Getting started

ReefClaw doesn't trade by itself. It's the control room for a trading agent (OpenClaw) that runs on your own computer or server.

Setup is introducing the two to each other. Once connected, you watch every decision your agent makes on the dashboard, and you can pause or stop it with 1 click at any time.

You start on paper trading: fake money, real market prices. Nothing at risk, no exchange account needed. You can stay there as long as you like (some people never leave, and that's fine).

Step 1: Get your token

Sign up at reefclaw.com and click Generate token on the onboarding page. The token is a claim ticket: it proves your agent belongs to your account and nobody else's.

It's shown once, so use it right away. Lost it? Revoke it and generate a new one.

Step 2: Paste 1 message to your agent

The onboarding page gives you a ready-made message. Copy it, paste it into the chat where you talk to your OpenClaw agent, and send.

The message tells your agent 2 things: save the connection details, then hand you a 1-line install command to run.

Step 3: Run 1 command in a terminal

Your agent will ask you to run this once, on the machine where OpenClaw lives (inside the container, if it runs in Docker):

npx --yes @reefclaw/connect

That's the whole install. It places the trading tools, wires everything up, and restarts your agent. Installing software that can eventually trade real money is a step a human should take knowingly, which is why your agent hands you the command instead of running it behind your back.

Then: watch it turn green

The onboarding page flips to Connected on its own, usually within a minute. No verify buttons, no waiting on us.

Right after connecting, your agent downloads its full trading playbook. The playbook is cryptographically signed, and your agent checks the signature before accepting it. Fake instructions can't get in, even if a server between us were compromised.

If your agent tries installing through OpenClaw's chat command instead, ClawHub shows a security warning ("scan: suspicious") and stops. That's expected, kinda by design: ReefClaw honestly discloses that it can trade, store exchange credentials, and receive instruction updates, and ClawHub flags all 3 for human review.

The npx command above doesn't go through ClawHub, so it doesn't hit the warning. Use it.

• 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of RAM, minimum. On a 1-core box the system kills OpenClaw mid-thought.
• For Binance: a server outside the US. Binance blocks US cloud regions (you'll see "HTTP 451" errors), so pick an EU or Asia location.
• For Hyperliquid: almost anywhere works, including hosts where Binance is blocked.

Going live means connecting a real exchange account. The dashboard makes you climb a ladder: paper first, then a small-money mode, then full live. Each step up asks you to confirm, and the last one requires typing GO LIVE by hand.

The 2 exchanges work differently, so here's each.

Binance: API keys

API keys are a limited-power keycard for your exchange account. You create them on Binance's website, then paste them into ReefClaw's Settings page.

• Give the key futures trading and read permissions only. Never enable withdrawals. Even in the worst case, nobody can move money out.
• Restrict the key to your server's IP on Binance while you're at it. It's 1 extra field and worth it.
• Hit "Test connection" before saving. It checks the key actually works.

Your keys travel encrypted to your own machine and live only there. They're never stored in ReefClaw's database.

Hyperliquid: no secrets to copy, ever

You give ReefClaw your public account address (safe to share, like an IBAN). Then your own machine invents a brand-new trading key that never leaves it. Nobody ever sees that key. That includes us, and honestly, it includes you.

Last step: 1 click in your crypto wallet (MetaMask, Rabby or similar) to sign a permission slip saying "this key may trade on my account."

By Hyperliquid's own design, a key approved this way can only trade. It physically can't withdraw or move funds, and you can revoke it any time on Hyperliquid's API page. Your account also needs some USDC on Hyperliquid before the first trade (orders under $10 get rejected by the exchange).

No browser wallet? Email-login Hyperliquid accounts can use the manual option in Settings instead.

Every position your agent opens gets a stop-loss and take-profit order placed on the exchange itself. If your server loses power mid-trade, the exchange still enforces your exit prices.

The dashboard's red buttons (Pause, Flatten, Kill) always work and are never hidden. They fire over 2 independent channels, so a flaky connection doesn't stop them.

And safety is never behind a paywall. An expired trial can stop the agent from opening new trades. It can never stop you from closing them.

Do I really need a terminal? Once, for 1 command. Everything after that happens in chat and on the dashboard. If you installed OpenClaw yourself, you've already done harder.

How long does this take? About 5 minutes if OpenClaw is already running. The install command does the slow part (a big download) on its own.

Is my money safe during setup? Yes, because there isn't any involved. Connecting is paper-only. Real money enters the picture only after you add exchange credentials and type GO LIVE.

Something's stuck. Now what? Ask your agent "did the ReefClaw setup finish?" It can usually tell you exactly which step failed. The onboarding page also has a troubleshooting list under "Not connecting?".