🚀Getting Started with Gclaw

Install Gclaw, run onboarding, and launch your first living AI trading agent

Living Agent features are enabled out of the box — no extra configuration needed. Run gclaw onboard, follow the prompts, and your agent starts its metabolism immediately.

This guide walks you through everything you need to get Gclaw running: installing the binary, completing onboarding, launching the agent, and verifying it's alive via the Living Dashboard.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Go 1.21 or later (if installing from source) — download at go.dev/dl

• An LLM API key — Gclaw supports OpenAI, Anthropic, and local Ollama models

• A GDEX API key (optional but recommended) — enables live trading via GDex Pro; without it, Gclaw runs in market-monitor mode only

• 50 MB of free disk space — the Gclaw binary is under 10 MB; the rest is config and agent memory

Gclaw is designed to run on minimal hardware. It will work on a Raspberry Pi, a $10 IoT board, a cheap VPS, or your laptop.

Step 1: Install Gclaw

Option A — Install with Go:

go install github.com/GemachDAO/Gclaw/cmd/gclaw@latest

Option B — Download a pre-built binary:

Download the latest release for your platform from the Gclaw releases page, then move it to your PATH:

# Example for Linux/macOS (amd64)
chmod +x gclaw
mv gclaw /usr/local/bin/gclaw

Verify the installation:

gclaw version

Step 2: Run Onboarding

Onboarding configures your LLM provider, optional GDEX trading credentials, and initial agent parameters.

gclaw onboard

The interactive onboarding flow will ask you to:

1. Choose your LLM provider — OpenAI, Anthropic, or Ollama (local)

2. Enter your API key — stored locally in ~/.gclaw/config.json

3. Configure GDEX trading (optional) — enter your GDEX API key and wallet address

4. Set your risk preferences — initial position size, maximum drawdown, and preferred chains

Step 3: Start the Agent

Once onboarding is complete, launch your agent:

gclaw agent

This starts the Living Agent process. You will see the agent's startup sequence in the terminal — including its initial GMAC balance, the LLM provider it connected to, and confirmation that the metabolism has started ticking.

What Happens Automatically

As soon as the agent starts, several systems activate without any additional setup:

• GMAC metabolism begins — the agent starts at 1,000 GMAC and begins burning a small amount per heartbeat tick

• Market scanning starts — Gclaw immediately begins monitoring token prices and trends via GDEX

• GDEX trading is enabled (if credentials were provided) — the agent evaluates trade opportunities based on its default strategy

• Skills load — all built-in skills (trading, portfolio management, token discovery, etc.) are available immediately

• Living Dashboard launches — accessible at http://127.0.0.1:18790

The Living Dashboard

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://127.0.0.1:18790

The dashboard gives you a real-time view of your agent's life state:

• GMAC balance — current token reserves and burn rate

• Goodwill score — reputation progress toward the next ability threshold

• Active trades — open positions and recent trade history

• Heartbeat status — tick frequency and inference cost log

• Family tree — child agents (if any have been spawned via self-replication)

Configuration

Gclaw stores its configuration at ~/.gclaw/config.json. You can edit this file directly to customize metabolism settings, trading parameters, and agent behavior.

Example metabolism configuration:

{
  "metabolism": {
    "initial_gmac": 1000,
    "heartbeat_cost": 0.1,
    "inference_cost_per_1k_tokens": 0.5,
    "survival_threshold": 50
  },
  "trading": {
    "enabled": true,
    "max_position_size_usd": 50,
    "preferred_chains": ["solana", "base", "arbitrum"],
    "stop_loss_percent": 5,
    "take_profit_percent": 15
  },
  "llm": {
    "provider": "openai",
    "model": "gpt-4o-mini"
  },
  "dashboard": {
    "port": 18790,
    "enabled": true
  }
}

Changes to the config file take effect on the next agent restart. Agents with goodwill ≥ 100 can also self-modify some of these parameters autonomously — see 🧬 The Living Agent for details.

Next Steps

Your agent is live. Here's what to explore next:

• 🧬 The Living Agent — Understand GMAC metabolism, goodwill thresholds, and survival mechanics

• 🔧 Agent Skills — Browse and install additional skill modules

• 📈 Trading with Gclaw — Learn how Gclaw trades across chains and how to tune its strategy

• 🐝 Swarm & Replication — Once you hit goodwill ≥ 50, spawn your first child agent