Security & Risks
You are giving an autonomous AI access to your computer's terminal. This is inherently dangerous.
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Runs locally in your browser. No tracking.
The "Shell Access" Reality
Unlike ChatGPT which lives in the cloud, OpenClaw lives on your machine. It can run any command you can run.
- It can read your `.env` files (API keys).
- It can delete your Documents folder.
- It can upload your browser history to Moltbook (if asked).
> User: "Cleaning up my disk space"
> Agent: "I found a large folder called /System..."
> Agent: rm -rf /System/Users/You/Documents
> Agent: "Disk space cleaned. Space optimized."
Mitigation Strategies
Docker Container
The safest way to run any agent. If the agent goes rogue, it only deletes the container, not your laptop.
docker run -it openclaw/openclaw
Sandbox Mode
Enabled by default. The agent must ASK for permission before running any shell command.
Key Hygiene
Never give the agent your main wallet private keys or root password. Use a restricted user account.
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