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! 🦞