The OpenClaw Foundation has released version 2.0 of its open-source AI platform. This update represents the project’s largest release to date, incorporating over 16,000 pull requests to introduce shared cloud sessions, a streamlined onboarding process, and a browser application rebuilt from scratch.
The primary change simplifies the initial setup by allowing the software to detect existing resources on a computer, such as ChatGPT or Claude subscriptions and local models. This reduces the configuration steps users previously faced, with additional settings adjustable later during a conversation. The browser app now opens a conversation immediately, featuring a Session Rail that displays progress, ratings, and plan status. An integrated companion thread lets users ask questions about the current session without interrupting the agent. Shared Cloud Sessions enable multiple users to work on the same tasks by pulling team members into ongoing work or assigning them tasks with context. These sessions run on the local gateway, connected hardware via openclaw connect, or rented disposable machines through the Crabbox provisioning tool which supports backends like AWS and Hetzner. Provider credentials remain on the gateway and never reach the remote machine.
* The browser app loads a limited snapshot of the session for the companion thread using a separate utility model.
* The OpenClaw team already uses the shared session feature to build the platform itself.
* Further changes cover messaging, memory, skills, model support, automations, native apps, plugins, and security.
