quickstart · ~5 min

From install to first message.

Tested on macOS 14 + Linux (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12). Requires docker 24+. Go is bundled into the brew formula; you don't need a Go toolchain.

Docker is the sandbox
dclaw runs every agent inside Docker. If docker info doesn't work for your user, fix that first — Colima, Docker Desktop, or rootless Docker all work. dclaw doctor will tell you what's missing.

1 · Install

brew install itsmehatef/tap/dclawshell

2 · Initialize + start the daemon

dclaw init               # writes ~/.config/dclaw/config.yaml
dclaw doctor             # checks docker, ports, write perms
dclaw daemon start       # backgrounded; logs at ~/.local/state/dclaw/daemon.logshell

init creates an empty fleet, a default config, and (on first run) pulls the agent image — about 250MB.

3 · Spawn an agent

dclaw agent create scratch \
  --image=dclaw-agent:v0.1 \
  --workspace=~/dclaw/scratchshell

The workspace is bind-mounted into the container at /workspace. Path validation runs before mount: denylist (/etc, /var, docker.sock) is absolute; symlinks are resolved.

4 · Talk to it

dclaw agent chat scratch --one-shot 'list files in workspace'
# → bash tool runs inside the container; output streams backshell

5 · Tear it down

dclaw agent destroy scratch       # stops + removes container, keeps workspace
dclaw daemon stop                 # if you're doneshell
That's the loop.
Spawn → chat → destroy. Everything else (channel plugins, fleet.yaml, multi-agent orchestration) layers on top of these four commands.

Where to next