OpenClaw: The Final Name for Your AI Assistant

January 30, 2026 - If you’ve been following the AI assistant space, you’ve witnessed quite the naming journey. In just one week (January 26-29, 2026), the project went from Clawdbot to Moltbot to now OpenClaw. Here’s everything you need to know about this final rebrand and how to migrate your deployment.

The Naming Timeline 🦞

Nov 2025: Clawdbot launches
Jan 26, 2026: Moltbot rebrand (Anthropic trademark concerns)
Jan 29, 2026: OpenClaw rebrand (final name)

Name	Period	Why It Changed
Clawdbot/Clawd	Nov 2025 - Jan 26, 2026	Too similar to “Claude” - Anthropic’s legal team requested change
Moltbot/Molty	Jan 26-29, 2026	Temporary name during transition
OpenClaw	Jan 29, 2026 - present	Final name - trademark cleared, domains secured

Why OpenClaw?

According to founder Peter Steinberger, this time the preparation was thorough:

✅ Trademark searches cleared
✅ Domain openclaw.ai purchased
✅ Migration code written in advance
✅ Social media accounts secured

The name captures the project’s essence: open-source and community-driven while honoring the iconic lobster branding. As Steinberger notes: “Some things are sacred” 🦞

Critical Security Update

CAUTION

Breaking Change: The auth: "none" mode has been permanently removed. If you were running without authentication, you must update your configuration before upgrading.

This change was a direct response to security incidents where users deployed OpenClaw on public VPS providers with no authentication, exposing:

Full conversation histories
Command execution capabilities
Ability to send messages as the user on WhatsApp, Telegram, and other platforms

You now must use one of these authentication modes:

{
  "gateway": {
    "auth": {
      "mode": "password"
    }
  }
}

{
  "gateway": {
    "auth": {
      "mode": "token",
      "token": "${OPENCLAW_TOKEN}"
    }
  }
}

What’s New in OpenClaw v2026.1.29

Beyond the rebrand, this release includes significant updates:

New Channels

Twitch plugin
Google Chat plugin

New Models

KIMI K2.5 support
Xiaomi MiMo-V2-Flash support

Security Improvements

34 security-related commits
Machine-checkable security models released
Image sending capability in web chat

Complete Migration Guide

Step 1: Uninstall the Old Version

# If you had Moltbot
npm uninstall -g moltbot

# If you still had Clawdbot
npm uninstall -g clawdbot

Step 2: Install OpenClaw

npm install -g openclaw@latest

Step 3: Run the Migration Wizard

# From Moltbot
openclaw migrate --from-moltbot

# From Clawdbot
openclaw migrate --from-clawdbot

This automatically:

Copies your configuration
Updates paths and references
Shows a summary of manual changes needed

Step 4: Update Authentication (CRITICAL)

If you were using auth: "none", you must update:

{
  "gateway": {
    "auth": {
      "mode": "password"
    }
  }
}

Generate a password hash:

openclaw auth hash-password

Or use token authentication:

# Generate a secure token
openssl rand -hex 32

Step 5: Install the Daemon

openclaw onboard --install-daemon

This installs a launchd (macOS) or systemd (Linux) user service so OpenClaw keeps running.

Step 6: Update Your Scripts

All commands now use openclaw:

# Old (deprecated)
moltbot onboard
moltbot gateway --port 18789
moltbot agent --message "Hello"

# New (current)
openclaw onboard
openclaw gateway --port 18789
openclaw agent --message "Hello"

Step 7: Update CI/CD Pipelines

# Before
- run: moltbot security audit

# After
- run: openclaw security audit

Configuration File Locations

The configuration has moved:

Old Location	New Location
`~/.config/moltbot/`	`~/.openclaw/`
`~/.config/clawdbot/`	`~/.openclaw/`

Main config file: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Package & Extension Changes

What	Old	New
npm package	`moltbot`	`openclaw`
Extension scope	`@moltbot/*`	`@openclaw/*`
Binary command	`moltbot`	`openclaw`

NOTE

The old moltbot npm package will continue to exist but will stop receiving updates. It will show deprecation warnings pointing users to openclaw.

Update Channels

OpenClaw maintains three development channels:

Channel	Description	npm Tag
stable	Tagged releases (`vYYYY.M.D`)	`latest`
beta	Prereleases (`vYYYY.M.D-beta.N`)	`beta`
dev	Moving head of `main`	`dev`

Switch channels:

openclaw update --channel stable
openclaw update --channel beta
openclaw update --channel dev

Official Resources

Website: openclaw.ai
Documentation: docs.openclaw.ai
GitHub: github.com/openclaw/openclaw
Discord: discord.gg/clawd
Getting Started: docs.openclaw.ai/start/getting-started
Migration Guide: docs.openclaw.ai/install/updating

Security Recommendations

With the rebrand, take this opportunity to harden your deployment:

Run the security audit
```
openclaw security audit
```
Use strong models - Anthropic Pro/Max + Opus 4.5 recommended for best prompt injection resistance
Enable DM pairing - Unknown senders receive a pairing code; bot doesn’t process messages until approved
Consider sandbox mode - Non-main sessions can run inside per-session Docker sandboxes

IMPORTANT

Prompt injection remains an industry-wide unsolved problem. Study the security best practices and configure appropriate safeguards.

FAQs

Q: Will my old configuration still work?

The migration wizard handles most configuration. Your credentials, API keys, and customizations carry over unchanged.

Q: Do I need new API keys?

No. Authentication tokens and API keys work without changes.

Q: What about the lobster mascot?

Still a lobster! 🦞 The mascot remains, just under a new name.

Q: Is SecureMolt.com still relevant?

Absolutely! We’ve updated all our guides for OpenClaw. The security principles and hardening techniques apply regardless of the name.

Next Steps

OpenClaw Migration Guide - Detailed step-by-step migration
Security Fundamentals - Core security concepts
Gateway Hardening - Configuration best practices
Security Audit Checklist - Complete audit guide

The lobster has molted into its final form. Welcome to OpenClaw! 🦞