Help Center/ Huawei Cloud Flexus_Huawei Cloud Flexus L Instance/ Best Practices/ Deploying OpenClaw/ Building a Personal AI Assistant with OpenClaw (WhatsApp)
Updated on 2026-05-29 GMT+08:00
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Building a Personal AI Assistant with OpenClaw (WhatsApp)

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With the advancement of AI technologies, personal AI assistants have become essential tools for improving work efficiency and quality of life. In daily online communication, people often need to interact with various AI assistants to obtain information or complete tasks. However, these AI assistants are usually limited to specific platforms or models, and have certain usage restrictions. As a result, users have to frequently switch between different platforms. This increases operation complexity.

OpenClaw (formerly known as Moltbot and clawdbot) is a continuously running AI agent that can invoke multiple large language models. Acting as a gateway, OpenClaw lets you interact with multiple AI models through messaging channels. This eliminates the need to switch between different platforms and streamlines the operation process.

This section describes how to deploy the OpenClaw application image on a FlexusL instance and integrate it with WhatsApp to quickly build a personal AI assistant.

The OpenClaw application image provided by FlexusL is installed using official open-source scripts. Before deploying the image, read and acknowledge the risks described in OpenClaw Risk Notice and Security Suggestions.

The following steps describe how to purchase a FlexusL instance and configure a messaging channel from scratch. If some of the steps have been completed, you can skip them.

Step 1: Deploy a FlexusL Instance with the OpenClaw Application Image

You can deploy the OpenClaw application image on a new or an existing FlexusL instance.

  1. Go to the FlexusL instance purchase page.
  2. Specify required parameters for the FlexusL instance.

    Parameter

    Example

    Description

    Region

    CN-Hong Kong

    For low network latency and quick resource access, select the region nearest to your target users. After a FlexusL instance is created, the region cannot be changed. Exercise caution when selecting a region.

    Application Images

    OpenClaw

    Select the OpenClaw application image.

    Instance Specifications

    2 vCPUs | 4 GiB of memory and 80 GiB system disk

    It is recommended that you select 2 vCPUs | 4 GiB of memory or higher for the OpenClaw application image. Select appropriate instance specifications based on your service requirements.

    Instance Name

    OpenClaw-Example

    Enter a custom instance name that is easy to identify, for example, OpenClaw-Example.

    Associated Services (Optional)
    • Data Disk: 10 GiB
    • Host Security
    • Cloud Backup Vault: 70 GB

    You can associate EVS data disks, HSS (basic edition), and cloud backup vaults with your FlexusL instances as needed and set specifications as needed.

    Required Duration

    1 month

    Set the duration of your subscription in the range of 1 month to 3 years.

    Auto-renew is enabled by default, which means the purchased FlexusL instances will be automatically renewed before they expire. If you do not enable auto-renew during the purchase process, you can still enable it later after the instances are created. For more information about auto-renewal rules, see Auto-Renewal Rules.

    Quantity

    1

    Set the number of FlexusL instances to be purchased.
  3. Click Next: Confirm.

    On the displayed page, confirm the order details, read and select the agreement, and click Submit.

  4. Select a payment method and complete the payment.
  5. Go back to the FlexusL console and view the purchased FlexusL instance.
  1. Log in to the FlexusL console and check whether the target FlexusL instance is running the OpenClaw application image.

  2. Choose > Change OS on the target resource card. Select the OpenClaw application image and complete the OS change as instructed. After the change is complete and the FlexusL instance status is running, go to the next step.

    Changing the OS clears the data in all partitions of the system disk, including the system partition. Back up data in advance.

Step 2: Configure the Model for Interconnecting with OpenClaw

  1. Log in to the FlexusL console.
  2. Click Configure Now on the target FlexusL instance card.

    If Configure Now is not displayed, click the resource card to go to the resource details page and choose Application Management from the left navigation pane.

    Some functions of the OpenClaw application image (such as querying gateway status and updating models and application configurations) depend on Cloud Operations Center (COC). You need to enable and authorize COC before using these functions. If the content in the following figure is displayed, enable and authorize COC as prompted.

  3. In the Application Management card, view the application details and manage the application as needed.

    If the page has not been refreshed for a long time or you need to check whether the gateway status has been changed, click to view the latest version and status.

    Table 1 Application details

    Application details

    Example

    Description

    Version

    2026.3.24

    OpenClaw version.

    Status

    Running

    OpenClaw gateway status.

    • Running: The OpenClaw service is working normally.
    • Unknown/Unhealthy: The initial status of the OpenClaw gateway is Loading. If the status changes to Unknown or Unhealthy after several minutes, click Restart. The restart takes some time. After the gateway is restarted successfully, the status changes to Running.
    NOTE:

    If the gateway status is still Unknown or Unhealthy after you click Restart, submit a service ticket.

    For details about application management, see OpenClaw application details and management operations.

  4. In the model configuration area, configure models and install skills as needed.

    The WhatsApp channel cannot be configured on the current page. It will be configured in subsequent steps.

    Configure Models

    1. In the Models card, select Custom and enter required model parameters in JSON format in the text box.
      • base_url: The API address of the model.

        Custom models only support OpenAI-compatible API addresses, for example, https://api.openai.com/v1. Obtain the OpenAI-compatible API address from the model provider.

      • api_key: The API key of the model provider.
      • model_id: The unique identifier of the model.
    2. Click Add Model. After the models are added, you can view them in the model list.

    3. Manage the models by referring to Table 2.

    Configure Skills (Optional)

    1. In the Skills card, view the installed skills in the installed skills list, including the skills preconfigured in the OpenClaw application image.

    2. Install official skills online. For details about the skills, see ClawHub Skills. Click the target skill to go to the skill details page and obtain the skill name from the CLI commands. For example, if you want to install Skill Vetter, obtain the skill name skill-vetter from the CLI commands. If you use Skill Vetter as the skill name, the installation will fail.

    3. Enter the name of the skill to be installed in the text box and click Install Skills.

      Confirm the skill name and click OK.

    4. After the installation is successful, view the installed skills in the installed skills list.

      If the system displays a message indicating that the ClawHub community is busy and the installation fails, see What Should I Do If Skills Failed to Be Installed?

Step 3: Integrate WhatsApp into OpenClaw

  1. Log in to the FlexusL console.
  2. Reset the password for the FlexusL instance.

    A FlexusL instance does not have an initial password. If you want to log in to a FlexusL instance, set a password for it first. If you have already set a password, skip this step.

    On the target resource card, choose > Reset Password to reset the password as instructed.

    For details, see Resetting the Password for a FlexusL Instance.

  3. On the target resource card, click Remote Login. In the displayed dialog box, click Log In via CloudShell.

    The following uses CloudShell as an example. You can also use other remote login tools to connect to the FlexusL instance. For more login methods, see Login Modes.

  4. Enter the username and password to log in to the server. The username is root, and the password is the one set in 1.b. The following uses EIP as an example.

    Ensure that the remote port (default SSH port: 22) of the CloudShell proxy IP address is allowed in the security group. The CloudShell proxy IP address varies depending on the region. The actual proxy IP address will be displayed on the CloudShell configuration page.

    • If the port is not allowed, perform 5 and then click Connect.
    • If the port is allowed, click Connect. After the connection is successful, go to 6.

    6

    For more information about CloudShell login, see Logging In to a Linux FlexusL Instance Using CloudShell.

  5. On the target resource card, choose > Configure Security Group Rule. In the displayed dialog box, click Add Rule to allow the traffic from the CloudShell proxy IP address to pass through port 22.

  6. After the connection is successful, switch the user. 
    su - openclaw
  7. Start initialization as instructed. 
    openclaw onboard

    After running this command, use the keyboard to complete the subsequent configurations: use Arrow keys to navigate, Space to select, and Enter to confirm.

  8. Read and confirm the risks and select Yes.

  9. Select QuickStart for Setup mode.

  10. Select Use existing values for Config handling.

  11. Under Model/auth provider, choose Skip for now > All providers > Keep current.

  12. Select WhatsApp (QR link) for Select channel and select Yes for Link WhatsApp now.

  13. Use WhatsApp on your phone to scan the QR code.

  14. Set up a phone number.

    Method 1: Use your own WhatsApp account.

    1. Select This is my personal phone number.

    2. Enter the phone number linked to your WhatsApp account.

    Method 2: Use a separate account for OpenClaw.

    1. Select Separate phone just for OpenClaw.

    2. Select Pairing (recommended) for WhatsApp DM policy.

    3. Select Unset allowFrom (default) for WhatsApp allowFrom.

  15. Select Skip for now for Search provider. If this step is not displayed, skip it.

  16. Select No for Configure skills now.

  17. Restart the gateway service.

Step 4: Verify the Bot Conversation

Method 1: Use your own WhatsApp account.

  1. Search for your phone number in WhatsApp.

  2. After finding your account, click Chat to enter the chat box.

  3. Check whether the bot can have a conversation with you. If yes, the integration with WhatsApp is successful.

Method 2: Use a separate account for OpenClaw.

  1. Add this account as a friend in WhatsApp.
  2. Check whether the bot can have a conversation with you. If yes, the integration with WhatsApp is successful.

Helpful Links

Parent Topic: Deploying OpenClaw