ClawNexus

Identity registry for AI agents — discover, name, and connect OpenClaw instances across networks.

Website · npm · Documentation

The original ClawNexus — on npm since March 1, 2026

ClawNexus is an identity registry for OpenClaw instances. It discovers AI agent instances on the network, gives each one a persistent name, and tracks capabilities, trust scores, and online status.

What It Does

• Discovers OpenClaw instances automatically — zero configuration required
• Names each instance with a human-readable alias (e.g. home, raspi, office)
• Persists a local registry of known instances with health status
• Exposes an HTTP API and CLI for querying and managing instances
• Connects instances across the internet via encrypted relay

Architecture

Four discovery chains feed into a unified registry — no OpenClaw configuration needed:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        ClawNexus Daemon                         │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐  │
│  │ LocalProbe │ │    CDP     │ │  mDNS    │ │   Active     │  │
│  │ 127.0.0.1  │ │ UDP :17891 │ │ Listener │ │  Scanner     │  │
│  │  :18789    │ │ broadcast  │ │          │ │  HTTP probe  │  │
│  └─────┬──────┘ └─────┬──────┘ └────┬─────┘ └──────┬───────┘  │
│        │              │             │               │           │
│        ▼              ▼             ▼               ▼           │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                   Registry Store                         │   │
│  │              (~/.clawnexus/registry.json)                 │   │
│  └──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                         │                                       │
│  ┌──────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                  HTTP API (:17890)                        │   │
│  └──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                         │                                       │
│  ┌──────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │              Relay Connector (WSS)                        │   │
│  │         end-to-end encrypted relay (WSS)                  │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        ▲                                      ▲
        │                                      │
   ┌────┴─────┐                         ┌──────┴──────┐
   │   CLI    │                         │  SDK/Skill  │
   │clawnexus │                         │  (client)   │
   └──────────┘                         └─────────────┘

Chain	Mechanism	Needs OpenClaw config?	Use case
LocalProbe	HTTP probe 127.0.0.1:18789	No	Discovers local instance
CDP	UDP broadcast on port 17891	No	Two daemons find each other on the same subnet
mDNS	Listens for _openclaw-gw._tcp.local (RFC 6762)	Yes (--bind lan)	Discovers mDNS-advertising instances
ActiveScanner	HTTP scan for control-ui-config	Yes (reachable bind)	clawnexus scan --target <ip>

Packages

Package	npm	Description
clawnexus		Daemon + CLI
clawnexus-skill		OpenClaw Skill
@clawnexus/sdk		ClawNexus SDK

Quick Start

# Install
npm install -g clawnexus

# Start the daemon
clawnexus start

# Scan for OpenClaw instances on your network
clawnexus scan

# List discovered instances
clawnexus list

# Give an instance a friendly name
clawnexus alias my-agent-id home

# Get connection details
clawnexus connect home

See docs/quickstart.md for a complete walkthrough.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 22
• OpenClaw instance(s) running on your network

Documentation

• Quick Start Guide
• HTTP API Reference
• Architecture Overview

FAQ

What is ClawNexus? An identity registry for OpenClaw instances — it discovers instances on your network, gives each one a persistent name, and tracks capabilities, trust scores, and online status.

How does discovery work? Four methods run in parallel: LocalProbe checks localhost, CDP broadcasts on the subnet, mDNS listens for advertising instances, and ActiveScanner does HTTP probes. No OpenClaw configuration needed for the first two.

Does it work across networks? Yes. Instances get .claw domains (e.g. home.alan.id.claw) and communicate through an end-to-end encrypted relay using X25519 key exchange and AES-256-GCM. The relay cannot read your data.

How is this different from Tailscale? Tailscale gives you network connectivity. ClawNexus gives you instance identity — who's running, what they can do, whether they're online. They're complementary: Tailscale handles the pipe, ClawNexus handles the registry.

Does it work with Google A2A? ClawNexus can generate A2A Agent Cards from registry data, making your OpenClaw instances discoverable via the Agent-to-Agent protocol.

Comparison

	ClawNexus	Manual Config	Tailscale	mDNS only
Zero-config LAN discovery	✅	❌	❌	✅
Cross-network	✅ (.claw domains)	✅ (manual)	✅	❌
Identity and naming	✅	❌	❌	❌
E2E encryption	✅	❌	✅	❌
Capability tracking	✅	❌	❌	❌

Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/StratCraftsAI/ClawNexus.git
cd ClawNexus
pnpm install

# Build all packages
pnpm build

# Run tests
pnpm test

# Start daemon in dev mode
cd packages/daemon && pnpm dev

Roadmap

Version	Feature	Status
v0.1 (MVP)	LAN discovery + alias naming	✅ Done
v0.2	Public registry + *.id.claw names	✅ Done
v0.3	Paid .claw alias registration + SDK	✅ Done
v0.4	Relay service for cross-network connections	✅ Done
v0.5	Registrar API (reseller layer)	Planned
v0.6	Trust layer (reputation + capability verification)	Planned
v1.0	Layer B — autonomous agent-to-agent interaction	Planned

License

MIT — stratcraft.ai