Migration Guide: OpenClaw → Claude Code Channels

Migrate your Soul Spec agent from OpenClaw/SoulClaw to Claude Code's native Channels system. Keep your persona, memory, and workflows — now running within your Claude subscription at no extra API cost.

Why Migrate?

On April 4, 2026, Anthropic updated their subscription policy: Claude subscriptions only cover Claude.ai, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork. Third-party harnesses like OpenClaw require separate pay-as-you-go billing.

Claude Code Channels provides similar functionality to OpenClaw's messaging integration — within your existing subscription.

Feature Comparison

Feature	OpenClaw/SoulClaw	Claude Code Channels	Notes
Telegram	✅ Built-in	✅ Official plugin	Equivalent
Discord	✅ Built-in	✅ Official plugin	Equivalent
iMessage	❌	✅ Official plugin	Channels-only
Signal	✅ Built-in	❌	OpenClaw-only
Soul Spec persona	✅ Native	✅ Via ClawSouls plugin	Equivalent
Persistent memory	✅ Auto (DAG + passive)	⚠️ Via plugin hooks	Plugin needed
Memory search	✅ Semantic + TF-IDF	✅ TF-IDF + hybrid via MCP	Ollama auto-detect
Always-on daemon	✅ Built-in	⚠️ tmux/screen	Manual setup
Heartbeat/cron	✅ Built-in	❌	External cron needed
Multi-channel	✅ Simultaneous	✅ `--channels` flag	Equivalent
Sub-agents	✅ sessions_spawn	⚠️ Claude agents	Different model
Cost	API pay-as-you-go	$0 (subscription)	Key advantage
File editing	✅	✅	Equivalent
Git operations	✅	✅	Equivalent

Migration Steps

Step 1: Update Claude Code

claude update
claude --version  # Needs v2.1.80+

Step 2: Install Bun (for Telegram/Discord)

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc
which bun  # Verify installation

Step 3: Clone the ClawSouls Plugin

git clone https://github.com/clawsouls/clawsouls-claude-code-plugin.git ~/.claude/clawsouls-plugin

Step 4: Migrate Your Workspace

Option A: Automated migration (recommended)

# Create your project directory
mkdir -p ~/projects/my-agent && cd ~/projects/my-agent

# Launch Claude Code with the plugin
claude --plugin-dir ~/.claude/clawsouls-plugin

# Inside Claude Code, run:
/clawsouls:migrate

The migrate command auto-detects your ~/.openclaw/workspace/, shows a preview of what will be copied/archived/skipped, and executes on your confirmation. It also generates a CLAUDE.md with memory rules and cleans OpenClaw-specific directives from AGENTS.md.

Option B: Manual copy

# Create your project directory
mkdir -p ~/projects/my-agent && cd ~/projects/my-agent

# Copy persona files
cp ~/.openclaw/workspace/SOUL.md ./
cp ~/.openclaw/workspace/IDENTITY.md ./
cp ~/.openclaw/workspace/AGENTS.md ./

# Copy memory
cp ~/.openclaw/workspace/MEMORY.md ./
cp -r ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/ ./memory/

# Initialize git
git init && git add -A && git commit -m "init: migrate from OpenClaw"

Step 5: Set Up Telegram

Create a bot via @BotFather → /newbot → copy token

In Claude Code:

/plugin install telegram@claude-plugins-official
/telegram:configure <YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>

Step 6: Launch

cd ~/projects/my-agent
claude --plugin-dir ~/.claude/clawsouls-plugin \
       --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official

Step 7: Pair and Activate

Send a message to your bot on Telegram

In Claude Code:

/telegram:access pair <CODE>
/telegram:access policy allowlist
/clawsouls:activate

Your agent is now running on Claude Code with Telegram access.

Always-On Setup

OpenClaw runs as a daemon automatically. For Claude Code, use tmux or screen:

tmux

# Install tmux (macOS)
brew install tmux

# Start a detached session
tmux new-session -d -s agent \
  'cd ~/projects/my-agent && \
   claude --plugin-dir ~/.claude/clawsouls-plugin \
          --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official'

# Attach to check on it
tmux attach -t agent

# Detach without stopping: Ctrl+B, then D

screen

# Start a detached session
screen -dmS agent bash -c \
  'cd ~/projects/my-agent && \
   claude --plugin-dir ~/.claude/clawsouls-plugin \
          --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official'

# Attach
screen -r agent

# Detach: Ctrl+A, then D

Auto-restart on reboot (macOS launchd)

Create ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.clawsouls.agent.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.clawsouls.agent</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/bin/bash</string>
        <string>-c</string>
        <string>cd ~/projects/my-agent && claude --plugin-dir ~/.claude/clawsouls-plugin --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/clawsouls-agent.log</string>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/clawsouls-agent.err</string>
    <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
    <dict>
        <key>PATH</key>
        <string>/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin</string>
        <key>HOME</key>
        <string>/Users/YOUR_USERNAME</string>
        <key>BUN_INSTALL</key>
        <string>/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.bun</string>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

# Load the agent
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.clawsouls.agent.plist

# Check status
launchctl list | grep clawsouls

# Unload
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.clawsouls.agent.plist

Heartbeat Workaround

OpenClaw has built-in heartbeat cron. For Claude Code, use an external cron that sends a Telegram message:

# Add to crontab (every 6 hours)
crontab -e

0 */6 * * * curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/sendMessage" \
  -d "chat_id=<YOUR_CHAT_ID>&text=heartbeat check — any pending tasks?" \
  > /dev/null 2>&1

The Telegram message triggers Claude Code to check for pending work.

How Memory Works After Migration

In OpenClaw, the framework handles memory automatically — passive memory extraction, auto-compaction, and session hooks all run without explicit instructions. After migrating to Claude Code, memory becomes instruction-driven: the agent follows rules in CLAUDE.md to decide when and what to save.

Add Memory Rules to CLAUDE.md

This is the most important step. Without these rules, the agent won't persist new knowledge across sessions:

## Memory Rules
- Session start: read MEMORY.md + recent memory/*.md files
- Important decisions/discoveries → memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md (daily log)
- Long-running project context → memory/topic-<project>.md
- Long-term knowledge (contacts, architecture, rules) → promote to MEMORY.md
- Topic files: History max 30 lines, Decisions max 50 lines
- Before context gets full: save unsaved knowledge to memory files
- Use /clawsouls:memory search to find past context before answering

Runtime Memory Flow

Session starts → agent reads MEMORY.md + memory/*.md (SessionStart hook)
During work → agent writes discoveries to memory/2026-04-05.md
Context fills up → PreCompact hook saves unsaved context
Session ends → SessionEnd hook flushes remaining knowledge
Next session → reads updated files, continues where it left off

What the Agent Creates Automatically

File	When created	Content
`memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md`	Each working day	Decisions, bug fixes, progress notes
`memory/topic-*.md`	When a new project starts	Status, key decisions, history for that project
`MEMORY.md` updates	When important long-term knowledge emerges	Contacts, rules, architecture decisions

If you run multiple Claude Code instances (e.g., one for coding, one for Telegram), use memory_sync to share knowledge via Git:

# Agent A pushes
memory_sync action=push agent_name=coding-agent

# Agent B pulls
memory_sync action=pull

Both agents see the same memory files. Conflicts are resolved by preferring newer + human edits.

What You Keep

Item	How
SOUL.md	Copied to project root → CLAUDE.md or `/clawsouls:activate`
IDENTITY.md	Copied to project root
AGENTS.md	Copied to project root
MEMORY.md	Copied to project root
*memory/.md**	Copied to `./memory/` directory
Topic files	Copied as-is, TF-IDF search works identically
Daily logs	Copied as-is
Git history	Start fresh or copy `.git/`

What Changes

OpenClaw Feature	Claude Code Equivalent
`openclaw.json` config	`CLAUDE.md` + `--plugin-dir` + `.mcp.json`
Gateway daemon	`claude --channels` in tmux/screen
`openclaw gateway start`	`tmux new-session -d -s agent 'claude ...'`
Heartbeat cron	External cron → Telegram message
`sessions_spawn`	Claude Code agents / `--agents` flag
Multi-channel simultaneous	`--channels` accepts multiple plugins
SoulClaw memory hooks	ClawSouls plugin hooks (PreCompact/PostCompact)

Hybrid Approach (Recommended)

You don't have to choose one or the other. Many users run both:

OpenClaw: Always-on hub for automated tasks, cron jobs, multi-channel routing
Claude Code Channels: Cost-effective coding sessions and Telegram access within subscription

Both share the same Soul Spec files and memory directory. Changes made in one are visible to the other.

~/projects/my-agent/
├── SOUL.md          ← shared
├── IDENTITY.md      ← shared
├── AGENTS.md        ← shared
├── MEMORY.md        ← shared
├── memory/          ← shared
├── CLAUDE.md        ← Claude Code reads this
└── .openclaw/       ← OpenClaw reads this

Troubleshooting

See the Telegram Channels Setup guide for common issues.

Next Steps

ClawSouls Plugin Guide — Full plugin documentation
Telegram Channels Setup — Detailed Telegram guide
Soul Spec v0.5 — Full specification

Why Migrate?​

Feature Comparison​

Migration Steps​

Step 1: Update Claude Code​

Step 2: Install Bun (for Telegram/Discord)​

Step 3: Clone the ClawSouls Plugin​

Step 4: Migrate Your Workspace​

Step 5: Set Up Telegram​

Step 6: Launch​

Step 7: Pair and Activate​

Always-On Setup​

tmux​

screen​

Auto-restart on reboot (macOS launchd)​

Heartbeat Workaround​

How Memory Works After Migration​

Add Memory Rules to CLAUDE.md​

Runtime Memory Flow​

What the Agent Creates Automatically​

Multi-Agent Memory Sharing​

What You Keep​

What Changes​

Hybrid Approach (Recommended)​

Troubleshooting​

Next Steps​