{"slug": "nanoclaw", "name": "NanoClaw", "category": "ai", "category_name": "AI models and assistants", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 11, "warners": 2, "score": 2.404, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2026-03-08", "latest": "2026-08-31", "why": "I have used NanoClaw running on my Mac to do the following:", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 4, "compare": 1, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I have used NanoClaw running on my Mac to do the following:", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["NanoClaw", "nanoclaw", "Nanoclaw"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 764605264, "item_id": 47787829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787829", "by": "headcanon", "date": "2026-04-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I preferred the minimalism of nanoclaw and replaced it.", "excerpt": "I tried openclaw when it was released, but I preferred the minimalism of nanoclaw and replaced it. I have it on a mac mini now For context: I have additional automation with scripts set up on the mini, some of them call LLMs to do things like summarizing today's news. I have other automations that are agentic and just run \"claude -p\" (mainly just checks status of other jobs and fixes them automatically). Agentic auto", "context": "runs it on a mac mini", "use_case": "personal agent assistant over Telegram", "switched_from": "OpenClaw", "story": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?"}, {"id": 764555584, "item_id": 47784724, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47784724", "by": "mjsweet", "date": "2026-04-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have used NanoClaw running on my Mac to do the following:", "excerpt": "I\u2019m a professional maintenance gardener and I have used NanoClaw running on my Mac to do the following: Schedule jobs on my job management tool (I vibed it) using a custom MCP. I\u2019ll ask it questions like \u201cwhat jobs are on today\u201d etc. start the job, complete the job etc. It will watch Gmail using a MCP for work orders from local real estate agents, where it will schedule quote visits. After the quote visit I add the p", "context": "professional maintenance gardener", "use_case": "agentic assistant for gardening business", "switched_from": "", "story": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?"}, {"id": 760042368, "item_id": 47502648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47502648", "by": "gdorsi", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love how NanoClaw is aggregating the effort of making personal assistants more secure.", "excerpt": "Interesting! I still wouldn't give to any claw access to my mail accounts, but it is a step in the good direction. I love how NanoClaw is aggregating the effort of making personal assistants more secure. Good job!", "context": "", "use_case": "personal AI assistant", "switched_from": "", "story": "NanoClaw Adopts OneCLI Agent Vault"}, {"id": 758247461, "item_id": 47390466, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47390466", "by": "eranation", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "What excites me the most right now is my experiments with OpenClaw / NanoClaw, I'm just having a blast.", "excerpt": "What you said about \"we're all cooked\" and \"AI is useless\" is literally me and everyone I know switching between the two on an hourly basis... I find it the most exciting time for me as a builder, I can just get more things done. Professionally, I'm dreading for our future, but I'm sure it will be better than I fear, worse than I hope. From a toolset, I use the usual, Cursor (Super expensive if you go with Opus 4.6 m", "context": "builder, has children", "use_case": "agent experiments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How is AI-assisted coding going for you professionally?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 764575025, "item_id": 47785939, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47785939", "by": "superfrank", "date": "2026-04-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "found the lack of communication channels limiting and could never really get it to create skills that felt solid", "excerpt": "I don't use OpenClaw I tried but found it fragile and it's personality off putting. I then tried NanoClaw, but found the lack of communication channels limiting and could never really get it to create skills that felt solid. I recently just switched to Hermes Agent (like last week) and it's the first one where it didn't feel like I was constantly needing to fix it, so at the moment I'm happy with it. What do I use it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "OpenClaw", "story": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?"}, {"id": 757853968, "item_id": 47365873, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47365873", "by": "Drupon", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I simply can't bring myself to give Israeli software like this access to any of my systems.", "excerpt": "I love how NanoClaw looks, but I simply can't bring myself to give Israeli software like this access to any of my systems.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Run NanoClaw in Docker Sandboxes"}]}], "who": [{"by": "headcanon", "context": "homelab user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47850445", "date": "2026-04-21"}, {"by": "mjsweet", "context": "professional maintenance gardener", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47784724", "date": "2026-04-15"}, {"by": "eranation", "context": "builder, has children", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47390466", "date": "2026-03-15"}, {"by": "jmspring", "context": "uses Linux because they have to; prefers BSDs for personal stuff", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47304437", "date": "2026-03-08"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["agent harness", "local ai assistant", "ai agents", "connect homelab to telegram", "personal agent assistant over telegram", "agentic assistant for gardening business"], "compared": [{"slug": "openclaw", "name": "OpenClaw", "co": 7, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "hermes", "name": "Hermes", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 3}, {"slug": "claude-code", "name": "Claude Code", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "docker", "name": "Docker", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47783940", "title": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49505310", "title": "OpenClaw 2.0, Accidentally", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48819808", "title": "Show HN: Rowboat \u2013 Open-source, local-first alternative to Claude Desktop", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47910134", "title": "Octopal: Powerful AI agents without blind trust", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47844269", "title": "Anthropic says OpenClaw-style Claude CLI usage is allowed again", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47501840", "title": "NanoClaw Adopts OneCLI Agent Vault", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1, "warn": 1, "recommend": 2}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 2, "warn": 1, "compare": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 792137185, "item_id": 49508574, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508574", "by": "nisegami", "date": "2026-08-31", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used nanoclaw for a bit before switching to Hermes.", "excerpt": "There's a lot of similar projects out there that are closer to what you're looking for. For example, I used nanoclaw for a bit before switching to Hermes.", "context": "", "use_case": "agent harness", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenClaw 2.0, Accidentally"}, {"id": 781303713, "item_id": 48831482, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48831482", "by": "nekusar", "date": "2026-07-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "with my Nanoclaw, I'm running it in a container on a VM on proxmox", "excerpt": "Thank you for addressing my list. I'd like to use it, but requirements on non-local services is a deal breaker for me. Right now, with my Nanoclaw, I'm running it in a container on a VM on proxmox. If things get bad, I lose a backed up machine and any services it has credentials to. I can understand why IMAP is a pain. There's plenty of functions that can trash mailboxes. I don't envy you all in this task. For my STT", "context": "", "use_case": "local AI assistant", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Rowboat \u2013 Open-source, local-first alternative to Claude Desktop"}, {"id": 766562163, "item_id": 47910135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47910135", "by": "pmbstyle", "date": "2026-04-26", "stance": "compare", "quote": "NanoClaw goes in a different direction, keeping the whole system much smaller.", "excerpt": "Projects like OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, and NanoClaw show that people want agents that actually do things, not just answer questions. That is the part I agree with. I love smart agentic systems. What I did not like in many agent setups was the default trust model: the same agent that can see your memory, instructions, and secrets can often also walk outside your system and take unrestricted actions. It will be exposed ", "context": "", "use_case": "AI agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Octopal: Powerful AI agents without blind trust"}, {"id": 765607121, "item_id": 47850445, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47850445", "by": "headcanon", "date": "2026-04-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "nanoclaw mainly just connects my homelab infra with telegram", "excerpt": "I've been trying to toe the line here myself, here's how I've been doing it. For context, I pay for a Max 5x subscription. My main goal is to maximize my subscription token usage while trying to comply with the rules, but its not clear where the line is for automation so I feel like I need to be clever. - regular development (most token use): all interactive claude mode, standard use case - automated background devel", "context": "homelab user", "use_case": "connect homelab to Telegram", "switched_from": "", "story": "Anthropic says OpenClaw-style Claude CLI usage is allowed again"}, {"id": 764605264, "item_id": 47787829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787829", "by": "headcanon", "date": "2026-04-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I preferred the minimalism of nanoclaw and replaced it.", "excerpt": "I tried openclaw when it was released, but I preferred the minimalism of nanoclaw and replaced it. I have it on a mac mini now For context: I have additional automation with scripts set up on the mini, some of them call LLMs to do things like summarizing today's news. I have other automations that are agentic and just run \"claude -p\" (mainly just checks status of other jobs and fixes them automatically). Agentic auto", "context": "runs it on a mac mini", "use_case": "personal agent assistant over Telegram", "switched_from": "OpenClaw", "story": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?"}, {"id": 764575025, "item_id": 47785939, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47785939", "by": "superfrank", "date": "2026-04-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "found the lack of communication channels limiting and could never really get it to create skills that felt solid", "excerpt": "I don't use OpenClaw I tried but found it fragile and it's personality off putting. I then tried NanoClaw, but found the lack of communication channels limiting and could never really get it to create skills that felt solid. I recently just switched to Hermes Agent (like last week) and it's the first one where it didn't feel like I was constantly needing to fix it, so at the moment I'm happy with it. What do I use it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "OpenClaw", "story": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?"}, {"id": 764555584, "item_id": 47784724, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47784724", "by": "mjsweet", "date": "2026-04-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have used NanoClaw running on my Mac to do the following:", "excerpt": "I\u2019m a professional maintenance gardener and I have used NanoClaw running on my Mac to do the following: Schedule jobs on my job management tool (I vibed it) using a custom MCP. I\u2019ll ask it questions like \u201cwhat jobs are on today\u201d etc. start the job, complete the job etc. It will watch Gmail using a MCP for work orders from local real estate agents, where it will schedule quote visits. After the quote visit I add the p", "context": "professional maintenance gardener", "use_case": "agentic assistant for gardening business", "switched_from": "", "story": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?"}, {"id": 764550771, "item_id": 47784423, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47784423", "by": "atonse", "date": "2026-04-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'm running half my company with Nanoclaw.", "excerpt": "I used it for a bit in Jan. And found it to be a much worse version of Claude Code. But I'm exploring setting up Hermes from scratch so my family can interact with it in a group chat. I'm running half my company with Nanoclaw. Same idea, and has some benefits, but I live in CC all day so it's marginal (except for the fact that my laptop has to be on)", "context": "", "use_case": "running company workflows", "switched_from": "", "story": "Is anyone actually using OpenClaw?"}, {"id": 760042368, "item_id": 47502648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47502648", "by": "gdorsi", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love how NanoClaw is aggregating the effort of making personal assistants more secure.", "excerpt": "Interesting! I still wouldn't give to any claw access to my mail accounts, but it is a step in the good direction. I love how NanoClaw is aggregating the effort of making personal assistants more secure. Good job!", "context": "", "use_case": "personal AI assistant", "switched_from": "", "story": "NanoClaw Adopts OneCLI Agent Vault"}, {"id": 758247461, "item_id": 47390466, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47390466", "by": "eranation", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "What excites me the most right now is my experiments with OpenClaw / NanoClaw, I'm just having a blast.", "excerpt": "What you said about \"we're all cooked\" and \"AI is useless\" is literally me and everyone I know switching between the two on an hourly basis... I find it the most exciting time for me as a builder, I can just get more things done. Professionally, I'm dreading for our future, but I'm sure it will be better than I fear, worse than I hope. From a toolset, I use the usual, Cursor (Super expensive if you go with Opus 4.6 m", "context": "builder, has children", "use_case": "agent experiments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How is AI-assisted coding going for you professionally?"}, {"id": 757853968, "item_id": 47365873, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47365873", "by": "Drupon", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I simply can't bring myself to give Israeli software like this access to any of my systems.", "excerpt": "I love how NanoClaw looks, but I simply can't bring myself to give Israeli software like this access to any of my systems.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Run NanoClaw in Docker Sandboxes"}, {"id": 756870992, "item_id": 47304437, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47304437", "by": "jmspring", "date": "2026-03-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "looking at porting NanoClaw to use FreeBSD jails and ZFS snapshots", "excerpt": "It's still early, because I actually had some nice weather in the PNW, but looking at porting NanoClaw to use FreeBSD jails and ZFS snapshots. Why? I use linux because I have to - docker/docker images is what we are stuck with. For personal stuff - I prefer the BSDs.", "context": "uses Linux because they have to; prefers BSDs for personal stuff", "use_case": "porting to FreeBSD", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (March 2026)"}]}