NanoClaw AI Assistant: Secure Lightweight Agent Guide

In 2026, the AI agent world exploded with powerful tools promising to automate more of our daily workflows. OpenClaw became a household name in the developer community but it also highlighted a big concern: security. That’s where NanoClaw enters the story. (Venturebeat)

NanoClaw isn’t just “another AI agent.” It’s a minimalist, security-first personal assistant that solves some of OpenClaw’s biggest challenges by design. If you care about control, safety, and understandability, NanoClaw might be the tool that actually fits your needs. 

NanoClaw is a lightweight personal AI assistant built to be simple, secure, and auditable, and it’s designed to run locally on your own machine. Unlike larger, more complex agents that can access everything on your system, NanoClaw:

• Has a tiny codebase of around 500 lines of TypeScript, making it readable and customizable. (Lilys AI)
• Runs each agent in isolated containers (using Apple Containers on macOS or Docker on Linux) to limit potential damage. 
• Uses the Claude Agent SDK as its core AI runtime, meaning it leverages Claude models for its thinking and task execution. (GitHub)
• Connects to platforms like WhatsApp and supports scheduled tasks with group memory, all while keeping the core simple and transparent.

In short, NanoClaw is like having a focused, secure AI teammate that does useful work without compromising your entire system.

Where OpenClaw impressed with breadth, NanoClaw impresses with depth through simplicity and security:

Security First

Instead of running everything in a single process with broad access, NanoClaw’s design sandboxes each agent so it only sees what you explicitly allow. That means:

• limited filesystem access
• clear boundaries for what it can and cannot do
• a much smaller attack surface

This containerised approach significantly reduces risk compared to non-isolated agents. 

Minimal & Auditable

NanoClaw’s entire core is small and easy to read. That makes:

• auditing the code practical
• customizing behavior straightforward
• Understanding exactly what the agent does is much easier than with bulkier alternatives
• It’s the kind of project you can truly understand in a weekend. 

Agent Swarms & Custom Skills

Extra cool: NanoClaw supports something called agent swarms, which are groups of specialised agents that collaborate to solve tasks. On top of that, users can extend capabilities through skills modular instructions that tell Claude Code how to teach NanoClaw new tricks. (Trending Topics)

Getting NanoClaw up and running is straightforward, but because it’s a powerful tool, take your time and make sure you understand each piece.

Prerequisites

Before installing NanoClaw, make sure you have:

1. A supported system:

• macOS (with Apple containers supported)

• Linux (with Docker)

• Windows via WSL2 is also possible in some workflows 

2. Node.js (version 20 or higher) 

3. An API key for Claude (Anthropic) or another supported model provider.

4. Optional: Docker installed for container isolation on Linux. 

Basic Installation (Manual)

This process gets you a fully functional NanoClaw instance:

Clone the GitHub repository:

Install dependencies:

Run the setup via Claude Code:

NanoClaw integrates closely with Claude Code, a tool that helps manage dependencies and configurations:

This command will walk you through connecting your model API key, configuring container settings, and choosing integrations like WhatsApp. (Nanoclaw AI)

Start NanoClaw:

Once setup is complete, you’ll be able to run the main NanoClaw process and begin messaging your assistant via your chosen channel.

Alternative: Docker Sandbox Installation

On Linux or macOS, you can add an extra layer of safety by running the whole environment in a Docker sandbox:

Create a workspace directory:

Run a sandbox shell:

Inside this isolated environment, you can then install NanoClaw as usual without touching your host filesystem.

Once NanoClaw is installed and running:

1. Start a chat through WhatsApp (or your channel of choice).

2. Ask it a task like:

• “Summarise my messages from today.”

• “Schedule a weekly check-in reminder.”

• “Analyse my to-do list and generate a prioritised plan.”

NanoClaw will break it down into steps, collaborate with its agent swarm if needed, and reply back with results without exposing your whole system.

NanoClaw dramatically improves safety over older agent tools by isolating agents in containers, but you should still treat it carefully:

• API keys must be kept secure and not hard-coded.

• Only mount directories you’re comfortable exposing to the container.

• Stay aware that network access isolation protects the file system, not the internet. 

Because NanoClaw’s design favours clarity over complexity, auditing and extending it is actually approachable, which itself is a security advantage. 

NanoClaw represents a shift toward safe, minimal, and auditable AI assistants. By stripping away bloat and prioritizing containerized security, it makes the promise of autonomous AI agents more trustworthy and accessible for individual developers and teams.

Whether you’re automating personal workflows, building secure production bots, or experimenting with agent swarms, NanoClaw gives you a foundation that is understandable, secure, and customizable.