--- title: "Give Clawdbot the business context it loses between sessions" description: "Clawdbot, now OpenClaw, executes tasks well but did not keep business context between sessions. Pair it with a context file that holds what it forgets." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/clawdbot-ai-memory-setup" date: "2026-01-28" modified: "2026-09-25" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Real estate - Real estate - [Real estate](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - Work - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Prepare your six-question brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prepare-your-six-question-brief) - Build - [Site build, content library with SEO, signal desk](https://scalewithsearch.com/work) - For your business - Trades and home services - [Auto body and collision shops](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/auto-body-and-collision-shops) - [Foundation and home repair contractors](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/foundation-and-home-repair) - [Garage door and fencing contractors](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/garage-door-and-fencing-contractors) - [HVAC contractors](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/hvac-contractors) - 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Clawdbot can operate your whole computer. It moves the mouse, types, browses the web, runs shell commands, and sends messages through WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, iMessage, and Slack. Public reports counted about 100,000 GitHub stars for Peter Steinberger's open-source agent by early February 2026, about a week after its public launch. People watched it run a full desktop and saw what a computer-use agent could do. Then they used it for real work and hit a limit. In January 2026, Clawdbot did not remember them: not the business, not the clients, not the last conversation. Each session started from zero. The owner explained the setup, the preferences, and the limits again. The agent that could operate the whole machine could not recall yesterday's instructions. That was a design choice, not a bug. This article explains the choice, the two kinds of memory an agent needs, and how to supply the kind that Clawdbot lacked. ## Confirm which project you run The project published as Clawdbot now calls itself OpenClaw. It used the name Moltbot from 2026.01.27 to 2026.01.30. Other projects use similar names. Record the repository, version, and documentation of the copy you install before you grant it any permission. The current OpenClaw repository lists sessions among its features. The January 2026 reports stated that the agent kept no context between sessions. Test what your installed version keeps before you rely on either claim. The [Clawdbot and Claude Code comparison](/articles/clawdbot-vs-claude-code-computer-terminal-work) gives a bounded trial for that test. ## Know why the agent started each session empty In January 2026, a Clawdbot session held context only while it ran. When the conversation ended, the context was gone. At the next launch, the agent knew nothing about you, your business, your files, or your last request. This surprised people because the agent felt capable during a session. It read the screen, moved between apps, and ran multi-step workflows. The intelligence was real. The retention was not. Clawdbot is a task execution layer. It sits on top of the operating system, watches the screen, and takes actions. Memory needs a different design. It writes data to disk, keeps state files, indexes past interactions, and loads the right history before each session. That is a knowledge management system, not a task agent. The project optimized for real-time computer control and a wide set of messaging channels. Persistent memory would have meant a second product inside the first. For what Clawdbot is, that trade-off is reasonable. The problem starts when your work needs both capabilities and the tool supplies one. ## Separate task memory from business memory Task memory is what the agent holds during a session. It knows what is on the screen, tracks the steps it took, and can refer to earlier parts of the conversation. Task memory answers one question: "What am I doing right now?" It covers sequences such as: open this app, go to this page, click this button, fill in this form, send this message. Clawdbot handles this well. Business memory answers different questions. Who are my clients? What did I tell the AI about my pricing? What tone do I use in email? Which workflows did I already set up? What happened in last week's project? Business memory persists across sessions, grows over time, and informs each task. Without it, the agent is a capable stranger you hire again each morning. It automates tasks fast and gets the details wrong, because it does not know the details. The [guide to types of memory in AI systems](/articles/types-of-memory-ai-systems-business) names the other layers. ## Write the business context into a file The approach that works is a structured file that the AI reads at the start of each session. It is not a chat log or a prompt template. It is a maintained document that says who you are, what you do, how you work, and what matters. With Claude Code, that file is `CLAUDE.md` in the project folder. Claude Code reads it when a session starts, with no manual load step. A working file has five sections: | Section | Contents | |---|---| | Identity | Your name, role, business, and key relationships | | Domains | The areas you work across, with a routing rule for each | | Conventions | Date formats, naming patterns, file structure, communication style | | Current state | Active projects, deadlines, blockers, recent decisions | | Tools and integrations | The systems you use and how the AI may interact with each one | The file grows with the business. Update it when things change, and the AI reads the latest version each time. Context builds up instead of resetting. The [business CLAUDE.md template](/articles/claude-md-template-business-context) shows a complete example with sources, exclusions, and stopping rules. For deeper records, such as client histories, SOPs, and project archives, pair the context file with an Obsidian vault. The vault is a folder of Markdown files on disk. A local search engine such as QMD indexes it by keyword and by meaning. Claude Code reads the vault directly, so thousands of notes are available without a manual upload step. The notes stay on your disk, but the text Claude Code reads goes to Anthropic for processing. Retention terms depend on your plan. ## Pair the agent that acts with the agent that remembers You do not have to choose one tool. Clawdbot and Claude Code solve different problems and can run side by side. Use Clawdbot for what it does best. It controls the computer, automates repetitive interface work, and sends messages across platforms. It runs multi-step tasks that need a mouse and keyboard. It is the hands. Use Claude Code for what it does best. It reads your files, applies your business context, and writes in your voice. It manages knowledge across projects and makes choices informed by your history. It is the reasoning with a filing cabinet. The workflow runs in one direction. Claude Code holds the persistent context and produces the work: drafts, plans, research, and analysis. Clawdbot takes that output and distributes it: it posts to platforms, fills forms, moves through apps, and sends messages. One remembers, and the other executes. Put a person between the two whenever the output leaves the business. A draft that Claude Code wrote from stale context becomes a sent message when Clawdbot posts it. The [approval article](/articles/who-approves-what-an-ai-agent-sends) shows how to require a review before each send. ## Worked example: a weekly client follow-up A consultant sends each active client a Friday follow-up that summarizes the week's work and the next steps. Without a context layer, the consultant opens Clawdbot and explains the client list, the tone, the week's progress, and where to send each message. Clawdbot writes and sends the messages. Next Friday, the consultant explains it all again. With a context layer, the setup looks like this: 1. `CLAUDE.md` lists the active clients, the follow-up tone, and the rule "draft only; the owner approves each send." 2. Each client folder holds `status.md`, which the consultant updates after each work session. 3. On Friday, Claude Code reads `CLAUDE.md` and each `status.md`, then writes one draft per client into `drafts/`. 4. The consultant reads the drafts, corrects one, and marks them approved. 5. Clawdbot opens each approved draft and sends it through the client's preferred channel. The consultant explains nothing on Friday. The context lives in files that survived the week, and the send step waits for approval. ## Count what repetition costs The real cost is not the choice of tool. It is the time spent re-explaining context to an AI that forgot it. Measure your own number. Multiply the minutes you spend on setup in each session by your sessions per week, then by your hourly rate. At 15 minutes per session and three sessions a day, the total is about 3.75 hours a week. Compare that total with the few hours a first context file takes to write, and let your own log decide. ## Get started without a technical background Claude Code runs in a terminal: Terminal on a Mac, or Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows. It installs with one command. The hardest part is writing `CLAUDE.md`, which is a text document. Obsidian is a note app that stores plain Markdown files, where `**word**` makes bold text and `#` starts a heading. If you can write an email, you can use it. You can keep Notion or Google Docs for daily work; the context file adds a layer that the agent reads. For the design and security reasons behind the reset, read [why Clawdbot forgets between sessions](/articles/clawdbot-forgets-context). ## Related: AI memory - [Build an AI context file that briefs the model before every session](/articles/ai-context-files) - [Give AI a persistent context layer so each session starts from your business](/articles/ai-doesnt-remember-context) - [Set up an AI memory vault that Claude Code reads every session](/articles/ai-memory-setup-checklist) ---- ```text .|########||. .|########||. .|########||. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. .#| .#. .#| .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. |#. .#. |#. .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| .||########||. .||########||. .||########||. 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