ochat

Web chat interface for OpenClaw — a lightweight Express server that manages OpenClaw agent sessions and returns responses to the browser.

Overview

ochat provides a minimal, self-hosted chat UI to interact with an OpenClaw agent from any browser.

• Single-file TypeScript server (src/index.ts, ~180 lines)
• Per-session OpenClaw subprocess — full isolation between conversations
• Dark space-themed UI, no external dependencies
• Configurable base path for reverse-proxy setups (e.g. /ochat/)

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Docker (recommended)

The easiest way to run ochat. No Node.js or openclaw required on the host.

git clone https://github.com/rmfaria/ochat.git
cd ochat
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env — set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY
docker compose up -d

Open: http://localhost:18800

On first startup, ochat bootstraps the OpenClaw gateway config automatically from your API key.

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	—	Anthropic API key (at least one provider required)
OPENAI_API_KEY	—	OpenAI API key
OCHAT_PORT	18800	Host port
BASE_PATH	``	URL prefix for reverse-proxy (e.g. /ochat)

See INSTALL.md for the full guide including production deployment, Swarm/Traefik setup, and troubleshooting.

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Native (Node.js)

Requires Node.js 22+ and openclaw installed globally.

npm install -g openclaw
npm install
npm run build          # compiles src/index.ts → dist/index.js
npm start              # serves on port 18800

Development (no build step)

npm run dev

Native environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	18800	HTTP port
BASE_PATH	``	URL prefix for reverse-proxy setups
OPENCLAW_BIN	openclaw	OpenClaw invocation command (override for custom paths)

OPENCLAW_BIN="node /usr/lib/node_modules/openclaw/openclaw.mjs" npm start

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Production: Docker Swarm + Traefik

export ORBIT_HOST=your.domain.com
export OCHAT_BASICAUTH='admin:$$apr1$$...'   # htpasswd -nb admin yourpassword
docker stack deploy -c docker-stack.yml ochat

Serves at https://<ORBIT_HOST>/ochat/ with HTTP Basic Auth via Traefik.

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API

Method	Path	Description
GET	/	Chat UI (HTML)
GET	/health	Health check
POST	/api/chat	Send a message, get agent response

POST /api/chat

Request:

{ "message": "your prompt here", "sessionId": "optional-uuid" }

Response:

{ "ok": true, "text": "agent response", "sessionId": "uuid" }

Sessions are identified by sessionId. Reuse the same ID to continue a conversation.

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Related

• INSTALL.md — full installation guide
• orbit-core — telemetry platform ochat was originally bundled with
• OpenClaw — the AI agent runtime

License

Apache-2.0