)

The WebUI Launcher provides a browser-based interface for configuration and chat. This is the easiest way to get started — no command-line knowledge required.

Option 1: Double-click (Desktop)

After downloading from picoclaw.io, double-click picoclaw-launcher (or picoclaw-launcher.exe on Windows). Your browser will open automatically at http://localhost:18800.

Option 2: Command line

picoclaw-launcher
# Open http://localhost:18800 in your browser

Tip

Remote access / Docker / VM: Add the -public flag to listen on all interfaces:

picoclaw-launcher -public

Getting started:

Open the WebUI, then: 1) Configure a Provider (add your LLM API key) -> 2) Configure a Channel (e.g., Telegram) -> 3) Start the Gateway -> 4) Chat!

For detailed WebUI documentation, see docs.picoclaw.io.

Docker (alternative)

# 1. Clone this repo
git clone https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw.git
cd picoclaw

# 2. First run — auto-generates docker/data/config.json then exits
#    (only triggers when both config.json and workspace/ are missing)
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile launcher up
# The container prints "First-run setup complete." and stops.

# 3. Set your API keys
vim docker/data/config.json

# 4. Start
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile launcher up -d
# Open http://localhost:18800

Docker / VM users: The Gateway listens on 127.0.0.1 by default. Set PICOCLAW_GATEWAY_HOST=0.0.0.0 or use the -public flag to make it accessible from the host.

# Check logs
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f

# Stop
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile launcher down

# Update
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml pull
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile launcher up -d

macOS — First Launch Security Warning

macOS may block picoclaw-launcher on first launch because it is downloaded from the internet and not notarized through the Mac App Store.

Step 1: Double-click picoclaw-launcher. You will see a security warning:

"picoclaw-launcher" Not Opened — Apple could not verify "picoclaw-launcher" is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.

Step 2: Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → scroll down to the Security section → click Open Anyway → confirm by clicking Open Anyway in the dialog.

After this one-time step, picoclaw-launcher will open normally on subsequent launches.

💻 TUI Launcher (Recommended for Headless / SSH)

The TUI (Terminal UI) Launcher provides a full-featured terminal interface for configuration and management. Ideal for servers, Raspberry Pi, and other headless environments.

picoclaw-launcher-tui

Getting started:

Use the TUI menus to: 1) Configure a Provider -> 2) Configure a Channel -> 3) Start the Gateway -> 4) Chat!

For detailed TUI documentation, see docs.picoclaw.io.

📱 Android

Give your decade-old phone a second life! Turn it into a smart AI Assistant with PicoClaw.

Option 1: APK Install

Preview:

Download the APK from picoclaw.io and install directly. No Termux required!

Option 2: Termux

Terminal Launcher (for resource-constrained environments)

1. Install Termux (download from GitHub Releases, or search in F-Droid / Google Play)
2. Run the following commands:

# Download the latest release
wget https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases/latest/download/picoclaw_Linux_arm64.tar.gz
tar xzf picoclaw_Linux_arm64.tar.gz
pkg install proot
termux-chroot ./picoclaw onboard   # chroot provides a standard Linux filesystem layout

Then follow the Terminal Launcher section below to complete configuration.

For minimal environments where only the picoclaw core binary is available (no Launcher UI), you can configure everything via the command line and a JSON config file.

1. Initialize

picoclaw onboard

This creates ~/.picoclaw/config.json and the workspace directory.

2. Configure (~/.picoclaw/config.json)

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model_name": "gpt-5.4"
    }
  },
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-5.4",
      "model": "openai/gpt-5.4"
      // api_key is now loaded from .security.yml
    }
  ]
}

See config/config.example.json in the repo for a complete configuration template with all available options.

Please note: config.example.json format is version 0, with sensitive codes in it, and will be auto migrated to version 1+, then, the config.json will only store insensitive data, the sensitive codes will be stored in .security.yml, if you need manually modify the codes, please see docs/security_configuration.md for more details.

3. Chat

# One-shot question
picoclaw agent -m "What is 2+2?"

# Interactive mode
picoclaw agent

# Start gateway for chat app integration
picoclaw gateway

🔌 Providers (LLM)

PicoClaw supports 30+ LLM providers through the model_list configuration. Use the protocol/model format:

Provider	Protocol	API Key	Notes
OpenAI	openai/	Required	GPT-5.4, GPT-4o, o3, etc.
Anthropic	anthropic/	Required	Claude Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.6, etc.
Google Gemini	gemini/	Required	Gemini 3 Flash, 2.5 Pro, etc.
OpenRouter	openrouter/	Required	200+ models, unified API
Zhipu (GLM)	zhipu/	Required	GLM-4.7, GLM-5, etc.
DeepSeek	deepseek/	Required	DeepSeek-V3, DeepSeek-R1
Volcengine	volcengine/	Required	Doubao, Ark models
Qwen	qwen/	Required	Qwen3, Qwen-Max, etc.
Groq	groq/	Required	Fast inference (Llama, Mixtral)
Moonshot (Kimi)	moonshot/	Required	Kimi models
Minimax	minimax/	Required	MiniMax models
Mistral	mistral/	Required	Mistral Large, Codestral
NVIDIA NIM	nvidia/	Required	NVIDIA hosted models
Cerebras	cerebras/	Required	Fast inference
Novita AI	novita/	Required	Various open models
Xiaomi MiMo	mimo/	Required	MiMo models
Ollama	ollama/	Not needed	Local models, self-hosted
vLLM	vllm/	Not needed	Local deployment, OpenAI-compatible
LiteLLM	litellm/	Varies	Proxy for 100+ providers
Azure OpenAI	azure/	Required	Enterprise Azure deployment
GitHub Copilot	github-copilot/	OAuth	Device code login
Antigravity	antigravity/	OAuth	Google Cloud AI
AWS Bedrock*	bedrock/	AWS credentials	Claude, Llama, Mistral on AWS

* AWS Bedrock requires build tag: go build -tags bedrock. Set api_base to a region name (e.g., us-east-1) for automatic endpoint resolution across all AWS partitions (aws, aws-cn, aws-us-gov). When using a full endpoint URL instead, you must also configure AWS_REGION via environment variable or AWS config/profile.

Local deployment (Ollama, vLLM, etc.)

Ollama:

{
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "local-llama",
      "model": "ollama/llama3.1:8b",
      "api_base": "http://localhost:11434/v1"
    }
  ]
}

vLLM:

{
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "local-vllm",
      "model": "vllm/your-model",
      "api_base": "http://localhost:8000/v1"
    }
  ]
}

For full provider configuration details, see Providers & Models.

💬 Channels (Chat Apps)

Talk to your PicoClaw through 18+ messaging platforms:

Channel	Setup	Protocol	Docs
Telegram	Easy (bot token)	Long polling	Guide
Discord	Easy (bot token + intents)	WebSocket	Guide
WhatsApp	Easy (QR scan or bridge URL)	Native / Bridge	Guide
Weixin	Easy (Native QR scan)	iLink API	Guide
QQ	Easy (AppID + AppSecret)	WebSocket	Guide
Slack	Easy (bot + app token)	Socket Mode	Guide
Matrix	Medium (homeserver + token)	Sync API	Guide
DingTalk	Medium (client credentials)	Stream	Guide
Feishu / Lark	Medium (App ID + Secret)	WebSocket/SDK	Guide
LINE	Medium (credentials + webhook)	Webhook	Guide
WeCom	Easy (QR login or manual)	WebSocket	Guide
VK	Easy (group token)	Long Poll	Guide
IRC	Medium (server + nick)	IRC protocol	Guide
OneBot	Medium (WebSocket URL)	OneBot v11	Guide
MaixCam	Easy (enable)	TCP socket	Guide
Pico	Easy (enable)	Native protocol	Built-in
Pico Client	Easy (WebSocket URL)	WebSocket	Built-in

All webhook-based channels share a single Gateway HTTP server (gateway.host:gateway.port, default 127.0.0.1:18790). Feishu uses WebSocket/SDK mode and does not use the shared HTTP server.

Log verbosity is controlled by gateway.log_level (default: warn). Supported values: debug, info, warn, error, fatal. Can also be set via PICOCLAW_LOG_LEVEL. See Configuration for details.

For detailed channel setup instructions, see Chat Apps Configuration.

🔧 Tools

🔍 Web Search

PicoClaw can search the web to provide up-to-date information. Configure in tools.web:

Search Engine	API Key	Free Tier	Link
DuckDuckGo	Not needed	Unlimited	Built-in fallback
Baidu Search	Required	1000 queries/day	AI-powered, China-optimized
Tavily	Required	1000 queries/month	Optimized for AI Agents
Brave Search	Required	2000 queries/month	Fast and private
Perplexity	Required	Paid	AI-powered search
SearXNG	Not needed	Self-hosted	Free metasearch engine
GLM Search	Required	Varies	Zhipu web search

⚙️ Other Tools

PicoClaw includes built-in tools for file operations, code execution, scheduling, and more. See Tools Configuration for details.

🎯 Skills

Skills are modular capabilities that extend your Agent. They are loaded from SKILL.md files in your workspace.

Install skills from ClawHub:

picoclaw skills search "web scraping"
picoclaw skills install <skill-name>

Configure ClawHub token (optional, for higher rate limits):

Add to your config.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "skills": {
      "registries": {
        "clawhub": {
          "auth_token": "your-clawhub-token"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

For more details, see Tools Configuration - Skills.

🔗 MCP (Model Context Protocol)

PicoClaw natively supports MCP — connect any MCP server to extend your Agent's capabilities with external tools and data sources.

{
  "tools": {
    "mcp": {
      "enabled": true,
      "servers": {
        "filesystem": {
          "enabled": true,
          "command": "npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/tmp"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

For full MCP configuration (stdio, SSE, HTTP transports, Tool Discovery), see Tools Configuration - MCP.

Join the Agent Social Network

Connect PicoClaw to the Agent Social Network simply by sending a single message via the CLI or any integrated Chat App.

Read https://clawdchat.ai/skill.md and follow the instructions to join ClawdChat.ai

🖥️ CLI Reference

Command	Description
picoclaw onboard	Initialize config & workspace
picoclaw auth weixin	Connect WeChat account via QR
picoclaw agent -m "..."	Chat with the agent
picoclaw agent	Interactive chat mode
picoclaw gateway	Start the gateway
picoclaw status	Show status
picoclaw version	Show version info
picoclaw model	View or switch the default model
picoclaw cron list	List all scheduled jobs
picoclaw cron add ...	Add a scheduled job
picoclaw cron disable	Disable a scheduled job
picoclaw cron remove	Remove a scheduled job
picoclaw skills list	List installed skills
picoclaw skills install	Install a skill
picoclaw migrate	Migrate data from older versions
picoclaw auth login	Authenticate with providers

⏰ Scheduled Tasks / Reminders

PicoClaw supports scheduled reminders and recurring tasks through the cron tool:

• One-time reminders: "Remind me in 10 minutes" -> triggers once after 10min
• Recurring tasks: "Remind me every 2 hours" -> triggers every 2 hours
• Cron expressions: "Remind me at 9am daily" -> uses cron expression

See docs/cron.md for current schedule types, execution modes, command-job gates, and persistence details.

📚 Documentation

For detailed guides beyond this README:

Topic	Description
Docker & Quick Start	Docker Compose setup, Launcher/Agent modes
Chat Apps	All 17+ channel setup guides
Configuration	Environment variables, workspace layout, security sandbox
Scheduled Tasks and Cron Jobs	Cron schedule types, deliver modes, command gates, job storage
Providers & Models	30+ LLM providers, model routing, model_list configuration
Spawn & Async Tasks	Quick tasks, long tasks with spawn, async sub-agent orchestration
Hooks	Event-driven hook system: observers, interceptors, approval hooks
Steering	Inject messages into a running agent loop between tool calls
SubTurn	Subagent coordination, concurrency control, lifecycle
Troubleshooting	Common issues and solutions
Tools Configuration	Per-tool enable/disable, exec policies, MCP, Skills
Hardware Compatibility	Tested boards, minimum requirements

🤝 Contribute & Roadmap

PRs welcome! The codebase is intentionally small and readable.

See our Community Roadmap and CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Developer group building, join after your first merged PR!

User Groups:

Discord: https://discord.gg/V4sAZ9XWpN

WeChat: