Deploy OpenClaw on Render with Infrastructure-as-Code

Deploy OpenClaw on Render using the render.yaml Blueprint from the repository. This single file defines the service, disk, and environment variables together.

Prerequisites

• You need a Render account (a free tier is available)
• An API key from your chosen model provider

Deploy

Deploy to Render

This action provisions a Render service from render.yaml, compiles the Docker image, and starts the deployment. Your service URL follows the https://<service-name>.onrender.com pattern.

The Blueprint

services:
  - type: web
    name: openclaw
    runtime: docker
    plan: starter
    healthCheckPath: /health
    envVars:
      - key: OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT
        value: "8080"
      - key: OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR
        value: /data/.openclaw
      - key: OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR
        value: /data/workspace
      - key: OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN
        generateValue: true # auto-generates a secure token
    disk:
      name: openclaw-data
      mountPath: /data
      sizeGB: 1

Choosing a plan

The Blueprint defaults to starter. To switch to the free tier, edit plan: free in your fork's render.yaml, keep in mind that without a persistent disk, OpenClaw's state resets every time it deploys.

After deployment

Access the Control UI

The web dashboard is reachable at https://<your-service>.onrender.com/. Authenticate with the shared secret: the auto-generated OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN (located in Dashboard → your service → Environment), or your password if you enabled password authentication.

Logs

Dashboard → your service → Logs displays build logs (Docker image creation), deploy logs (service startup), and runtime logs (application output).

Shell access

Dashboard → your service → Shell starts a shell session. The persistent disk is mounted at /data.

Environment variables

Modify variables in Dashboard → your service → Environment. Any changes trigger an automatic redeploy.

Auto-deploy

Render automatically redeploys when the connected repository branch receives a new commit. If you deployed directly from openclaw/openclaw rather than your own fork, you lack push access to trigger that. To update, either run a manual Blueprint sync from the Dashboard or point the service at your own fork.

Custom domain

1. Dashboard → your service → Settings → Custom Domains
2. Add your domain
3. Set up DNS as instructed (CNAME to *.onrender.com)
4. Render automatically provisions a TLS certificate

Scaling

• Vertical scaling: upgrade the plan for more CPU/RAM. This usually suffices for OpenClaw.
• Horizontal scaling: increase the instance count (Standard plan and above). This requires sticky sessions or external state management because OpenClaw stores runtime state on the local disk.

Backups and migration

From the Render Dashboard shell, export state, config, auth profiles, and workspace at any time:

openclaw backup create

This produces a portable backup archive. Refer to Backup.

Troubleshooting

Service will not start

Check the deploy logs in the Render Dashboard. Frequent problems include:

• Missing OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN, confirm it is set in Dashboard → Environment
• Port mismatch, make sure OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT=8080 so the gateway binds to the port Render expects

Slow cold starts (free tier)

Free tier services spin down after 15 minutes of inactivity; the first request after spin-down takes a few seconds while the container starts. Upgrade to Starter for always-on operation.

Data loss after redeploy

This occurs on the free tier (no persistent disk). Upgrade to a paid plan, or regularly export a backup using openclaw backup create from the Render shell.

Health check failures

If builds succeed but deploys fail, the service might be taking too long to start or /health may not be accessible. Check:

• Build logs for errors
• Whether the container runs locally with docker build && docker run

Next steps

• Set up messaging channels: Channels
• Configure the Gateway: Gateway configuration
• Keep OpenClaw up to date: Updating