OpenClaw Is the Hottest AI Tool of 2026. Here Are the Best Ways People Are Actually Using It.

From automating 4,000 emails overnight to building custom trading bots, the open-source AI agent has 135K GitHub stars and a thriving ecosystem. We compiled the most useful repositories and creative use cases.

What Is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot, then Moltbot) is a free, open-source AI agent created by Peter Steinberger that runs locally on your machine. Unlike cloud-only assistants, it connects to your messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage, Teams) and can take autonomous action 24/7.

With 135,000+ GitHub stars and over 2 million visitors in its first week, it's the fastest-growing AI project of 2026.

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Essential Repositories

Core

- openclaw/openclaw - Main repository. 'Your own personal AI assistant. Any OS. Any Platform. The lobster way. 🦞' - openclaw/clawhub - Official skill directory with 5,705+ community-built skills

Curated Skill Collections

- VoltAgent/awesome-openclaw-skills - The definitive curated collection, organized by category - sundial-org/awesome-openclaw-skills - 913 skills, regularly updated for popularity and usefulness

Plugins

- @openclaw/voice-call - Voice calling capabilities - @openclaw/msteams - Microsoft Teams integration (required as of 2026.1.15) - Memory plugins - Core and LanceDB for persistent memory

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Top Use Cases People Are Reporting

1. Email Inbox Zero (Overnight)

Users report clearing 4,000+ emails in two days by letting OpenClaw work overnight—unsubscribing from spam, categorizing by urgency, and drafting replies for review.

2. DevOps Automation

Developers use it to monitor GitHub repos, alert on build failures, execute deployments through chat, and even run Claude Code sessions that autonomously fix bugs and open PRs.

3. Trading Bots

Crypto and stock traders build multi-day workflows that calculate position sizes, manage stop-losses, monitor social sentiment, and execute trades via exchange APIs.

4. Family Photo Recognition

One parent set up OpenClaw to monitor a school WhatsApp group, run face recognition on photos, and send a daily digest showing when their child appeared.

5. Smart Home Control

Users connect to home automation systems, adjusting heating based on weather forecasts or controlling devices via voice commands through messaging apps.

6. Grocery List Automation

When anyone in the household texts 'we need milk,' OpenClaw extracts item names, removes duplicates, and updates a shared shopping list automatically.

7. Custom Meditation Generation

One user reported: 'I had my OpenClaw write custom meditations, then auto-generate TTS combined with ambient audio. Personalized meditation that actually rips.'

8. Client Onboarding Workflows

When a new client signs on, OpenClaw creates project folders, sends welcome emails, schedules kickoff calls, and adds follow-up reminders—all from one trigger.

9. Receipt-to-Spreadsheet

Snap a photo of a receipt, send it to OpenClaw, and it extracts vendor, date, amount, and category directly into a spreadsheet.

10. Video Generation Pipelines

One user asked OpenClaw to 'make a Sora2 video and make it edgy.' It came back 5 minutes later having figured out watermark removal, API keys, and a full workflow autonomously.

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Best Skills by Category

Research & Productivity

- research-cog - #1 on DeepResearch Bench (Feb 2026) - Linear integration - Query and manage issues, projects, team workflows - Tavily Search - AI-optimized web search

Development

- Cursor CLI skill - Full software engineering with tmux automation - ripgrep - Blazingly fast recursive text search - GitHub integration - Monitor repos, manage issues, trigger workflows

AI Orchestration

- ec-task-orchestrator - Multi-agent task orchestration with dependency analysis - Graphiti memory - Hybrid strategy combining vector memory with temporal knowledge graphs

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Security Warning

Bitdefender Labs found that 17% of OpenClaw skills exhibit malicious behavior, with crypto-focused skills accounting for 54% of malicious content.

Before installing any skill: 1. Check the VirusTotal report on ClawHub 2. Review the skill's source code 3. Stick to curated collections from trusted sources

OpenClaw now has a VirusTotal partnership for security scanning.

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The 'Heartbeat' Feature

Creator Peter Steinberger describes OpenClaw's killer feature: the ability to wake up proactively. Unlike passive assistants, OpenClaw can initiate actions on its own—checking for updates, running scheduled tasks, and alerting you to things you didn't ask about.

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Getting Started

1. Clone the main repo 2. Follow the setup guide for your platform 3. Connect your messaging apps 4. Browse ClawHub for skills 5. Start with curated collections before exploring community skills

OpenClaw is model-agnostic—use Claude, GPT-5, Llama 4, or any other model you prefer.

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