OpenClaw 2.0 rebuilds setup, browser UI, and shared AI agent sessions
- OpenClaw 2.0 is the project's largest release, with more than 16,000 pull requests from 933 contributors, including 569 first-time contributors.
- The update follows nearly seven weeks without a release after OpenClaw shipped 106 releases in 230 days; maintainers say the release contains roughly 50% of all pull requests ever merged into the project.
- First-time setup now detects existing ChatGPT or Claude subscriptions, API keys, and local models, while postponing much configuration until users can complete it in conversation with their agent.
- The rebuilt browser app opens directly into a conversation and is intended for setup, returning to ongoing work, and watching live activity.
- Shared cloud sessions let users bring another person into an active agent session or hand work over while preserving context, which OpenClaw describes as a multiplayer workflow.
Hacker News opinions
I barely hear anyone discussing OpenClaw after March, and Google Trends makes that drop pretty funny. Most people I know have moved to Hermes.
I think people tried it because it was fun. Calling everyone who experimented with it mindless is a pretty lousy take.
OpenClaw got tools out early, but assistants are better now. I built my own with a headed browser I can open from my phone, and it is cheap enough to make that paying for one seems pointless.
I can vibe-code these bridges, but I would worry about the security of agent-written email and SMS gateways. Those are easy places to leave serious holes.
I still do not see a compelling home use for semi-autonomous agents. I would not give one a credit card or let it make irreversible decisions, so most of this feels like fun for now.
I use Hermes on a schedule to scan my home network with nmap and send a SimpleX summary. For a business I would use it more, but I struggle to find home tasks worth automating.
I use a similar setup to scrape APIs and job-listing emails, match them to my profile, and turn email into PDFs for bookkeeping software. I run it in a Hetzner VM away from anything important and keep sensitive data out of it.
I use mine for preschool notices, project follow-ups, reminders, research while away from my desk, small apps, games, and language practice. Being able to ask about odd closing hours after sending a screenshot is useful.
The autonomous part is less useful to me than the organizational layer. I can query old threads through MCP, choose my own CLI and model, and search or resume prior work without setting up lots of steering.
I built Piclaw for long-running spec-to-plan-to-code work on a server that I can inspect from any browser. It manages parts of my homelab with scoped Proxmox tokens and Portainer, but I use Tailscale plus the web rather than a messaging app.
I would not connect an autonomous agent to anything I care about. A prompt injection technique away from exposing your digital life is too much risk, and 16,000 pull requests from 933 contributors sounds alarming rather than reassuring.