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RemoteClaw

Podman

Podman

Run the RemoteClaw Gateway in a rootless Podman container, managed by your current non-root user.

The intended model is:

  • Podman runs the gateway container.
  • Your host remoteclaw CLI is the control plane.
  • Persistent state lives on the host under ~/.remoteclaw by default.
  • Day-to-day management uses remoteclaw --container <name> ... instead of sudo -u remoteclaw, podman exec, or a separate service user.

Prerequisites

  • Podman in rootless mode
  • RemoteClaw CLI installed on the host
  • Optional: systemd --user if you want Quadlet-managed auto-start
  • Optional: sudo only if you want loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)" for boot persistence on a headless host

Quick start

From the repo root, run `./scripts/podman/setup.sh`. Start the container with `./scripts/run-remoteclaw-podman.sh launch`. Run `./scripts/run-remoteclaw-podman.sh launch setup`, then open `http://127.0.0.1:18789/`. Set `REMOTECLAW_CONTAINER=remoteclaw`, then use normal `remoteclaw` commands from the host.

Setup details:

  • ./scripts/podman/setup.sh builds remoteclaw:local in your rootless Podman store by default, or uses REMOTECLAW_IMAGE / REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_IMAGE if you set one.
  • It creates ~/.remoteclaw/remoteclaw.json with gateway.mode: "local" if missing.
  • It creates ~/.remoteclaw/.env with REMOTECLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN if missing.
  • For manual launches, the helper reads only a small allowlist of Podman-related keys from ~/.remoteclaw/.env and passes explicit runtime env vars to the container; it does not hand the full env file to Podman.

Quadlet-managed setup:

Terminal window
./scripts/podman/setup.sh --quadlet

Quadlet is a Linux-only option because it depends on systemd user services.

You can also set REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_QUADLET=1.

Optional build/setup env vars:

  • REMOTECLAW_IMAGE or REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_IMAGE — use an existing/pulled image instead of building remoteclaw:local
  • REMOTECLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES — install extra apt packages during image build
  • REMOTECLAW_EXTENSIONS — pre-install extension dependencies at build time

Container start:

Terminal window
./scripts/run-remoteclaw-podman.sh launch

The script starts the container as your current uid/gid with --userns=keep-id and bind-mounts your RemoteClaw state into the container.

Onboarding:

Terminal window
./scripts/run-remoteclaw-podman.sh launch setup

Then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ and use the token from ~/.remoteclaw/.env.

Host CLI default:

Terminal window
export REMOTECLAW_CONTAINER=remoteclaw

Then commands such as these will run inside that container automatically:

Terminal window
remoteclaw dashboard --no-open
remoteclaw gateway status --deep
remoteclaw doctor
remoteclaw channels login

On macOS, Podman machine may make the browser appear non-local to the gateway. If the Control UI reports device-auth errors after launch, use the Tailscale guidance in Podman + Tailscale.

Podman + Tailscale

For HTTPS or remote browser access, follow the main Tailscale docs.

Podman-specific note:

  • Keep the Podman publish host at 127.0.0.1.
  • Prefer host-managed tailscale serve over remoteclaw gateway --tailscale serve.
  • On macOS, if local browser device-auth context is unreliable, use Tailscale access instead of ad hoc local tunnel workarounds.

See:

Systemd (Quadlet, optional)

If you ran ./scripts/podman/setup.sh --quadlet, setup installs a Quadlet file at:

Terminal window
~/.config/containers/systemd/remoteclaw.container

Useful commands:

  • Start: systemctl --user start remoteclaw.service
  • Stop: systemctl --user stop remoteclaw.service
  • Status: systemctl --user status remoteclaw.service
  • Logs: journalctl --user -u remoteclaw.service -f

After editing the Quadlet file:

Terminal window
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user restart remoteclaw.service

For boot persistence on SSH/headless hosts, enable lingering for your current user:

Terminal window
sudo loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)"

Config, env, and storage

  • Config dir: ~/.remoteclaw
  • Workspace dir: ~/.remoteclaw/workspace
  • Token file: ~/.remoteclaw/.env
  • Launch helper: ./scripts/run-remoteclaw-podman.sh

The launch script and Quadlet bind-mount host state into the container:

  • REMOTECLAW_CONFIG_DIR -> /home/node/.remoteclaw
  • REMOTECLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR -> /home/node/.remoteclaw/workspace

By default those are host directories, not anonymous container state, so config and workspace survive container replacement. The Podman setup also seeds gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins for 127.0.0.1 and localhost on the published gateway port so the local dashboard works with the container’s non-loopback bind.

Useful env vars for the manual launcher:

  • REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_CONTAINER — container name (remoteclaw by default)
  • REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_IMAGE / REMOTECLAW_IMAGE — image to run
  • REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_GATEWAY_HOST_PORT — host port mapped to container 18789
  • REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_BRIDGE_HOST_PORT — host port mapped to container 18790
  • REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_PUBLISH_HOST — host interface for published ports; default is 127.0.0.1
  • REMOTECLAW_GATEWAY_BIND — gateway bind mode inside the container; default is lan
  • REMOTECLAW_PODMAN_USERNS — keep-id (default), auto, or host

The manual launcher reads ~/.remoteclaw/.env before finalizing container/image defaults, so you can persist these there.

If you use a non-default REMOTECLAW_CONFIG_DIR or REMOTECLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR, set the same variables for both ./scripts/podman/setup.sh and later ./scripts/run-remoteclaw-podman.sh launch commands. The repo-local launcher does not persist custom path overrides across shells.

Quadlet note:

  • The generated Quadlet service intentionally keeps a fixed, hardened default shape: 127.0.0.1 published ports, --bind lan inside the container, and keep-id user namespace.
  • It still reads ~/.remoteclaw/.env for gateway runtime env such as REMOTECLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN, but it does not consume the manual launcher’s Podman-specific override allowlist.
  • If you need custom publish ports, publish host, or other container-run flags, use the manual launcher or edit ~/.config/containers/systemd/remoteclaw.container directly, then reload and restart the service.

Useful commands

  • Container logs: podman logs -f remoteclaw
  • Stop container: podman stop remoteclaw
  • Remove container: podman rm -f remoteclaw
  • Open dashboard URL from host CLI: remoteclaw dashboard --no-open
  • Health/status via host CLI: remoteclaw gateway status --deep

Troubleshooting

  • Permission denied (EACCES) on config or workspace: The container runs with --userns=keep-id and --user <your uid>:<your gid> by default. Ensure the host config/workspace paths are owned by your current user.
  • Gateway start blocked (missing gateway.mode=local): Ensure ~/.remoteclaw/remoteclaw.json exists and sets gateway.mode="local". scripts/podman/setup.sh creates this if missing.
  • Container CLI commands hit the wrong target: Use remoteclaw --container <name> ... explicitly, or export REMOTECLAW_CONTAINER=<name> in your shell.
  • remoteclaw update fails with --container: Expected. Rebuild/pull the image, then restart the container or the Quadlet service.
  • Quadlet service does not start: Run systemctl --user daemon-reload, then systemctl --user start remoteclaw.service. On headless systems you may also need sudo loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)".
  • SELinux blocks bind mounts: Leave the default mount behavior alone; the launcher auto-adds :Z on Linux when SELinux is enforcing or permissive.