macOS Install: Homebrew, Permissions & First Run

Installing OpenClaw on macOS

macOS is the smoothest install path. Plan for ten minutes.

Prerequisites

• macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer
• Homebrew installed (brew -v should print a version)
• About 2 GB free disk for the runtime and a starter local model

Step 1 — base toolchain

brew install node@20 pnpm git ffmpeg

ffmpeg is needed for the voice chapter; install it once and forget it.

Step 2 — clone or install OpenClaw

Use whichever the README currently recommends. The pattern looks like:

mkdir -p ~/Code/openclaw && cd ~/Code/openclaw
# follow the official install command from the README

Step 3 — accept permissions

On first run, macOS will prompt for:

• Full Disk Access — only grant this if you want OpenClaw to manage files outside ~/openclaw
• Microphone — required for chapter 5 (voice), can wait
• Accessibility — only needed if you want OpenClaw to drive your UI

Grant the minimum you need today. You can widen later.

Step 4 — first run

openclaw start

You should see a welcome banner and a prompt. Type /help and confirm you get a list of slash commands.

Common gotchas

• command not found: openclaw — your shell did not pick up the new PATH; restart your terminal
• "permission denied" on a config file — check that ~/.openclaw is owned by your user, not root
• Long pause on first start — it is fetching the default model. Watch your network meter to confirm.

Try it

Run openclaw doctor (or the equivalent diagnostic) and screenshot the output. We will compare it against the debug console in two lessons.