Hands-On Lab

Deploy OpenClaw AI Gateway

Deploy OpenClaw on Cloudflare Containers with Workers AI, R2 persistence, and admin dashboard.

Option 1: One-Click Deploy

Deploy directly to Cloudflare — no local setup needed. You'll configure secrets after deployment.

Deploy to Cloudflare

Option 2: Manual Setup

Follow the step-by-step guide below for full control over your deployment and local development.

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Before we begin, let's confirm you have access to the workshop Cloudflare account.

Open the Cloudflare Dashboard and log in with the email you registered with.
Check the invitation email from Cloudflare — accept the invite to join the workshop account.
Once logged in, verify you can see the workshop account in the account selector (top-left).
Navigate to Workers & Pages — you should see the Workers Paid plan is active.

Trouble? If you don't see the invitation, check your spam folder. Ask a workshop helper if you're stuck.

I can access the workshop Cloudflare account

Install the required tools on your machine.

1. Check Node.js

You need Node.js 18 or higher:

node --version
# Should output v18.x.x or higher

If not installed, download from nodejs.org (LTS recommended).

2. Install Wrangler CLI

npm install -g wrangler

3. Login to Cloudflare

wrangler login
# This will open a browser window — authorize the CLI

Verify it works:

wrangler whoami
# Should show your email and the workshop account

Node.js, Wrangler, and login are all set

Clone the OpenClaw R2 demo project and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/lllxpr/openclaw-cf-demo-r2.git
cd openclaw-cf-demo-r2
npm install

Note: If you don't have Git installed, you can download the repo as a ZIP from the GitHub page.

Repository cloned and dependencies installed

1. Create an R2 bucket

npx wrangler r2 bucket create openclaw-data

Note: The bucket name openclaw-data is already configured in wrangler.toml. If you use a different name, update the bucket_name field in the R2 buckets section.

2. Configure Secrets

Copy the example secrets file and fill in your values:

cp .dev.vars.example .dev.vars

Edit .dev.vars with your values:

GATEWAY_AUTH_TOKEN=your-secret-token
AI_GATEWAY_ACCOUNT_ID=your-account-id
AI_GATEWAY_ID=your-gateway-id
AI_GATEWAY_AUTH_TOKEN=your-api-token

Getting the values:
• GATEWAY_AUTH_TOKEN: Generate with openssl rand -hex 16
• AI_GATEWAY_ACCOUNT_ID: Find in Dashboard → Overview → right sidebar
• AI_GATEWAY_ID: Create at Dashboard → AI → AI Gateway
• AI_GATEWAY_AUTH_TOKEN: Create API Token at My Profile → API Tokens

3. Set Production Secrets

npx wrangler secret put GATEWAY_AUTH_TOKEN
npx wrangler secret put AI_GATEWAY_ACCOUNT_ID
npx wrangler secret put AI_GATEWAY_ID
npx wrangler secret put AI_GATEWAY_AUTH_TOKEN

R2 bucket created and secrets configured

1. Deploy to Cloudflare

npm run deploy

Note: First deploy will take a few minutes to pull the container image (~784 MB).

2. Access Your Deployment

After deployment, you'll have three URLs:

# Admin Dashboard
https://<your-worker>.workers.dev/admin/

# Chat UI
https://<your-worker>.workers.dev/#token=<your-token>

# Health check
https://<your-worker>.workers.dev/healthz

3. Approve Your First Device

Open the Chat UI link above
Open the Admin Dashboard → Devices tab
Click Approve on the pending device
Return to Chat UI — it should connect automatically

The approval persists in KV, so you won't need to re-approve after container restarts.

Deployed and device approved

Explore the Admin Dashboard

The admin dashboard at /admin/ has three tabs:

Overview — Container status, uptime, memory usage
Devices — Manage paired devices, approve/revoke
CLI — Run commands inside the container

The header bar includes Open Chat (links to Control UI) and Restart buttons.

Persistence: OpenClaw stores pairing data and chat sessions in /home/node/.openclaw/. This project uses R2 to persist data across container restarts. On startup, the container fetches a tarball from R2 and extracts it. On approve, a snapshot is saved to R2 immediately. R2 supports objects up to 5 GB, so there are no practical size limits for chat history.

Post-Workshop Cleanup

If you want to remove your deployment after the workshop:

npx wrangler delete

Explored admin dashboard

Troubleshooting

Container takes too long to start

The first start can take 1-2 minutes as the container image is pulled. Subsequent starts are faster. If it takes more than 3 minutes, try refreshing.

"Unauthorized" error on Control UI

Make sure you're using the correct gateway token in the URL. Check your .dev.vars file for the GATEWAY_AUTH_TOKEN value.

Devices not showing in Admin Dashboard

The devices list caches every 30s. Click Refresh in the Devices tab for a fresh read. If still not showing, check /persist/status endpoint and verify R2 bucket name in wrangler.toml matches your actual bucket.

wrangler login fails

Try running wrangler login --browser or clear existing credentials with wrangler logout first. On corporate networks, you may need to configure proxy settings.

Deploy OpenClaw AI Gateway

Option 1: One-Click Deploy

Option 2: Manual Setup

Verify Your Access

Environment Setup

1. Check Node.js

2. Install Wrangler CLI

3. Login to Cloudflare

Clone & Install

Create R2 Bucket & Configure Secrets

1. Create an R2 bucket

2. Configure Secrets

3. Set Production Secrets

Deploy & Access

1. Deploy to Cloudflare

2. Access Your Deployment

3. Approve Your First Device

Explore Agent Features

Admin Dashboard & Cleanup

Explore the Admin Dashboard

Post-Workshop Cleanup

Lab Complete!

Troubleshooting