Minimalist agent UI - give it a project, it works only within it. Isolated memory, isolated folders
iClaw_video.mp4
Pick a mode, then watch iClaw inspect an untrusted shell script inside an isolated sandbox — ~50s, no sound.
Requires Node.js 20+
npx @iclawapp/iclawPress g in the terminal to open the UI in your browser
| Mode | What it does | Backend |
|---|---|---|
| Work | AI edits files in folders you pick; you approve every change. | iClaw runtime |
| Safe work & Internet research | Locked Docker sandbox — run untrusted code and research the web. | iClaw runtime |
| Full Power (default) | The full OpenClaw agent — files, tools, shell, browser. | OpenClaw Gateway |
| Incognito | Private, read-only research — reads files & the web, never writes, nothing saved. | iClaw runtime |
The three runtime modes need Docker running and an OpenRouter key (Settings); without either the composer falls back to Full Power. Architecture: AGENTS.md.
Today's agents run as you — your shell, your files, your credentials, your cloud bill. That's exactly where it hurts:
🔒 "It ran rm -rf ~/ and wiped my Mac." A real 1,500-upvote thread —
the agent runs on your filesystem with nothing between the model and the shell.
iClaw runs untrusted code in a Docker sandbox where the command literally cannot
see the rest of your computer, and touches real files only in folders you pick.
💸 $20 gone in a day, then rate-limited mid-task. One vendor, one price they can double overnight. iClaw is model-agnostic — cheap DeepSeek + Gemini out of the box, or bring GPT / Claude / anything via OpenRouter. No lock-in, no per-seat plan.
📁 It forgot what it was doing and mixed two projects up. iClaw seals each project off — its own chats, memory and folders. Nothing bleeds between them, and nothing leaves your machine: it's local and loopback-only.
⚡ No setup marathon. npx, paste one OpenRouter key, and you're in — iClaw
pre-pulls the sandbox in the background and hands you one-click Install buttons
for Docker and OpenClaw. No compose files, no config to hand-edit.
✨ A clean UI, not a cockpit. A minimalist, ChatGPT-style surface — light/dark, a tight design system, nothing you don't need.
| iClaw | OpenClaw | Hermes | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface | Local browser GUI | CLI | CLI + chat apps | Terminal |
| Setup pain | 💀💀 | 💀💀💀💀💀 | 💀💀💀💀 | 💀 |
| Projects sealed off — own chats, memory, folders | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ~ per-repo file |
| Pick your trust level per chat | ✅ 4 modes | ❌ | ~ | ~ |
| Untrusted code can't escape its folders | ✅ Docker | ❌ | ~ | ~ |
| Any model · no lock-in | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ Anthropic only |
| Encrypted, self-destructing share links | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
✅ yes · ~ partial · ❌ no · 💀 = setup hassle (fewer = easier)
→ Only iClaw gives you sealed projects, a per-folder sandbox, and a GUI — with any model you want.
- Encrypted chat sharing — hit Share in any chat for an end-to-end encrypted link (AES-256-GCM; password, burn-after-read, TTL). Powered by iClaw-cloud.
- Remote Access (alpha) — reach the UI from another device over an iclaw-relay tunnel (Settings → Remote Access). Not externally audited yet — see docs/REMOTE_ACCESS.md.
git clone https://github.com/iClawApp/iClaw.git
cd iClaw && npm install && npm run devWeb UI on http://localhost:3000, Gateway on http://127.0.0.1:18789 (OPENCLAW_BASE_URL). Env vars: .env.example · Architecture & coding rules: AGENTS.md.
CONTRIBUTING.md · ROADMAP.md · CHANGELOG.md
MIT — see LICENSE.