Deploy Nanoclaw — A Lightweight Claude Agent — to Your Own Server

Nanoclaw is a lightweight Claude agent that runs as a single process — container-isolated, with built-in integrations for WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, and Signal. It also supports scheduled tasks and agent swarms, making it one of the most capable yet minimal AI agent frameworks available.

Setting it up manually means provisioning a server, cloning the repo, configuring API keys, and managing the process. With HowToDeploy, you can skip all of that and have Nanoclaw running in minutes.

Why Nanoclaw?

• Single process — no complex microservices or container orchestration
• Container-isolated — runs sandboxed for security without requiring Docker knowledge
• 5 messaging channels — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, and Signal out of the box
• Scheduled tasks — automate recurring AI tasks on a cron-like schedule
• Agent swarms — spin up multiple coordinating agents for complex workflows
• Tiny footprint — runs on just 1GB RAM

Prerequisites

Before you start, you'll need:

• A HowToDeploy account (sign up free)
• A cloud provider API key (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr, Linode, or AWS)
• An Anthropic API key

Step 1: Connect your cloud provider

Go to Settings → Cloud Providers and paste your API key. Any supported provider works.

Tip: Nanoclaw needs just 1GB RAM. You can run it on the cheapest tier of any provider — typically $4-6/month.

Step 2: Deploy Nanoclaw

Head to the Dashboard and find Nanoclaw in the AI Agents section. Click the card to open the deploy form.

You only need one field:

• Anthropic API Key — the key Nanoclaw uses to call Claude

Server size, region, and everything else are pre-configured with sensible defaults.

Step 3: Connect messaging channels (optional)

Expand Advanced Settings to connect your preferred channels:

• Telegram Bot Token — create one via @BotFather
• Discord Bot Token — from the Discord Developer Portal
• Slack Bot Token — from api.slack.com

You can add WhatsApp and Signal later through the server config file. No need to set everything up before deploying.

Step 4: Start using your agent

Once deployment completes, your Nanoclaw agent is live. If you connected a messaging channel, send it a message and it'll respond instantly.

Want to set up scheduled tasks or agent swarms? SSH into your server and edit the Nanoclaw config file — full documentation is in the GitHub repo.

What's included

Every Nanoclaw deployment includes:

• Self-contained runtime — no external database or service dependencies
• Container isolation — sandboxed execution for security
• Multi-channel support — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal
• Task scheduler — built-in cron-like scheduling for automated tasks
• Full SSH access — your server, your agent, your rules

Pricing

You pay your cloud provider directly for the server (as low as $4-6/month for the smallest tier). HowToDeploy charges a small monthly management fee for monitoring and support.

Start with a 7-day free trial — no credit card required.

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Ready to run your own Claude agent? Deploy Nanoclaw now →