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Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

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Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#231
I posted this comment in another thread so reposting it here:

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IMHO, the biggest problem with OpenClaw and other AI agents is that the use-cases are still being discovered. We have deployed several hundred of these to customers and I think this challenge comes from the fact that AI agents are largely perceived as workflow automation tools so when it comes to business process they are seen as a replacement for more established frameworks.

They can automate but they are not reliable. I think of them as work and process augmentation tools but this is not how most customers think in my experience.

However, here are a several legit use-case that we use internally which I can freely discuss.

There is an experimental single-server dev infrastructure we are working on that is slightly flaky. We deployed a lightweight agent in go (single 6MB binary) that connects to our customer-facing API (we have our own agentic platform) where the real agent is sitting and can be reconfigured. The agent monitors the server for various health issues. These could be anything from stalled VMs, unexpected errors etc. It is firecracker VMs that we use in very particular way and we don't know yet the scope of the system. When such situations are detected the agent automatically corrects the problems. It keeps of log what it did in a reusable space (resource type that we have) under a folder called learnings. We use these files to correct the core issues when we have the type to work on the code.

We have an AI agent called Studio Bot. It exists in Slack. It wakes up multiple times during the day. It analyses our current marketing efforts and if it finds something useful, it creates the graphics and posts to be sent out to several of our social media channels. A member of staff reviews these suggestions. Most of the time they need to follow up with subsequent request to change things and finally push the changes to buffer. I also use the agent to generate branded cover images for linkedin, x and reddit articles in various aspect ratios. It is a very useful tool that produces graphics with our brand colours and aesthetics but it is not perfect.

We have a customer support agent that monitors how well we handle support request in zendesk. It does not automatically engage with customers. What it does is to supervise the backlog of support tickets and chase the team when we fall behind, which happens.

We have quite a few more scattered in various places. Some of them are even public.

In my mind, the trick is to think of AI agents as augmentation tools. In other words, instead of asking how can I take myself out of the equation, the better question is how can I improve the situation. Sometimes just providing more contextually relevant information is more than enough. Sometimes, you need a simple helper that own a certain part of the business.

I hope this helps.

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#232
I've mostly been using it as a calendar interface and email drafter. I also find it useful for a daily agenda with meals, meeting, weather and so on. I find the responds slowly (10-15s) so I've probably configured it poorly. I'm just using a Hetzner node and OpenRouter but maybe local is better?

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#233
I've been trying out Hermes this week. OpenClaw felt like too much.

It was really easy to setup and I've been getting some value out of it but hasn't been the craziest thing in the world. I'm using it for:

- Unstructured note-taking: I suck at notes and todos and used to have a WhatsApp chat with myself (this is really common in Brazil) where I dump stuff. Now I dump into Hermes and it sorts whatever I put in there into one of various lists like to-do, to-read, to-try, to-buy, and so on.

- Briefings on a cron: I get reminded of my todos every morning and at the end of the day so I can cross stuff off. Later in the day I get reminded of my to-read list. I also get a summary of what went on from my coding orchestrator.

- Some coding: I built my own remote orchestrator and have been using Hermes to manage tasks, review code, and trigger tasks when on the move. Hermes has been a nice interface to allow me to use the orchestrator on my phone.

Haven't connected email or anything else yet. I feel like the security story here is lacking.

Overall it's been interesting but not mind-blowing. Plus setting up was easy but it's a bit buggy at times, messing up where files were and not being able to configure itself according to its own docs.

EDIT: Ah yes and voice notes via WhatsApp out-of-the-box is really nice

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#234
post #41

I’m a professional maintenance gardener and I have used NanoClaw running on my Mac to do the following: Schedule jobs on my job management tool (I vibed it) using a custom MCP. I’ll ask it questions like “what jobs are on today” etc. start the job, complete the job etc. It will watch Gmail using a MCP for work orders from local real estate agents, where it will schedule quote visits. After the quote visit I add the p…

how did you prompt it to continue in the loop indefinitely without needing supervision? do you have to check in on it?

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#235
post #230

I still use it and find it helpful. My OpenClaw instance uses an Obsidian project as its memory. Mainly, it's just my main day-to-day LLM that I access via WhatsApp, but instead of the memory being locked away with a specific vendor, it's stored in version control that I can read and edit. That reason alone makes it compelling to me. When a better LLM comes along, I can just switch, and my memory and system prompts c…

I’ve also found it useful for personal stuff. For example I have my OpenClaw bot in a family group on Telegram and everyday it asks my family members stories from their lives that it meticulously documents and uses as a basis for further questions in the future and has so far managed to build a rich family history spanning 50 odd family members (a project I had always been planning to do for never found the time to).

I am weirded out but this, I find it horrific, like some kind of mind zombie, leeching humanity from your family members.

Someone somewhere is thinking they're connecting with you and sharing their humanity but they're just shoveling their soul into a machine that is "meticulously documenting" them.

Sorry, but ick.

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#236
I love it, it is like Claude on steroids, I can just chat with it on my phone and iterate projects… sadly it’s really expensive now to keep using Opus, looking for alternatives that doesn’t gimp the reasoning and creativity is hard.

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#237

When I saw Jensen's talk about how Openclaw surpassed React and Linux in terms of GitHub stars within a few months, I knew the whole thing was manufactured bot hype. No one can tell me a compelling use case. The whole thing seems designed around getting people to burn more tokens.

Yes agree, I imagine that's why NVIDIA and OpenAI jumped at them.

I wouldn't touch that vibe-coded mess with a ten foot pole.

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#238
post #52

When I saw Jensen's talk about how Openclaw surpassed React and Linux in terms of GitHub stars within a few months, I knew the whole thing was manufactured bot hype. No one can tell me a compelling use case. The whole thing seems designed around getting people to burn more tokens.

> No one can tell me a compelling use case. The whole thing seems designed around getting people to burn more tokens. Exactly. These companies are only hyping openclaw so that we continue to spend hundreds of dollars a day worth of tokens on their infrastructure. That’s why companies like Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google and many others all want you to spend more on tokens on openclaw and they don’t care if it ha…

didn’t Anthropic block open claw usage?

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#239
post #94

The main function of OpenClaw was for people to signal how advanced and cutting edge and thought-leader-y they were. All those Mac minis are sitting idle now.

I bought a Mac mini m4 before openclaw to use as a music production machine, when it turned out not to work out I tried setting up openclaw on it after hearing all the noise, but that turned out not to work out either. I’ve found a much better use for it now. I use it as a Tailscale + ssh + tmux + Claude code machine, which gives me an always on Claude code environment with persistent sessions. I ssh from my phone us…

Claude has Dispatch now, which should replace the tmux + CLI for you

Re: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just be careful. By all accounts I don't believe that the subscription plans cover 3rd party harness support. You may be at risk of all of this being shut down. That's one of the reasons I haven't explored other harnesses. The main one being, I can accomplish everything they can from within CC with some extra steps I know how to do compliant with a CC Max Plan Terms of Service.

Yeah I know, I have experimented locally with CC channels - but it's brittle and buggy at the moment. I will give it another go in a few weeks once they iron out the kinks.

If you do run into any troubles you're not sure how to navigate, please feel free to reach out to me. Hell, even before that. I'm happy to collaborate on your LLM experience. But if the worst happens, I can probably get you back and running at that baseline even if Anthropic bans you. And this isn't me trying to worm my way into you paying me. Just a better understanding of what you've implemented versus how I typically use these tools and if I can close the "token" gap.
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