Have you ever gone to bed knowing there are emails you should have responded to, research you should have done, and content you should have published? That nagging feeling that you are always behind, no matter how many hours you put in?
I know that feeling. I lived with it for years.
Then I set up OpenClaw on a Mac Mini, gave it access to my email, calendar, messaging apps, and file system, and something changed. Not overnight. Not magically. But week by week, I started waking up to work that was already done. Research already compiled. Emails already triaged. Content already drafted.
Today, my OpenClaw agent handles tasks that used to eat 3 to 4 hours of my day. Every single day. And the best part? It does this while I sleep, while I am in meetings, while I am spending time with my family.
Let me show you exactly how I use it, and more importantly, how to set up each of these workflows yourself.
Why This Matters More Than You Think
Here’s the thing. Most people hear “AI automation” and think of chatbots or fancy demos. They think it is something for tech companies with engineering teams. That could not be further from the truth.
OpenClaw is different because it actually does things. It does not just chat with you. It reads your emails, writes files, runs commands, browses the web, sends messages, and manages your calendar. It is an AI employee that works 24/7 and never calls in sick.
Think about it this way. If you are a small business owner, a freelancer, a consultant, or anyone running a one-person operation, you are wearing ten hats every day. Marketing. Sales. Operations. Customer support. Finance. Content. You are doing all of it, and you are probably dropping balls because there simply are not enough hours.
What if you could hand off three or four of those hats to someone who works around the clock for the cost of a few API calls?
That is what OpenClaw does. And I am going to show you exactly how to make it happen.
Use Case 1: Email Triage and Response Drafting
This was the first thing I automated, and honestly, it was the one that changed my life the most.
Here is what my OpenClaw agent does with my email every 15 minutes:
- Scans my inbox for new messages
- Categorizes them into urgent, important, informational, and spam
- Drafts responses for routine emails (meeting confirmations, follow-ups, acknowledgments)
- Flags anything unusual and sends me a summary on Telegram
- Never responds without my approval for anything from a new contact
Instead of spending 45 minutes every morning reading through 30 emails and crafting responses, I spend 5 minutes reviewing drafts and hitting approve. That is a 40-minute savings every single morning.
How to Set This Up Yourself
Step 1: Connect OpenClaw to your email
You have three options here. Pick the one that fits your setup:
Option A: Google Workspace MCP Server (recommended for Gmail users)
This is the cleanest approach. The MCP (Model Context Protocol) server gives your agent direct Gmail, Calendar, and Drive tools without any extra CLI:
npm install -g @presto-ai/google-workspace-mcp
mcporter config add google-workspace \
–command “npx” –arg “-y” \
–arg “@presto-ai/google-workspace-mcp” \
–scope home
On first run, it will open a browser window for Google OAuth. Authorize it, and your agent instantly gets tools like gmail_search, gmail_send, calendar_events, and more. No scripting required. Your agent can just use them naturally.
Option B: The gog CLI (more control, same result)
If you prefer a dedicated command-line tool with fine-grained control, install gog:
brew install steipete/tap/gogcli
gog auth credentials /path/to/your/client_secret.json
gog auth add [email protected] –services gmail,calendar
This gives you explicit commands like gog gmail search, gog gmail send, and gog calendar events that your agent calls through the shell.
Option C: Apple Mail on Mac (zero setup)
If you are on a Mac and prefer Apple Mail, OpenClaw can read your inbox directly through AppleScript without any additional setup or API keys. This is the simplest path if you already use Apple Mail.
Each method works. The MCP server is the most “agentic” because the tools show up natively. The gog CLI gives you more manual control. Apple Mail is the quickest if you are already in the Apple ecosystem.
Step 2: Create a cron job to check email on a schedule
This is the part most people miss. OpenClaw has a built-in scheduler called cron. You tell it “check my email every 15 minutes” and it just does it. Here is the exact command:
openclaw cron add \
–name “Email Triage” \
–cron “*/15 * * * *” \
–tz “America/Chicago” \
–session isolated \
–message “Check my inbox for new emails. For each new email: categorize as URGENT, IMPORTANT, INFO, or SPAM. Draft a response for anything routine. Send me a Telegram summary of anything that needs my attention. Do NOT respond to any email without my explicit approval.” \
–announce \
–channel telegram \
–to “user:YOUR_TELEGRAM_ID”
Let me break this down: – –cron “*/15 * * * *” means “run every 15 minutes” – –tz “America/Chicago” sets your timezone – –session isolated means this runs in its own context, not cluttering your main chat – –announce means results get delivered to your Telegram – The –message is the actual instruction your agent follows
Step 3: Teach your agent your email preferences
Open your workspace file ~/.openclaw/workspace/AGENTS.md and add a section like this:
## Email Rules
– Emails from clients: ALWAYS flag as URGENT, draft a professional response
– Newsletters and marketing: Categorize as INFO, no response needed
– Meeting invites: Check my calendar, draft acceptance if free, flag conflict if not
– Unknown senders: Flag as REVIEW, never draft a response
– My wife/family: Flag as URGENT, do not draft responses (I handle these personally)
Your agent reads this file every session. These become its standing instructions.
Real cost: About $0.50 to $1.00 per day in API calls for email processing. Compare that to what 40 minutes of your time is worth.
Use Case 2: Content Research and First Drafts
If you are running a blog, newsletter, or social media presence, you know that content creation is a time black hole. Research alone can take hours before you write a single word.
Here is how I use OpenClaw for content:
- I give it a topic and it searches the web, pulls relevant articles, and compiles a research brief
- It writes a first draft based on my writing style
- It saves everything to my workspace as organized markdown files
- I review, edit, and publish with my personal touch added
What used to take me 6 to 8 hours (research plus writing plus editing) now takes 2 to 3 hours. And the quality is better because I am spending my time on the parts that actually matter: my unique perspective and voice.
How to Set This Up Yourself
Step 1: Train your agent on your writing style
This is the secret sauce. Create a file in your workspace called writing-style.md:
nano ~/.openclaw/workspace/writing-style.md
Paste in 3 to 5 of your best blog posts or writing samples. Then add instructions at the top:
# My Writing Style Guide
When writing content for me, match this style:
– Conversational tone, like talking to a friend
– Use “I” and “you” frequently
– Short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max)
– Include real examples and numbers
– Break up sections with clear headings
## Sample Posts (for tone reference)
[paste your best posts here]
Your agent reads workspace files automatically. Once this exists, every piece of content it drafts will match your voice.
Step 2: Use the web research tools
When you want a blog post, just message your agent on Telegram (or whatever channel you use):
Research the latest developments in AI agent security.
Check at least 5 sources. Save a research brief to
research/ai-agent-security.md, then write a first
draft blog post to drafts/ai-agent-security-post.md
using my writing style.
OpenClaw will use its web_search and web_fetch tools to pull real information from the web, compile it, and then draft content using your style guide.
Step 3: Set up a content pipeline with scheduled research
Want your agent to proactively find content ideas? Create a weekly cron job:
openclaw cron add \
–name “Content Ideas” \
–cron “0 6 * * MON” \
–tz “America/Chicago” \
–session isolated \
–message “Research trending topics in AI and automation this week. Find 5 potential blog post ideas with high search interest. For each idea, write a 2-sentence pitch and estimate search volume. Save to workspace: content-ideas/week-of-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).md” \
–announce \
–channel telegram
Every Monday at 6 AM, you wake up to five content ideas waiting for you, already researched.
Pro tip: OpenClaw stores everything in plain Markdown files in your workspace (~/.openclaw/workspace/). This means your research, drafts, and notes are always accessible, searchable, and version-controllable with git. No vendor lock-in. No proprietary database.
Use Case 3: Competitive Intelligence on Autopilot
This is the one most people do not think about, but it might be the most valuable.
I have my OpenClaw agent monitoring my competitors every single day. Here is what it tracks:
- New blog posts on competitor websites
- Pricing changes on their product pages
- Social media mentions and trending topics in my niche
- New tools and platforms that could affect my business
Every morning, I get a brief on Telegram. What changed in my industry overnight, and what I should pay attention to. No noise. No scrolling through Twitter for an hour. Just the signal.
How to Set This Up Yourself
Step 1: Create a competitor tracking file
Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/competitors.md:
# Competitor Tracking List
## Direct Competitors
– https://competitor1.com/blog (check for new posts)
– https://competitor2.com/pricing (check for pricing changes)
– https://competitor3.com/changelog (check for new features)
## Industry Sources
– https://news.ycombinator.com (AI-related posts)
– https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/
## Keywords to Track
– “ai automation for small business”
– “ai agent platform”
– “your product name” (brand mentions)
## What I Care About
– New product launches from competitors
– Pricing changes (up or down)
– Negative reviews of competitors (opportunity for us)
– Industry trends that affect our positioning
Step 2: Schedule the morning intel brief
openclaw cron add \
–name “Morning Intel Brief” \
–cron “0 6 * * *” \
–tz “America/Chicago” \
–session isolated \
–message “Read competitors.md for my tracking list. Visit each competitor URL and check for changes since yesterday. Search the web for my tracked keywords. Compile a 5-paragraph morning brief: (1) competitor moves, (2) industry news, (3) opportunities I should act on, (4) threats to watch, (5) one actionable recommendation. Keep it concise. Send the brief to me.” \
–announce \
–channel telegram
Step 3: Track changes over time
Add this to your agent instructions in AGENTS.md:
## Competitor Intel
After each morning brief, append a dated entry to
memory/competitor-log.md with key findings. Over time,
this builds a searchable history of competitor moves
that I can reference for strategic decisions.
Now you have a competitive intelligence log that grows automatically. Three months from now, you can ask your agent “What pricing changes did Competitor X make in the last quarter?” and it will pull the answer from its own notes.
What this replaced: I used to spend 30 to 45 minutes every morning checking competitor websites, scrolling social media, and reading newsletters. Now that time is zero.
Use Case 4: Client Communication and Follow-Up Management
If you have ever lost a deal because you forgot to follow up, this one is for you.
Here is how OpenClaw handles my client communication:
- Tracks every client interaction across email, Telegram, and other channels
- Reminds me when follow-ups are due
- Drafts follow-up messages based on our last conversation
- Flags clients going cold so I can re-engage before I lose them
This is not a CRM. It is better than a CRM for a solo operator. Because a CRM requires you to log into it, update records, and remember to check it. OpenClaw does all of that proactively. It comes to YOU with the information, on the messaging app you already use.
How to Set This Up Yourself
Step 1: Create a client tracker file
Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/clients.md:
# Active Clients and Leads
## Client: Rajesh Kumar
– Company: TechServe Solutions
– Last contact: 2026-02-20 (sent proposal)
– Follow-up due: 2026-02-25
– Status: Waiting for proposal response
– Notes: Interested in AI automation for support team
## Client: Sarah Mitchell
– Company: GreenLeaf Marketing
– Last contact: 2026-02-18 (introductory call)
– Follow-up due: 2026-02-22
– Status: OVERDUE – needs follow-up
– Notes: Budget around $5K, wants content automation
## Lead: Amit Patel
– Company: DataBridge Analytics
– Source: LinkedIn message
– Last contact: 2026-02-15
– Follow-up due: 2026-02-19
– Status: COLD – no response to last message
– Notes: May need different approach
Step 2: Schedule a daily follow-up check
openclaw cron add \
–name “Client Follow-ups” \
–cron “0 9 * * MON-FRI” \
–tz “America/Chicago” \
–session isolated \
–message “Read clients.md. Check today’s date against all follow-up dates. For any client that is due or overdue: (1) summarize the last interaction, (2) draft a natural follow-up message, (3) rate urgency as HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW. Send me the list ordered by urgency. For any client with no contact in 10+ days, flag as GOING COLD with a suggested re-engagement approach.” \
–announce \
–channel telegram
Every weekday at 9 AM, you get a follow-up action list on your phone. No clients slip through the cracks.
Step 3: Let your agent update the tracker automatically
Add this to your AGENTS.md:
## Client Tracking
When I tell you about a client interaction (call, email, meeting),
update clients.md with the new date, status, and next follow-up.
Calculate the follow-up date based on context:
– After sending proposal: follow up in 5 days
– After introductory call: follow up in 3 days
– After no response: follow up in 7 days, then flag as cold
Now when you tell your agent “Just finished a call with Rajesh, he wants to move forward next month,” it updates the tracker, sets the next follow-up date, and you never think about it again.
Real example: Last month, my agent flagged that I had not followed up with a potential partner in 8 days. I had completely forgotten. The agent drafted a casual check-in message, I tweaked it slightly, and sent it. That conversation turned into an active collaboration. Without the follow-up? It would have died silently.
Use Case 5: Automated Reporting and Dashboards
Every business needs to know its numbers. Revenue, expenses, traffic, engagement, pipeline status. The problem is, pulling these numbers from five different tools and putting them into a readable format takes time.
Here is what I built:
- OpenClaw pulls data from my business tools
- It generates a daily summary with key metrics
- Once a week, it produces a formatted report comparing this week to last week
- It flags anomalies (“Website traffic dropped 30% yesterday”)
- It sends the report to me as an attachment. No login required.
How to Set This Up Yourself
Step 1: Define what you want to track
Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/metrics.md:
# Business Metrics to Track
## Daily Metrics
– Website visitors (check Google Analytics)
– New email subscribers
– Revenue (check Stripe dashboard)
– Support tickets opened/closed
## Weekly Metrics (compare to previous week)
– Total revenue
– New leads generated
– Content published (blog posts, social posts)
– Client satisfaction indicators
## Alert Thresholds
– Website traffic drops more than 20%: ALERT
– No new leads in 3 days: ALERT
– Revenue below $X/day: ALERT
Step 2: Use OpenClaw’s browser to pull data
This is where it gets powerful. OpenClaw can control a web browser. That means it can log into your analytics dashboard, your Stripe dashboard, or any web tool and extract the numbers.
Here is the cron job:
openclaw cron add \
–name “Daily Business Report” \
–cron “0 7 * * *” \
–tz “America/Chicago” \
–session isolated \
–message “Read metrics.md for what to track. Use the browser to check Google Analytics for yesterday’s traffic. Check any bookmarked dashboards for key numbers. Compare to last week’s numbers in memory/weekly-metrics.md. Generate a report with: (1) key numbers, (2) trends (up/down/flat), (3) any alerts triggered, (4) one recommended action. Save the report to reports/daily-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).md and send me a summary.” \
–announce \
–channel telegram
Step 3: Build historical tracking
Add this to your agent instructions:
## Reporting
After each daily report, append the key numbers to
memory/weekly-metrics.md in a consistent format:
| Date | Visitors | Leads | Revenue |
This builds a historical dataset I can query anytime.
Over time, your agent builds a dataset of your business metrics. You can ask it “How did February compare to January?” and it has the data to answer.
The real value here: When was the last time you actually looked at your analytics dashboard? Most business owners set it up and forget about it. OpenClaw looks at it for you, every single day, and only bothers you when something important changes.
Use Case 6: Meeting Preparation and Calendar Management
This is a small one, but it adds up fast.
Before every meeting on my calendar, OpenClaw:
- Pulls up the last 3 interactions with that person
- Summarizes any pending action items between us
- Checks their LinkedIn for recent updates
- Prepares talking points based on the meeting agenda
- Sends me a 3-line briefing on Telegram 30 minutes before
I walk into every meeting prepared. Not because I spent 20 minutes doing research beforehand. Because my AI employee did it for me.
How to Set This Up Yourself
Step 1: Connect OpenClaw to your calendar
If you authenticated gog earlier with Google Calendar, you are already set. Your agent can read your calendar with:
gog calendar events –from today –to tomorrow –account [email protected]
Step 2: Set up the meeting prep heartbeat
The best way to handle this is through your HEARTBEAT.md file. This is a file OpenClaw checks periodically (every 30 minutes by default). Add this section:
## Meeting Prep
Check my calendar for meetings in the next 60 minutes.
For each upcoming meeting:
1. Look up the attendee in clients.md or memory files
2. Summarize our last 2-3 interactions
3. Note any pending action items
4. Send me a quick prep brief on Telegram
Format: “Meeting with [Name] in [X] min: [key context]”
Because heartbeats run every 30 minutes, you will always get a briefing 30 to 60 minutes before your meeting. No cron job needed for this one.
Step 3: Post-meeting capture
After a meeting, just message your agent:
Just finished meeting with Rajesh. He approved the proposal
at $4,500. Starting next Monday. Action items: I send SOW
by Friday, he sends asset access by Thursday.
Your agent will: – Update clients.md with the new status – Create action items with due dates – Set a follow-up reminder for Friday to check if you sent the SOW
Time saved per meeting: 10 to 15 minutes of prep. If you have 3 meetings a day, that is 30 to 45 minutes saved daily. Over a month, that is 10 to 15 hours you get back.
Use Case 7: System Monitoring and Maintenance Alerts
If you run any kind of web infrastructure (websites, servers, APIs), this one pays for itself immediately.
My OpenClaw agent monitors:
- Website uptime and response times
- SSL certificate expiration dates
- Disk space and memory usage on my servers
- WordPress plugin updates and security advisories
- Backup status
When something needs attention, I get a message on Telegram. Not an email that gets buried. Not a dashboard I forget to check. A direct message on my phone.
How to Set This Up Yourself
Step 1: Create a monitoring configuration
Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/monitoring.md:
# System Monitoring
## Websites to Check
– https://yourdomain.com (expect 200 OK, load under 3 seconds)
– https://app.yourdomain.com (expect 200 OK)
– https://api.yourdomain.com/health (expect JSON with status: “ok”)
## Server Checks (via SSH)
– Server: your-server (check disk space, alert if > 80%)
– Server: your-server (check memory usage, alert if > 90%)
## SSL Certificates
– yourdomain.com (alert 14 days before expiry)
– app.yourdomain.com (alert 14 days before expiry)
## WordPress Sites
– https://yourdomain.com (check for plugin updates)
Step 2: Schedule the monitoring checks
openclaw cron add \
–name “System Monitor” \
–cron “0 */4 * * *” \
–tz “America/Chicago” \
–session isolated \
–message “Read monitoring.md. For each website: fetch the URL and check response code and load time. For servers: run the specified checks. For SSL: check certificate expiry dates. ONLY message me if something needs attention. If everything is healthy, save a one-line status to memory/system-health.md and stay silent.” \
–announce \
–channel telegram
The key instruction here is “ONLY message me if something needs attention.” You do not want a notification every 4 hours saying “everything is fine.” You want silence when things are good and an immediate alert when they are not.
Step 3: Enable auto-remediation for simple issues
For common problems, you can teach your agent to fix things automatically:
## Auto-Fix Rules (add to AGENTS.md)
– If disk space > 80%: Clear log files older than 7 days,
then report what was cleaned
– If a website returns 503: Wait 5 minutes and check again.
If still down, alert me immediately
– If WordPress has security updates: List them but do NOT
auto-update. I want to approve these manually.
Real example: My agent caught a disk space issue on one of my servers at 2 AM. By the time I woke up, it had already cleaned up old log files and freed up space. The server never went down. My clients never noticed.
What This Actually Costs
Let me be direct with you. Running an AI employee is not free. But it is dramatically cheaper than the alternative.
Here is my actual monthly cost breakdown:
| Item | Monthly Cost |
| Mac Mini (one-time $599, amortized over 3 years) | ~$17 |
| Electricity (24/7 operation) | ~$8 |
| Claude API (primary AI model) | ~$50-80 |
| Backup API model (for specific tasks) | ~$10-20 |
| Total | ~$85-125/month |
Now compare that to what these tasks would cost if you hired someone:
- Virtual assistant: $500 to $2,000 per month
- Part-time employee: $1,500 to $3,000 per month
- Your own time (if valued at $100/hour): 3 to 4 hours daily = $6,000 to $8,000 per month
The math is not subtle. For roughly $100 a month, you get 24/7 coverage on tasks that would otherwise cost you thousands in time or money.
Cost optimization tips: – Use cheaper models (like Claude Haiku) for simple tasks like email categorization – Use powerful models (like Claude Opus) only for complex tasks like content drafting – Set up isolated sessions for cron jobs so they do not inflate your main session’s context – Review your openclaw cron list regularly and disable jobs you no longer need
The Honest Limitations
I would not be doing you any favors if I pretended OpenClaw is perfect. It is not. Here is what you need to know:
It requires setup time. Budget a full weekend to get it running properly. The initial configuration, training your agent on your preferences, and building your first workflows takes real effort. My Mac Mini setup guide walks you through the hardware and installation side.
It makes mistakes. Especially in the beginning. Your agent will misclassify emails, draft awkward responses, and occasionally do something you did not expect. You need to supervise it, especially in the first few weeks. The good news? It learns from your corrections through its memory system. Every time you say “no, handle emails like this instead,” it writes that to memory and gets better.
API costs can surprise you. If you are not careful, costs can spike. The biggest culprit is running too many cron jobs with expensive models. Start with 2 to 3 automations and monitor your API dashboard for a week before adding more. Use openclaw cron list to see all your active jobs and their schedules.
It is not a set-and-forget system. You will need to adjust instructions, tweak cron schedules, and update your workspace files as your business evolves. Think of it less like installing software and more like onboarding an employee. The first month requires more attention. After that, it mostly runs itself.
Getting Started: Your First Weekend
If you are new to OpenClaw, here is my recommended first weekend plan:
Saturday Morning: Install and Connect 1. Install OpenClaw on your Mac Mini (setup guide) 2. Connect it to Telegram (takes 5 minutes) 3. Send your first message and make sure it responds
Saturday Afternoon: Your First Automation 4. Set up the morning briefing cron job (weather, calendar, top news) 5. Create your AGENTS.md with basic preferences 6. Test the cron job with openclaw cron run <job-id>
Sunday Morning: Email Triage 7. Connect email (gog CLI for Gmail or Apple Mail) 8. Set up the email triage cron job from Use Case 1 9. Let it run for a few hours and review the results
Sunday Afternoon: Pick Your Next Win 10. Choose one more use case from this post (I recommend Use Case 3 or 4) 11. Set it up following the steps above 12. You now have a working AI employee
The key is to start small and build trust with the system. Once you see it working reliably on simple tasks, you will naturally see opportunities for more complex automation. Within a month, you will wonder how you ran your business without it.
Your Turn To Share
I have shown you seven use cases with exact setup instructions. But I know every business is different, and the best automations are the ones tailored to YOUR specific workflow. So here is what I want to know: what is the most repetitive, time-consuming task in your daily work that you wish you could hand off to someone? Drop it in the comments. I am always looking for my next automation challenge, and your answer might become my next blog post.