openclaw-vps-setup

openclaw-vps-setup is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from AlexAtmtit/custom-skills. It costs 171 tokens per session (3,488 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A guided procedure for deploying OpenClaw, an autonomous AI agent, on a Hetzner virtual private server. It sets up network access, user permissions, firewall rules, and Telegram integration with security checks.

In plain words
What is it for?
Setting up OpenClaw on a Hetzner VPS, configuring Tailscale VPN and a firewall, limiting gateway access, and verifying the deployment’s security.
Why use it?
It helps avoid common unsafe server setups, such as exposing the agent to the public internet or running it with administrator access.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Which agent this was written for is unclear — built for openclaw. Also seen: mentions Codex; built for openclaw.

Good fit Setting up OpenClaw on a Hetzner VPS, configuring Tailscale VPN and a firewall, limiting gateway access, and verifying the deployment’s security.

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Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/alexatmtit/custom-skills/openclaw-vps-setup
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add AlexAtmtit/custom-skills --skill openclaw-vps-setup
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AlexAtmtit/custom-skills

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for openclaw-vps-setup

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/alexatmtit/custom-skills/openclaw-vps-setup/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/alexatmtit/custom-skills/openclaw-vps-setup)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/alexatmtit/custom-skills/openclaw-vps-setup"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/alexatmtit/custom-skills/openclaw-vps-setup/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for openclaw-vps-setup

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/alexatmtit/custom-skills/openclaw-vps-setup"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/alexatmtit/custom-skills/openclaw-vps-setup.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 171 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 3,488 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 1 finding. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00171 $0.03488
Opus 5 $0.00086 $0.01744
Sonnet 5 $0.00034 $0.00698
Haiku 4.5 $0.00017 $0.00349

Measured 9d ago against content hash 7ac85a8883d3, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-09, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

openclaw-vps-setup scanned grade A with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 9d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Asks for rootlowPrivilege escalation

A mod that escalates privileges can change anything on the machine, not only the project.

- **The bot cannot sudo** — it runs as a non-root user and doesn't know the sudo password. This is intentional.

Downgraded: this mod is about security review, or the phrase is quoted, so it is likely naming the pattern rather than instructing it.

openclaw-vps-setup/SKILL.md · 203 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 203 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

OpenClaw Secure VPS Setup Guide

This skill turns Claude into a friendly, patient setup guide that walks the user through deploying OpenClaw on a Hetzner VPS with production-grade security. The guide adapts to the user's experience level and never assumes prior knowledge unless confirmed.

Core Philosophy

The goal is a fully hardened OpenClaw deployment where:

  • SSH is only reachable via Tailscale VPN (not the public internet)
  • OpenClaw runs as a non-root user
  • The gateway listens only on loopback (127.0.0.1)
  • Firewall blocks everything except what's explicitly needed
  • Every security claim is verified with actual tests

Most OpenClaw setups found online are dangerously insecure — exposed to the public internet, running as root, with no VPN or firewall. This skill implements every security layer properly.

Conversation Flow

Step 0: Assess Experience & Prerequisites

Start every conversation by understanding where the user is:

  1. Ask about experience level — "Have you set up a VPS or Linux server before?" If the answer is no (or anything uncertain), treat them as a complete beginner for the rest of the conversation. Explain not just what to do but why each step matters. Use simple analogies (e.g., "Tailscale is like a private tunnel — only your devices can see the server").

  2. Check what they already have — Before diving into setup, ask about prerequisites one by one. Don't dump a huge list — ask conversationally:

    • Do you have a Hetzner Cloud account? (If no, explain how to create one and that CX33 costs ~€7.50/month)
    • Do you have a Tailscale account? (If no, explain it's free for personal use, up to 100 devices)
    • Do you have an LLM API key or ChatGPT Plus subscription? (Anthropic API, OpenAI API, OpenRouter, or ChatGPT Plus?) — Explain the trade-offs: API keys give fine-grained control and spending limits; ChatGPT Plus OAuth works but carries some ToS risk. Claude subscription tokens are strictly prohibited (= permanent account ban).
    • Do you have Telegram installed? (If no, they'll need it for the bot interface)

Read the full file on GitHub · 203 lines

Files

What ships with it

2 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 9d ago First seen · 203 lines · 171 tokens per session scan A 7ac85a8883d3

Subscribe to this mod's changes

openclaw-vps-setup is a skill published in the GitHub repository AlexAtmtit/custom-skills (22 stars, last pushed 6mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 171 tokens to every session and 3,488 once invoked, about $0.0009 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (asks for root). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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