A new open-source AI personal assistant is beginning to attract strong interest among developers and early adopters in Silicon Valley. Clawdbot, a locally run AI tool, has recently gained visibility as users experiment with its capabilities and share their setups online.
Over the weekend, conversations around Clawdbot surged on X, approaching viral levels for an open-source project. Engineers and AI enthusiasts posted screenshots, tips, and memes, helping the tool spread quickly within tech circles.
Clawdbot is a free AI assistant that runs directly on a user’s own computer instead of relying on remote company servers. It was created by developer and entrepreneur Peter Steinberger, known for building the document software company PSPDFKit.
Unlike standard chatbots, Clawdbot is designed to act on behalf of users. It falls under “agentic AI”, a category of systems that can take actions automatically rather than only responding to prompts. The assistant can monitor emails, calendars, and documents, remember past instructions, and notify users when important messages arrive.
Users can also connect Clawdbot to services such as ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, allowing it to use large language models to reason through tasks and complete actions.
Agentic AI has long been viewed as one of the technology industry’s biggest goals. Many companies predicted 2025 would mark its mainstream adoption, though most high-profile efforts so far have faced challenges.
Clawdbot typically runs on small personal computers such as Apple’s Mac Mini, while also supporting Windows and Linux systems. Steinberger has made the source code publicly available on GitHub, enabling anyone to download and modify it. However, the setup process requires technical expertise. Detailed installation steps and system requirements are available on Clawdbot’s website.
Security concerns remain
Clawdbot’s rapid rise also brings notable risks. To work as intended, the assistant requires deep access to a user’s computer. This includes reading and writing files, running commands, executing programs, and controlling a web browser.
Steinberger has cautioned users about these risks in the project’s documentation. “Running an AI agent with shell access on your machine is… spicy,” the FAQ states. Shell access allows the software to control core parts of the operating system.
“Clawdbot is both a product and an experiment: you’re wiring frontier-model behaviour into real messaging surfaces and real tools. There is no “perfectly secure” setup,” the FAQ adds.
The Clawdbot website includes a security guide and links to an audit tool on GitHub. It also outlines possible threats, including attempts to trick the AI into harmful actions or exploit it to access personal data.
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