nullclaw

Start interactive agent conversation

$ nullclaw agent

$ nullclaw agent -m "[message]"

$ nullclaw gateway --port [3000]

$ nullclaw onboard --interactive

$ nullclaw channel start [telegram]

$ nullclaw status

$ nullclaw doctor

$ nullclaw service install

nullclaw [command] [options]

nullclaw is a minimalist AI agent framework built entirely in Zig, delivering a single static 678 KB binary with under 2 ms startup time and approximately 1 MB peak memory usage. It runs on any hardware with a CPU — ARM, x86, and RISC-V architectures are supported without modification.
The framework integrates 22+ AI providers (including Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama, and OpenRouter), 18 communication channels (Telegram, Signal, Discord, Slack, iMessage, Matrix, WhatsApp, IRC, and more), and customizable tools — all with zero external runtime dependencies beyond libc.
All subsystems use vtable interfaces enabling swappable implementations without code changes. This covers providers, channels, memory backends, tools, runtimes, and security sandboxes. The memory system uses hybrid search combining FTS5 full-text indexing with vector similarity within SQLite.

agent

Interactive or single-message conversation mode.

Execute a single message then exit (used with agent).

Start HTTP runtime with integrated channels.

Listen port for the gateway (default: 3000).

Configuration wizard for initial setup.

Set API key directly during onboarding.

Specify model provider during onboarding.

Step-by-step interactive configuration.

Manage messaging integrations.

Background daemon management.

Display system health and configuration summary.

Run comprehensive system diagnostics.

Import data from compatible systems. Use --dry-run to preview without applying.

Configuration resides at ~/.nullclaw/config.json and follows OpenClaw-compatible schema with snake_case formatting.

$ {
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "anthropic": {
        "api_key": "sk-..."
      }
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
      }
    }
  }
}

Requires Zig 0.15.2 (exact version) to build from source. The binary has no external dependencies beyond libc, but individual providers and channels require their own API keys or service accounts to function. The project is OpenClaw-compatible but not a drop-in replacement — configuration migration via nullclaw migrate openclaw may require manual adjustments.

NullClaw is a successor in the claw-family of AI agent frameworks, following OpenClaw and ZeroClaw. Written entirely in Zig, it was designed for extreme minimalism and portability, targeting edge computing and resource-constrained environments where traditional runtimes are impractical. The project maintains a test suite of 3,230+ tests.

ollama(1)