ClawNexus

Overview

ClawNexus is a naming and discovery layer for OpenClaw. It runs a local daemon that automatically discovers OpenClaw instances on your network and assigns them readable names, so you can refer to instances by alias (e.g., "home") instead of IP addresses.

Works across networks too — instances can register .claw names (like home.alan.id.claw) and connect via encrypted relay from anywhere.

Prerequisites

# Install and start the daemon
npm install -g clawnexus
clawnexus start

When NOT to Use

• Daemon not running → tell the user to run clawnexus start first
• User only has one OpenClaw instance and doesn't need discovery
• Cross-internet connections without a .claw name (use local LAN only)

Commands

List all known instances

curl -s http://localhost:17890/instances | jq '.instances[] | {name: (.alias // .auto_name), status, address}'

Check a specific instance (by alias, auto_name, or address:port)

curl -s http://localhost:17890/instances/home
curl -s http://localhost:17890/instances/olivia
curl -s http://localhost:17890/instances/192.168.1.10:18789

Scan the local network for OpenClaw instances

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:17890/scan

Set a friendly alias for an instance

curl -s -X PUT http://localhost:17890/instances/olivia/alias \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"alias": "home"}'

Get the WebSocket URL to connect to an instance

# Get address and port, then build URL
curl -s http://localhost:17890/instances/home | jq '"ws://\(.address):\(.gateway_port)"'

Check daemon health

curl -s http://localhost:17890/health

Resolve a .claw name (Registry, requires internet + v0.2+)

curl -s http://localhost:17890/resolve/myagent.id.claw

Workflow: "Is home online?"

1. Check instances: curl -s http://localhost:17890/instances
2. Look for alias "home" in the response
3. If status: "online" → confirm to user
4. If not found → suggest scanning: curl -X POST http://localhost:17890/scan

Workflow: "Connect me to raspi"

1. Resolve: curl -s http://localhost:17890/instances/raspi
2. Build URL: ws://<address>:<gateway_port>
3. Report URL to user for use with OpenClaw's gateway connect

Troubleshooting

• "Connection refused" on localhost:17890 → The ClawNexus daemon is not running. Tell the user to run clawnexus start.
• No instances found → The daemon may have just started. Run curl -s -X POST http://localhost:17890/scan to trigger a network scan, then retry listing.
• Instance shows status: "offline" → The OpenClaw gateway on that machine may be stopped. The instance was previously discovered but is not currently reachable.

Notes