Build a WhatsApp personal assistant on a small VPS

They used OpenClaw over WhatsApp to handle calendar, email, web browsing, voice notes, and habit logging from a cheap server.

Done with OpenClaw· Advanced

What they did
They ran OpenClaw in Docker on a $5-per-month VPS and reached it through an SSH tunnel. From WhatsApp, they asked it to work with Google Calendar and Gmail via the gog CLI, browse pages in headless Chromium, and turn voice notes into action items with Gemini. It also wrote habit entries to markdown files and pushed them to a private GitHub repo, while messages from family were sent to a separate agent.
How it went
The setup replaced paid Notion, Todoist, and a habit tracker. It also placed phone calls and made reservations using its own $5 eSIM number. The write-up did not include any accuracy or reliability figures.
Tips
OpenClaw rewrites its config when it starts and removes the WhatsApp allowlist, so a restore step and watchdog are useful. Chromium in Docker also needs 2GB of shared memory, so plan for that before testing browser tasks.

Try it yourself with OpenClaw

Help me set up OpenClaw as a personal assistant I can message on [WhatsApp]. It should be able to check and edit my [calendar service], read and reply to [email service], browse websites, turn voice notes into tasks, and append daily habit logs ([list habits]) to markdown files in a Git repo at [repo path]. Guide me through installing and configuring it on my [VPS/computer], then verify each function by having me send one test message for browsing, calendar changes, email handling, voice-note processing, and habit logging. Stop and ask for my approval before any message is sent to someone else, any reservation is made, any call is placed, any calendar item is changed, or anything is submitted or deleted. If the config is rewritten on startup, include a way to restore my approved settings and keep the allowlist intact.

Fill in the [brackets]. Agents can make mistakes, so review anything before it is sent, paid or deleted.

Read the original on medium.com ↗

Get 3 agent uses like this every morning

With the day's top AI news. Free, and one click to unsubscribe.