---
summary: "Deploy OpenClaw Gateway to a Kubernetes cluster with Kustomize"
read_when:
  - You want to run OpenClaw on a Kubernetes cluster
  - You want to test OpenClaw in a Kubernetes environment
title: "Kubernetes"
---

A minimal starting point for running OpenClaw on Kubernetes, not a production-ready deployment. It covers the core resources and is meant to be adapted to your environment.

## Why not Helm

OpenClaw is a single container with some config files. The interesting customization is in agent content (Markdown files, skills, config overrides), not infrastructure templating. Kustomize handles overlays without the overhead of a Helm chart. Layer a Helm chart on top of these manifests if your deployment grows more complex.

## What you need

- A running Kubernetes cluster (AKS, EKS, GKE, k3s, kind, OpenShift, etc.)
- `kubectl` connected to your cluster
- An API key for at least one model provider

## Quick start

```bash
# Replace with your provider: ANTHROPIC, GEMINI, OPENAI, or OPENROUTER
export <PROVIDER>_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh

kubectl port-forward svc/openclaw 18789:18789 -n openclaw
open http://localhost:18789
```

`deploy.sh` creates token auth by default. Retrieve the generated gateway token for the Control UI:

```bash
kubectl get secret openclaw-secrets -n openclaw -o jsonpath='{.data.OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN}' | base64 -d
```

For local debugging, `./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --show-token` prints the token after deploy.

## Local testing with Kind

If you do not have a cluster, create one locally with [Kind](https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/):

```bash
./scripts/k8s/create-kind.sh           # auto-detects docker or podman
./scripts/k8s/create-kind.sh --delete  # tear down
```

Then deploy as usual with `./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh`.

## Step by step

### 1) Deploy

**Option A: API key in environment (one step)**

```bash
# Replace with your provider: ANTHROPIC, GEMINI, OPENAI, or OPENROUTER
export <PROVIDER>_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
```

The script creates a Kubernetes Secret with the API key and an auto-generated gateway token, then deploys. If the Secret already exists, it preserves the current gateway token and any provider keys not being changed.

**Option B: create the secret separately**

```bash
export <PROVIDER>_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --create-secret
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
```

Add `--show-token` to either command to print the token to stdout for local testing.

### 2) Access the gateway

```bash
kubectl port-forward svc/openclaw 18789:18789 -n openclaw
open http://localhost:18789
```

## What gets deployed

```text
Namespace: openclaw (configurable via OPENCLAW_NAMESPACE)
├── Deployment/openclaw        # Single pod, init container + gateway
├── Service/openclaw           # ClusterIP on port 18789
├── PersistentVolumeClaim      # 10Gi for agent state and config
├── ConfigMap/openclaw-config  # openclaw.json + AGENTS.md
└── Secret/openclaw-secrets    # Gateway token + API keys
```

## Customization

### Agent instructions

Edit the `AGENTS.md` in `scripts/k8s/manifests/configmap.yaml` and redeploy:

```bash
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
```

### Gateway config

Edit `openclaw.json` in `scripts/k8s/manifests/configmap.yaml`. See [Gateway configuration](/gateway/configuration) for the full reference.

### Add providers

Re-run with additional keys exported:

```bash
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="..."
export OPENAI_API_KEY="..."
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --create-secret
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
```

Existing provider keys stay in the Secret unless you overwrite them.

Or patch the Secret directly:

```bash
kubectl patch secret openclaw-secrets -n openclaw \
  -p '{"stringData":{"<PROVIDER>_API_KEY":"..."}}'
kubectl rollout restart deployment/openclaw -n openclaw
```

### Custom namespace

```bash
OPENCLAW_NAMESPACE=my-namespace ./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
```

### Custom image

Edit the `image` field in `scripts/k8s/manifests/deployment.yaml`:

```yaml
image: ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:slim # primary; official Docker Hub mirror: openclaw/openclaw
```

### Expose beyond port-forward

The default manifests bind the gateway to loopback inside the pod. That works with `kubectl port-forward`, but not with a Kubernetes `Service` or Ingress path that needs to reach the pod IP directly.

To expose the gateway through an Ingress or load balancer:

- Change the gateway bind in `scripts/k8s/manifests/configmap.yaml` from `loopback` to a non-loopback bind that matches your deployment model.
- Keep gateway auth enabled and use a proper TLS-terminated entrypoint.
- Configure the Control UI for remote access using the supported web security model (for example HTTPS/Tailscale Serve and explicit allowed origins when needed).

## Re-deploy

```bash
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh
```

This applies all manifests and restarts the pod to pick up any config or secret changes.

## Teardown

```bash
./scripts/k8s/deploy.sh --delete
```

This deletes the namespace and all resources in it, including the PVC.

## Architecture notes

- The gateway binds to loopback inside the pod by default, so the included setup is for `kubectl port-forward`.
- No cluster-scoped resources; everything lives in a single namespace.
- Security hardening: `readOnlyRootFilesystem`, `drop: ALL` capabilities, non-root user (UID 1000).
- The default config keeps the Control UI on the safer local-access path: loopback bind plus `kubectl port-forward` to `http://127.0.0.1:18789`.
- If you move beyond localhost access, use the supported remote model: HTTPS/Tailscale plus the appropriate gateway bind and Control UI origin settings.
- Secrets are generated in a temp directory and applied directly to the cluster; no secret material is written to the repo checkout.

## File structure

```text
scripts/k8s/
├── deploy.sh                   # Creates namespace + secret, deploys via kustomize
├── create-kind.sh              # Local Kind cluster (auto-detects docker/podman)
└── manifests/
    ├── kustomization.yaml      # Kustomize base
    ├── configmap.yaml          # openclaw.json + AGENTS.md
    ├── deployment.yaml         # Pod spec with security hardening
    ├── pvc.yaml                # 10Gi persistent storage
    └── service.yaml            # ClusterIP on 18789
```

## Related

- [Docker](/install/docker)
- [Docker VM runtime](/install/docker-vm-runtime)
- [Install overview](/install)
