I Tried OpenClaw on Windows with Ollama. I was hyped… until I wasn’t.

This is a submission for the OpenClaw Writing Challenge

The Beginning

Today was the day.

For the first time, I cloned OpenClaw on my Windows machine.

My mission was simple: build something for the OpenClaw Challenge using my local Ollama setup.

At first, everything felt smooth. I cloned the repo, read the README, checked the well-written docs, followed the Windows setup instructions, and ran the install command.

Then I saw this in the terminal:

Windows detected - OpenClaw runs great on WSL2.
Native Windows might be trickier.

That was the first moment I got a little skeptical.

Still, the setup looked clean. I was guided through onboarding, picked QuickStart, selected Ollama as the provider, chose local only, set the base URL, selected my model… and then:

boom.

Error: Cannot find module '@larksuiteoapi/node-sdk'

Alright. Not great — but maybe just a one-off.

I installed the package manually and ran the setup again.

Then again:

Windows detected - OpenClaw runs great on WSL2.
Native Windows might be trickier.

And slowly, I started to understand why.

I went through the setup again — model, base URL, everything — and then:

boom again.

Error: Cannot find module 'nostr-tools'

Second missing module. And this time for something I wasn’t even using.

Fine. Installed it.

Ran setup again.

And then:

boom.

Error: Cannot find module '@slack/web-api'

At that point, the warning from the terminal stopped feeling like advice — and started feeling like a prediction.

---

The Windows Attempt

To be fair, OpenClaw never hid it. It told me early that native Windows might be tricky.

And for my setup, it absolutely was.

The loop looked like this:

• run setup
• hit missing module
• install manually
• repeat

What made it frustrating wasn’t just the errors — it was that they were tied to integrations I didn’t even need. I was just trying to run OpenClaw locally with Ollama.

---

So I Switched to WSL2

At that point, I did what the tool had been suggesting all along: switch to WSL2.

And honestly — that part did feel better.

No random module errors. Cleaner setup. Everything looked more stable.

But then I hit the next issue.

My local Ollama setup wasn’t really there anymore.

My models didn’t show up properly, and instead of a clean local flow, I ended up in a setup that expected an OpenAI- or Anthropic-style API.

After digging a bit, the issue became obvious:

Ollama wasn’t installed in that environment.

So yes — WSL2 solved one problem, but it also disconnected me from the setup I actually wanted.

---

The Turnaround: ollama launch openclaw

Then I remembered something.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Ollama that said:

ollama launch openclaw

So I went back to my Windows environment and tried exactly that.

And suddenly:

it worked.

Not perfectly. Not magically. But it worked.

The dashboard opened. The system was running.

---

The First Thing for me OpenClaw Did Right

I typed hi into the chat.

Instead of replying like a normal chatbot, OpenClaw pointed me to BOOTSTRAP.md.

And that was the first moment where I was genuinely impressed.

Instead of just chatting, you actually create your assistant.

Through conversation, you define:

• IDENTITY.md
• USER.md
• SOUL.md

You give it a name, a personality, a tone — even an emoji.

That felt different.

It didn’t feel like configuring software.
It felt like shaping a system.

That idea alone is incredibly strong.

And Then… Boom Again

After going through the bootstrap, everything looked promising.

Then:

Ollama timeout.

Frustrating — but manageable.

I switched to a faster model in the dashboard, retried, and it worked.

Then I got a well-structured response suggesting behavior defaults, memory handling, and skill setup:

“Perfect. Both saved. 🦞

Now for SOUL.md — I suggest the following defaults:

Behavior & Collaboration:

• Be proactive: Don’t wait for commands — check emails, calendar, and projects
• Maintain memory: Update MEMORY.md every few days
• Language: German/English mix
• Heartbeats: 2–4x per day, but don’t respond on every poll (HEARTBEAT_OK if nothing important)
• External actions (email, social): Always ask first
• Git projects: Automatically commit/push (when requested)
• Group chats: Only respond to real inputs, not every time
• Use emoji reactions for Discord

Configure skills:

• Weather (wttr.in for weather)
• Healthcheck (for security checks)
• Skill-creator (for creating new skills)
• taskflow (for complex workflows)

What do you think? Should I write SOUL.md with these defaults, or do you want to adjust anything? 🦞”

Honestly?

It was good.

So I confirmed it.

And then…

boom. Timeout again.

That was the moment where the experience broke for me.

---

What I Think After All This

I don’t think OpenClaw is bad.

Actually, I think it’s one of the most interesting directions in this space right now.

There are ideas here that stand out:

• agent-based workflows
• identity + memory as first-class concepts
• a real attempt at building a personal AI, not just a chat interface
• a huge and fast-growing open-source community pushing it forward
• an ecosystem of plugins, integrations, and channels that goes far beyond a single use case

This is not just “another AI tool.”

That’s rare.

But at the same time, the experience still feels very experimental.

Not just in performance — but in reliability.

Things work… until they don’t.

And when they break, it’s not always obvious why.

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The Part That Makes Me Careful

OpenClaw isn’t just a chatbot.

It’s an agent that can:

• run commands
• access files
• act in the background

That’s powerful.

But that also means trust matters a lot more.

And right now, I personally don’t feel comfortable giving that level of control to a system that still feels this unstable.

---

Conclusion

Right now, my opinion is simple:

OpenClaw is fascinating — but not ready for me yet.

I didn’t end up building my challenge project with it.

But I’m still glad I tried it.

Because the direction is genuinely exciting.

And to be fair:

If I had invested more time, I’m pretty sure I could have gotten everything running properly.

But that’s also part of the point.

For me, the current setup effort combined with the limitations of local models right now just doesn’t feel worth it yet.

And here’s the important part:

This space is moving fast.

Local models are improving rapidly.
Hardware is getting better.
Tooling is evolving almost weekly.

Which means:

The exact same setup could feel completely different in a few months.

So while it didn’t work for me today…

I don’t think that will be true for long.

And that’s exactly why I’ll keep watching OpenClaw.

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What about you?

Have you tried OpenClaw yet?

Whether locally, with cloud models, or in a completely different setup — I’m genuinely curious how your experience has been.

Did it feel smooth and powerful…
or more like something that’s still finding its footing?

And more importantly:

Do you see yourself actually using something like this in your daily workflow — or are we not quite there yet?

Let me know 👇