🔒 OpenClaw Hardening Kit

Security hardening + token optimization for your OpenClaw / Clawdbot deployment. One kit, production-ready.

Who is this for? Anyone running OpenClaw on a VPS or cloud server. Local Mac users can still benefit from the token optimization sections.

🇨🇳 中文版 README

---

Why?

OpenClaw's default configuration is not secure. From the official docs:

"Running an AI agent with shell access on your machine is... spicy. There is no 'perfectly secure' setup."

Specific risks:

• SSH password login enabled → brute force attacks
• Gateway port exposed to the internet → unauthorized access
• API keys stored in plaintext → credential leaks
• Session logs unencrypted → privacy exposure
• All traffic routed through the most expensive model → money burned

This repo provides a battle-tested hardening playbook.

---

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/jzOcb/openclaw-hardening.git
cd openclaw-hardening

# 1. Audit your current security posture
bash security/audit.sh

# 2. One-click hardening (interactive, confirms each step)
sudo bash security/harden.sh

# 3. Apply secure Gateway config
cp config/openclaw-secure.json5 ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.example
# Manually merge into your openclaw.json

# 4. Install recommended skills
bash setup/install-skills.sh

---

📁 Repo Structure

openclaw-hardening/
├── README.md                    # English docs (you are here)
├── README_CN.md                 # 中文文档
├── security/
│   ├── audit.sh                 # Security audit (9 checks)
│   └── harden.sh                # One-click hardening (UFW+SSH+fail2ban+Tailscale)
├── config/
│   ├── openclaw-secure.json5    # Secure Gateway config template
│   └── token-optimization.json5 # Token optimization config template
├── setup/
│   └── install-skills.sh        # Recommended skills installer
└── docs/
    ├── SECURITY.md              # Security deep dive
    ├── TOKEN-OPTIMIZATION.md    # Token cost optimization
    └── MODEL-ROUTING.md         # Multi-model routing guide

---

🛡️ Security Hardening

audit.sh — Security Audit

Checks 9 security indicators:

#	Check	What it looks for
1	SSH config	Port, password auth, root login
2	Firewall	UFW enabled and configured
3	fail2ban	Brute force protection active
4	Open ports	Unnecessary port exposure
5	Gateway config	Bind address, auth mode
6	Tailscale	Secure remote access setup
7	Credential storage	Plaintext API keys
8	File permissions	Config and log file permissions
9	Browser control	Port 18791 exposure

bash security/audit.sh

harden.sh — Hardening Script

Interactive execution — confirms before each step:

1. UFW Firewall — Allow SSH only, deny all other inbound
2. SSH Hardening — Custom port, disable password auth, disable root, limit retries
3. fail2ban — Ban IP after 3 failures for 1 hour
4. Tailscale Setup — Secure remote access (replaces public port exposure)

sudo bash security/harden.sh

⚠️ Important: Keep your current SSH session open while running harden.sh. Open a second terminal to test the new port before closing!

---

💰 Token Optimization

The Problem

OpenClaw defaults to using the same model for everything. If you're on Claude Opus, every heartbeat, every sub-agent, every routine check burns premium tokens.

The Solution: Model Tiering

Task Type	Recommended Model	Relative Cost
Main conversation	Claude Opus 4.5	$$$$$
Sub-agents	Claude Sonnet 4	$
Heartbeat checks	Claude Sonnet 4	$
Fallback	Claude Sonnet 4	$

Configuration

Merge into ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      // Primary model
      model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5" },
      
      // Cheaper model for sub-agents
      subagents: { model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5" },
      
      // NOTE: fallbacks not supported in 2026.1.24-1
      // Use /model command to switch manually if needed
      
      // Heartbeat interval (55min keeps 1h cache warm)
      heartbeat: { every: "55m" },
      
      // Auto-prune old tool outputs
      contextPruning: { mode: "cache-ttl", ttl: "1h" },
    }
  }
}

Expected Savings

• Heartbeats no longer burn Opus → 5x cheaper
• Sub-agents auto-route to Sonnet → 5x cheaper
• Cache warming reduces duplicate writes → saves cache write costs
• Estimated overall savings: 30–50%

Manual Model Switching

Switch models on the fly in chat:

/model              # Search available models
/model sonnet       # Switch to Sonnet
/new                # Recommended: start new session before switching

---

🔌 Recommended Skills

15 curated high-value skills:

Category	Skill	Purpose
Security	clawdbot-security-suite	Command sanitization, pattern detection
Infra	digital-ocean	DigitalOcean server management
Infra	tailscale	Tailscale network management
Finance	polymarket	Prediction market data
Finance	ibkr-trader	IBKR trading automation
Finance	yahoo-finance	Stock & financial data
Search	brave-search	Brave Search API
Search	tavily	AI-optimized search
Search	last30days	Recent Reddit/X/Web results
Tools	duckdb-en	SQL data analysis
Tools	youtube-summarizer	YouTube video summaries
Tools	auto-updater	Auto-update OpenClaw
Tools	search	General web search
Maintenance	skills-audit	Skills security audit
Docs	clawddocs	Official docs expert

bash setup/install-skills.sh

---

🙏 Credits

• Tom Crawshaw (@tomcrawshaw01) — Security hardening guide (31.4K views) & video walkthrough
• OpenClaw Official Security Docs
• 歸藏 (@op7418) — Model configuration tutorial
• huangserva (@servasyy_ai) — Security vulnerability deep dive
• VoltAgent/awesome-openclaw-skills — Skills directory

---

📜 License

MIT — Use freely, attribution appreciated.

---

🤝 Contributing

PRs welcome! Especially:

• Additional security checks
• Hardening scripts for other cloud providers (AWS, Hetzner, etc.)
• More token optimization techniques
• Model routing configs for other providers (OpenAI, DeepSeek, Gemini, etc.)