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How to Run Moltbot in a Sprite

Run Moltbot (Clawdbot) in a Sprite

Daniel Botha •

Running Moltbot on a Sprite

There’s zero chance this will be the first time you’re hearing about Clawdbot, recently renamed Moltbot. It’s an open-source AI assistant that connects to messaging platforms you’re probably already use: WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, etc. It comes with a fast-growing list of connectors and Skills and self-iterating capabilities, right out of the box.

If you really want to see what a project like Moltbot can do, you need to run it with generous permissions and give it access to its environment. That is inherently scary, which is why so many people have been snapping up Mac Minis to run their Moltbot in an isolated environment.

You don’t need a Mac Mini. Instead, let’s learn how to run Moltbot in a Sprite. A stateful sandbox with automatic sleep/wake behaviour that keeps running costs low. Sprites are fully hardware isolated Linux computers, so you can give Moltbot total agency and not even have to think about building your own guardrails.

Create a Sprite

Install the Sprites CLI and create a Sprite:

curl -fsSL https://sprites.dev/install.sh | bash
sprite create moltbot

Connect to the Sprite console:

sprite console -s moltbot

Install and Configure Moltbot

Run the Moltbot install script:

curl -fsSL https://molt.bot/install.sh | bash

The wizard will configure your credentials, hooks, and messaging platforms. You’ll see two expected errors at the end:

Systemd unavailable — Sprites don’t use systemd

Health check failed — The Gateway isn’t running yet

This is normal. The onboarding creates your config. We’ll start the Gateway next.

Important: Copy the token shown in Moltbot’s output. It looks like:

9054a0cfca3f5be5325f988fb57ddf1f38e530d2883bbed7

Add moltbot to your PATH so it’s available in future sessions:

echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/.sprite/languages/node/nvm/versions/node/v22.20.0/bin"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Register Moltbot as a Sprite Service

Sprites have their own service manager that auto-starts services when HTTP requests arrive. Register the Gateway:

 sprite-env services create moltbot-gateway \
    --cmd "$(which clawdbot)" \
    --args "gateway" \
    --http-port 18789

Note: The Moltbot CLI still installs as clawdbot, but its docs have already been updated to use "moltbot" commands. You can create a symlink after installing so that docs are easier to follow.

This registers the Gateway and routes your Sprite URL to port 18789. When requests hit your Sprite URL, the Sprite wakes and the Gateway starts automatically.

Make the URL Public (Optional)

By default, Sprite URLs require authentication. To make yours public and get the url:

sprite url update --auth public -s moltbot

Access the Dashboard

For initial setup, access your Sprite URL + the token from onboarding:

https://yoursprite.sprites.app/?token=YOUR_TOKEN_HERE

You’ll see a “pairing required” message. This is Moltbot’s security. It requires you to approve new devices before they can connect.

## Approve Your Device

Back in the Sprite console, list pending pairing requests:

moltbot devices list

Approve the pending request:

moltbot devices approve REQUEST_ID

Refresh your browser. You’re in.

Checkpoint Your Setup

Checkpoint your working configuration:

sprite checkpoint create

If you ever need to return to this state:

sprite restore <id>

What You’ve Built

Your Moltbot Gateway now lives on a Sprite that:

  • Sleeps when idle
  • Wakes automatically when you hit the URL
  • Restarts the Gateway service on wake
  • Persists your config and pairing across restarts

Once paired, you can access the dashboard and start chatting with Moltbot. It’s not bad at understanding its own capabilities, so just ask for the integrations and channels you want to set up.

Bonus Level:

Tell Moltbot to build a Sprites Skill for itself, so it knows how to manage its own environment:

Create a Sprite skill by reading the documentation at /.sprite/llm.txt and /.sprite/docs/agent-context.md. The skill should teach you how to manage Sprite services (since there’s no systemd), create checkpoints, restart the moltbot-gateway, and check network policy. Save it to ~/.moltbot/skills/sprite/SKILL.md.

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