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A minimal starting point for running OpenClaw on Kubernetes, not a production-ready deployment. It covers the core resources and is meant to be adapted to your environment.

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Why not Helm

OpenClaw is a single container with some config files. The interesting customization is in agent content (Markdown files, skills, config overrides), not infrastructure templating. Kustomize handles overlays without the overhead of a Helm chart. Layer a Helm chart on top of these manifests if your deployment grows more complex.

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What you need

  • A running Kubernetes cluster (AKS, EKS, GKE, k3s, kind, OpenShift, etc.)
  • kubectl connected to your cluster
  • An API key for at least one model provider

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Quick start

# Replace with your provider: ANTHROPIC, GEMINI, OPENAI, or OPENROUTER
export <PROVIDER>_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh

kubectl port-forward svc/openclaw 18789:18789 -n openclaw
open http://localhost:18789
deploy.sh creates token auth by default. Retrieve the generated gateway token for the Control UI: 
kubectl get secret openclaw-secrets -n openclaw -o jsonpath='{.data.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN}' | base64 -d
For local debugging, ./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --show-token prints the token after deploy.

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Local testing with Kind

If you do not have a cluster, create one locally with Kind: 
./scripts/k8s/create-kind.sh           # auto-detects docker or podman
./scripts/k8s/create-kind.sh --delete  # tear down
Then deploy as usual with ./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh.

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Step by step

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1) Deploy

Option A: API key in environment (one step) 
# Replace with your provider: ANTHROPIC, GEMINI, OPENAI, or OPENROUTER
export <PROVIDER>_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
The script creates a Kubernetes Secret with the API key and an auto-generated gateway token, then deploys. If the Secret already exists, it preserves the current gateway token and any provider keys not being changed. Option B: create the secret separately 
export <PROVIDER>_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --create-secret
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
Add --show-token to either command to print the token to stdout for local testing.

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2) Access the gateway

kubectl port-forward svc/openclaw 18789:18789 -n openclaw
open http://localhost:18789

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What gets deployed

Namespace: openclaw (configurable via OPENCLAW_NAMESPACE)
├── Deployment/openclaw        # Single pod, init container + gateway
├── Service/openclaw           # ClusterIP on port 18789
├── PersistentVolumeClaim      # 10Gi for agent state and config
├── ConfigMap/openclaw-config  # openclaw.json + AGENTS.md
└── Secret/openclaw-secrets    # Gateway token + API keys

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Customization

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Agent instructions

Edit the AGENTS.md in scripts/k8s/manifests/configmap.yaml and redeploy: 
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh

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Gateway config

Edit openclaw.json in scripts/k8s/manifests/configmap.yaml. See Gateway configuration for the full reference.

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Add providers

Re-run with additional keys exported: 
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="..."
export OPENAI_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --create-secret
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
Existing provider keys stay in the Secret unless you overwrite them. Or patch the Secret directly: 
kubectl patch secret openclaw-secrets -n openclaw \
  -p '{"stringData":{"<PROVIDER>_API_KEY":"..."}}'
kubectl rollout restart deployment/openclaw -n openclaw

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Custom namespace

OPENCLAW_NAMESPACE=my-namespace ./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh

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Custom image

Edit the image field in scripts/k8s/manifests/deployment.yaml: 
image: ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:slim # primary; official Docker Hub mirror: openclaw/openclaw

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Expose beyond port-forward

The default manifests bind the gateway to loopback inside the pod. That works with kubectl port-forward, but not with a Kubernetes Service or Ingress path that needs to reach the pod IP directly. To expose the gateway through an Ingress or load balancer:
  • Change the gateway bind in scripts/k8s/manifests/configmap.yaml from loopback to a non-loopback bind that matches your deployment model.
  • Keep gateway auth enabled and use a proper TLS-terminated entrypoint.
  • Configure the Control UI for remote access using the supported web security model (for example HTTPS/Tailscale Serve and explicit allowed origins when needed).

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Re-deploy

./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
This applies all manifests and restarts the pod to pick up any config or secret changes.

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Teardown

./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --delete
This deletes the namespace and all resources in it, including the PVC.

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Architecture notes

  • The gateway binds to loopback inside the pod by default, so the included setup is for kubectl port-forward.
  • No cluster-scoped resources; everything lives in a single namespace.
  • Security hardening: readOnlyRootFilesystem, drop: ALL capabilities, non-root user (UID 1000).
  • The default config keeps the Control UI on the safer local-access path: loopback bind plus kubectl port-forward to http://127.0.0.1:18789.
  • If you move beyond localhost access, use the supported remote model: HTTPS/Tailscale plus the appropriate gateway bind and Control UI origin settings.
  • Secrets are generated in a temp directory and applied directly to the cluster; no secret material is written to the repo checkout.

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File structure

scripts/k8s/
├── deploy.sh                   # Creates namespace + secret, deploys via kustomize
├── create-kind.sh              # Local Kind cluster (auto-detects docker/podman)
└── manifests/
    ├── kustomization.yaml      # Kustomize base
    ├── configmap.yaml          # openclaw.json + AGENTS.md
    ├── deployment.yaml         # Pod spec with security hardening
    ├── pvc.yaml                # 10Gi persistent storage
    └── service.yaml            # ClusterIP on 18789