Why Self-Host an AI Gateway?
If you've used ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, you know the pain: separate accounts, separate API keys, separate billing for each platform.
- Claude for coding (best code quality)
- GPT for daily chat (cheap)
- Gemini for long document analysis (huge context window)
- DeepSeek R1 for reasoning tasks (best value)
That's 4 API keys, 4 invoices, 4 different API formats.
Crazyrouter + OpenClaw solves this:
- Crazyrouter: One API key for 300+ models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, etc.). OpenAI-compatible, cheaper than official pricing.
- OpenClaw: Open-source AI gateway that turns AI models into your personal assistant on Telegram, Discord, Slack, and more.
Combined = your own AI infrastructure.
What You Get
After deployment:
- An AI gateway running on your server (port 18789)
- A Telegram Bot for chatting with AI anytime
- 15+ popular models pre-configured and ready to use
Send /start in Telegram to pair and start chatting with your AI assistant
Prerequisites
| Item | How to Get |
|---|---|
| Crazyrouter API Key | Register at crazyrouter.com |
| Telegram Bot Token (optional) | Create via @botfather on Telegram |
Server requirements:
- Linux (Ubuntu/Debian/CentOS) or macOS
- 4GB+ RAM
- Internet access
One-Command Install
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-openclaw/main/install.sh | bash
Or download first:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-openclaw/main/install.sh
bash install.sh
Non-interactive:
CRAZYROUTER_API_KEY=sk-yourkey curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-openclaw/main/install.sh | bash
Installation Process
The script runs 10 automated steps with progress bars:
Steps 1-7: System detection, Node.js & OpenClaw installation, config generation
Steps 7-10: IM plugins, systemd service, gateway startup — "Installation complete!"
Total time: ~2-5 minutes.
Pre-configured Models
| Vendor | Model | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Claude Opus 4.6 | Best overall |
| Anthropic | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Best value |
| OpenAI | GPT-5.2 | Latest flagship |
| OpenAI | GPT-5.3 Codex | Code specialist |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | Long context | |
| Gemini 3 Flash | Ultra-fast | |
| DeepSeek | R1 | Strong reasoning |
| DeepSeek | V3.2 | Best for Chinese |
| Others | Kimi K2.5, GLM-5, Grok 4.1, MiniMax M2.1 | Various |
One API key for everything.
Connecting Telegram Bot
Step 1: Search @botfather on Telegram, send /newbot:
Step 2: Paste token into the install script:
Step 3: Start chatting!
Docker Deployment (Optional)
git clone https://github.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-openclaw.git
cd crazyrouter-openclaw
docker build -t openclaw-bot .
docker run -d --name openclaw-bot -p 18789:18789 -v ~/.openclaw:/root/.openclaw openclaw-bot
Post-Install Management
# Linux (systemd)
systemctl --user status openclaw # Status
journalctl --user -u openclaw -f # Live logs
systemctl --user restart openclaw # Restart
systemctl --user stop openclaw # Stop
Stability
Built-in crash-guard.cjs handles Node.js 22 + undici 7.x TLS crashes:
- TLS Session null pointer protection
- Transient undici error suppression
- Stale lock file cleanup
- Memory directory backup every 5 minutes
24/7 stable operation, zero manual intervention.
FAQ
Q: Crazyrouter vs OpenRouter?
Lower prices, supports Chinese models, fully OpenAI-compatible. No overseas credit card needed.
Q: Raspberry Pi?
Yes! arm64 supported. Pi 4/5 works great.
Q: Cost?
Per-token billing, cheaper than official APIs. See crazyrouter.com.
Try It
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-openclaw/main/install.sh | bash
2 minutes to your own AI. 🚀
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