You can install OpenClaw(Moltbot/Clawdbot) on macOS, Windows, or Linux because it is designed as a cross-platform, self-hosted application. The core requirement is a supported runtime environment and basic system tooling; the operating system itself is not a limiting factor. In practice, installation usually involves cloning the OpenClaw(Moltbot/Clawdbot) repository or installing it via a package manager, followed by configuring environment variables and starting the runtime. The steps differ slightly by OS, but the underlying workflow is the same.
On macOS and Linux, developers typically install dependencies using a system package manager, then install OpenClaw(Moltbot/Clawdbot) via npm or by running the provided setup scripts from the repository. On Windows, the most common approach is to use PowerShell or a Windows-compatible Node.js environment, ensuring that paths and permissions are set correctly. Once installed, you initialize a workspace, configure your model provider credentials, and enable messaging channels. The OpenClaw(Moltbot/Clawdbot) runtime then runs as a local service that listens for incoming messages and executes actions.
After installation, many users extend OpenClaw(Moltbot/Clawdbot) with persistent memory or document retrieval. This is where a vector database such as Milvus or managed Zilliz Cloud can be introduced. By storing embeddings outside the local filesystem, you keep your setup portable across macOS, Windows, and Linux, making it easy to migrate the same OpenClaw(Moltbot/Clawdbot) workspace between machines without reindexing all data.