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First Launch & Setup

You've installed ClawDesk — great! This guide walks you through what happens the first time you open it, and how to connect your first AI provider so you can start chatting.

Opening ClawDesk for the First Time​

When you launch ClawDesk, you'll see the main app window:

  • Left sidebar — Navigation to all sections (Chat, Agents, Channels, etc.)
  • Center area — The Chat page, where you'll type messages
  • Top bar — Current page title and actions

The app starts ready to go. Before you can chat with AI, you need to tell ClawDesk which AI service to use and give it your API key (like a password that lets the app talk to the AI).

Step 1: Go to Settings​

Click Settings in the left sidebar (it's near the bottom, with a gear icon).

Then click the Providers tab at the top of the Settings page.

Step 2: Choose Your AI Provider​

A "provider" is just the company that runs the AI. Here are your options:

ProviderAI ModelsFree?Best For
Ollama (local)Llama, Mistral, Gemma, etc.Completely freePrivacy, offline use
AnthropicClaude (Sonnet, Haiku, Opus)Pay-per-useBest writing, reasoning
OpenAIGPT-4o, GPT-4, ChatGPTPay-per-useGeneral purpose
GoogleGemini Pro, Gemini FlashFree tier availableFast responses
Local (Built-in)Any GGUF modelCompletely freeOffline, no setup needed
Free options

If you don't want to pay anything:

  • Run AI Locally → — Download free models that run on your computer
  • Google Gemini — Offers a free tier with limited usage

Step 3: Add Your API Key​

Pick a provider and follow the instructions below.

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Getting Your Anthropic API Key​

  1. Go to console.anthropic.com
  2. Sign up or log in
  3. Click API Keys in the left sidebar
  4. Click Create Key
  5. Copy the key (it starts with sk-ant-...)

Adding It to ClawDesk​

  1. In ClawDesk, go to Settings → Providers
  2. Find Anthropic in the list
  3. Paste your API key into the API Key field
  4. Click Save

That's it! You can now use Claude in the Chat page.

Recommended model to start with: claude-sonnet-4-20250514 — fast, smart, and affordable.

Getting Your OpenAI API Key​

  1. Go to platform.openai.com/api-keys
  2. Sign up or log in
  3. Click Create new secret key
  4. Copy the key (it starts with sk-...)

Adding It to ClawDesk​

  1. In ClawDesk, go to Settings → Providers
  2. Find OpenAI in the list
  3. Paste your API key into the API Key field
  4. Click Save

Recommended model to start with: gpt-4o — OpenAI's best and fastest.

Getting Your Google AI API Key​

  1. Go to aistudio.google.com/apikey
  2. Sign in with your Google account
  3. Click Create API Key
  4. Copy the key

Adding It to ClawDesk​

  1. In ClawDesk, go to Settings → Providers
  2. Find Gemini in the list
  3. Paste your API key into the API Key field
  4. Click Save

Recommended model to start with: gemini-2.0-flash — fast and free-tier eligible.

Setting Up Ollama​

Ollama lets you run AI models on your own computer for free. No API key needed!

  1. Download and install Ollama from ollama.com
  2. Open your terminal and run: 
    ollama pull llama3.2
  3. Wait for the download to finish (a few minutes depending on your internet)

Adding It to ClawDesk​

  1. In ClawDesk, go to Settings → Providers
  2. Find Ollama in the list
  3. Make sure the URL is set to http://localhost:11434 (this is the default)
  4. Click Save

Ollama should be auto-detected. You'll see the models you've pulled available in the Chat page.

Recommended model: llama3.2 — a great free model that runs on most computers.

Step 4: Test Your Connection​

After adding your API key:

  1. Go back to the Chat page (click "Chat" in the left sidebar)
  2. Type a simple message like Hello, how are you?
  3. Press Enter or click the Send button
  4. Wait for the AI to respond

If you see a response, everything is working! 🎉

What If It Doesn't Work?​

ProblemSolution
"Invalid API key"Double-check your API key — make sure you copied the whole thing
"Connection error"Check your internet connection. For Ollama, make sure it's running (ollama serve)
"No models available"Make sure you saved your provider settings. For Ollama, pull a model first
Nothing happensTry clicking the model name at the top of the chat to make sure one is selected

Still stuck? Check the Troubleshooting guide →

What's Next?​

Now that you're set up, explore what ClawDesk can do: