- The OpenClaw project lives on GitHub — that's the source of truth for releases, issues, and contribution.
- The documentation site is versioned — always confirm you're reading docs for your installed version.
- ClaWHub Marketplace is the official plugin directory with 380+ community skills as of early 2025.
- GitHub Discussions is for async questions; Discord is for real-time help — use the right one for your situation.
- The quickstart in the official docs gets a working agent running in under 20 minutes on any Linux host.
New OpenClaw users waste hours looking for a central website that doesn't exist. OpenClaw, like most serious open-source infrastructure projects, distributes its official presence across several platforms — each serving a specific purpose. Once you know the map, navigating it takes seconds. Getting the map wrong costs you hours.
The Official Resources Map
OpenClaw's official presence spans four distinct locations. Each has a specific role and audience:
| Resource | Purpose | Use When |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Repository | Source code, releases, issues, PRs | Downloading, contributing, reporting bugs |
| Documentation Site | Guides, API reference, config reference | Setting up, configuring, learning features |
| ClaWHub Marketplace | Plugin and skill directory | Extending agent capabilities |
| Discord + Discussions | Community support, announcements | Getting help, sharing work, staying current |
GitHub Repository: The Source of Truth
Everything starts at GitHub. The repository is where the code lives, but it's also the hub for several functions that new users miss:
- Releases page — all tagged versions with changelogs, pre-built binaries for Linux/macOS/Windows, and Docker image links. Always download from here, not from third-party mirrors.
- Issues tracker — bug reports, feature requests, and the
good first issuetagged items for contributors. The issue tracker is well-maintained; stale issues are closed regularly. - Discussions — the async Q&A forum. Organized into categories: Q&A, Ideas, Show and Tell, and Announcements. Search here before opening a new question — most common problems have answered threads.
- Security advisories — private vulnerability reporting is enabled. If you find a security issue, use GitHub's private advisory feature rather than the public issue tracker.
Click "Watch" → "Custom" → check "Releases" on the GitHub repository. You'll get an email notification each time a new version ships — without being buried in PR and commit notifications. This is how you stay current without checking manually.
Documentation Site: Structure and Navigation
The docs site is versioned. This is the detail that trips up most users. If you installed OpenClaw v1.4 but you're reading v1.5 docs, the config syntax and feature flags you see may not exist in your version — or they may have different names.
Check the version selector in the top-right of the docs site before reading anything. Set it to match your installed version. This single habit eliminates 80% of the "why isn't this working?" questions in the support channels.
The docs are organized into four sections:
- Getting Started — quickstart, installation methods (binary, Docker, from source), first agent setup
- Guides — topic-based deep dives on gateways, multi-agent setups, memory backends, skills, and deployment patterns
- Configuration Reference — every config key, its type, default value, and valid options. Bookmark this page. You'll return to it constantly.
- API Reference — OpenClaw's HTTP API for programmatic control, webhook formats, and the plugin SDK specification
The most common question in the Discord support channel is "the docs say X but my config doesn't work." Nine times out of ten, the user is reading docs for a different version than they have installed. Version-pin your docs reading as firmly as you version-pin your dependencies.
ClaWHub Marketplace: Extending Your Agent
ClaWHub is the official plugin marketplace. It's where community developers publish skills, gateway adapters, and integrations that extend OpenClaw's capabilities beyond the core.
As of early 2025, the marketplace has 380+ listed skills. The quality varies — look at install counts, last updated date, and the GitHub repository for each plugin before adding it to production. Well-maintained plugins update within a few days of major OpenClaw releases. Abandoned ones may break on version upgrades.
Installing a skill from ClaWHub takes one config line:
# config.yaml — Installing a ClaWHub skill
skills:
- name: clawhub/web-search
version: "^2.1"
- name: clawhub/code-runner
version: "^1.4"OpenClaw downloads and verifies the skill package automatically on startup. No manual file management required.
Community Channels: When and How to Use Them
The Discord server and GitHub Discussions serve different purposes. Using the wrong one wastes your time and the community's.
Use Discord when: you need a quick answer to a specific question, you want to show off something you built, or you're debugging an issue in real time. The #help channel is the right place for most support questions.
Use GitHub Discussions when: your question is complex and benefits from a threaded, searchable format. Feature requests and architectural discussions belong here. Discussions are indexed by search engines — your well-asked question becomes documentation for the next person with the same problem.
Here's what we've seen consistently: users who post full context — version number, OS, relevant config sections, and the exact error output — get answers in under an hour. Users who post "it doesn't work" get one follow-up question and then silence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the OpenClaw official website?
The official OpenClaw project lives on GitHub at github.com/openclaw. The documentation site is hosted separately and linked from the repository README. ClaWHub Marketplace is the official plugin directory for skills and integrations.
Where can I find OpenClaw documentation?
The official docs cover installation, configuration, the API reference, and all gateway integrations. The docs site is versioned — always check you're reading docs for your installed version, as config options change between releases.
How do I download the latest OpenClaw release?
Download pre-built binaries from the GitHub Releases page. Linux, macOS, and Windows binaries are available. Docker images are published to Docker Hub under the openclaw organization with version and latest tags.
Is there an OpenClaw community forum?
GitHub Discussions is the official forum for questions, ideas, and announcements. The Discord server handles real-time support. Discussions is better for complex questions that benefit from threaded responses and long-term search history.
Where do I report bugs in OpenClaw?
Report bugs on the GitHub Issues tracker. Use the bug report template — it prompts for version, OS, reproduction steps, and log output. Issues without reproduction steps are typically closed without investigation by maintainers.
Does OpenClaw have an official blog?
Release notes and major announcements are posted to GitHub Releases. The community blog, linked from the docs site, features contributor posts on advanced usage patterns. There is no separate official blog property maintained by the core team.
What is ClaWHub Marketplace?
ClaWHub is the official OpenClaw plugin marketplace where community developers publish skills, gateway adapters, and integrations. Browse, install, and rate plugins directly from the marketplace without leaving the OpenClaw dashboard interface.
You now have the complete map of OpenClaw's official presence — GitHub for source and releases, the docs site for configuration reference, ClaWHub for plugins, and Discord/Discussions for community support. Start with the quickstart in the official docs and you'll have a working agent in under 20 minutes.
T. Chen has spent years navigating open-source project ecosystems and helping developers find the resources they need. She contributed to the OpenClaw documentation reorganization in 2024 and actively monitors the GitHub Discussions board.