openclaw-dual-agent

Run two OpenClaw agents simultaneously — a paid Anthropic agent and a free OpenRouter agent, each with its own Telegram bot. Trigger phrases: multi-agent setup, add a second agent, free agent openclaw, run two agents, openrouter openclaw, parallel agents, cost optimization agent.

Multi-Agent OpenClaw Setup

Run a paid Anthropic agent and free OpenRouter agent side by side with separate Telegram bots.

Quick Start

  1. Create two Telegram bots via @BotFather and extract chat IDs:

    curl https://api.telegram.org/bot{TOKEN}/getUpdates | jq '.result[0].message.chat.id'

  2. Authenticate agents:

    openclaw onboard --anthropic-api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
# For free agent: create auth-profiles.json in its agentDir with OpenRouter key

    ⚠️ Passing keys on the CLI can expose them in shell history. Run history -d $(history 1) after or use openclaw onboard interactively. Credential files (auth-profiles.json, openclaw.json) should be chmod 600.

  3. Configure openclaw.json with two agents, separate bindings, and Telegram accounts.

  4. Verify setup:

    openclaw doctor
openclaw sessions cleanup \
  --store /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.openclaw/agents/main/store \
  --enforce --fix-missing
openclaw restart

Key Concepts

  • Agent isolation: Each agent has its own agentDir, workspace, and model config.
  • Binding routing: accountId in bindings directs Telegram messages to the correct agent.
  • Model refs: Use provider/modelid format (e.g., anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6).
  • Per-agent auth: OpenRouter requires auth-profiles.json in each agent's directory.

Common Usage

Adding a free agent:

  • Create agentDir at /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.openclaw/agents/free-agent/agent
  • Add agent entry to openclaw.json with model.primary: "openrouter/..."
  • Create auth-profiles.json with OpenRouter API key in agent's directory
  • Add binding with unique accountId (e.g., "tg2")
  • Restart: openclaw restart

Switching models: Edit openclaw.json agent's model.primary and fallbacks with valid provider/id strings.

Masking secrets for logs:

cat ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json | \
  jq '.channels.telegram.accounts |= map_values(.botToken = "[REDACTED]")'

References

  • references/config-reference.md — Full openclaw.json, bindings, and auth-profiles.json examples
  • references/troubleshooting.md — Common errors, fixes, and Node.js compatibility notes