OpenClaw does things. A brain makes it remember.

Your assistant answers on WhatsApp, runs jobs on schedule, and touches your real accounts. The knowledge it acts on deserves better than a prompt.

Last updated

AIVM Brain gives OpenClaw a governed second brain over MCP. Add one server block to OpenClaw's config and your assistant can recall your projects, preferences, and documents in any conversation, on any channel, with permissions enforced and every access recorded in a tamper-evident ledger.

Connect OpenClaw to your brain

OpenClaw supports MCP servers (stdio and HTTP transports) through its configuration; see the OpenClaw docs for the exact file your version reads. The brain is a standard stdio MCP server.

  1. Generate your key. Sign up free at brain.aivm.io, open Connect, pick API / MCP, and mint your agent key.

  2. Add the server block. Add the brain under mcpServers in your OpenClaw configuration:

    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "aivm-brain": {
          "command": "npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@aivm/brain", "serve"],
          "env": {
            "AIVM_BRAIN_URL": "https://brain.aivm.io",
            "AIVM_AGENT_KEY": "ak_your_key"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  3. Test it from a channel you actually use. Message your OpenClaw on Telegram or WhatsApp, tell it a fact worth keeping, then ask for it the next day from a different channel. Cross-channel recall is the point.

OpenClaw's config layout is OpenClaw's to define and moves fast; its docs are the source of truth for where the mcpServers block lives in your version.

Memory that follows the conversation, not the channel

OpenClaw's superpower is being everywhere you are: the same assistant on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, iMessage. That reach makes per-conversation context the wrong shape for memory. The brief you discussed in a Telegram thread should be recallable when you follow up by voice on your Mac a week later.

With a brain attached, OpenClaw's knowledge is one governed store, not a scatter of chat histories. It recalls what you told it wherever you told it, and what it captures in one channel is there for the next, subject to the permissions you set.

Autonomy without governance is how assistants get uninstalled

Your OpenClaw runs jobs on its own schedule and acts while you are not watching. That is the value, and the risk. The brain's job is to make the knowledge side of that autonomy safe: your assistant's key is scoped to what it may read and write, sensitive fields can be redacted rather than whole documents blocked, and there is a kill switch that cuts a key's access instantly. Every recall and capture lands in a content-blind, tamper-evident log, so you can always answer the question 'what did my assistant actually touch?' with a record instead of a shrug.

If you share your OpenClaw setup with family or a small team, the same rules scale down: each person's facts stay theirs unless granted, and the ledger keeps everyone honest.

Questions, answered

Does OpenClaw support MCP?

Yes, OpenClaw can connect to external MCP servers (stdio and HTTP) through its configuration, and the ecosystem leans on MCP for tools. The brain is a standard stdio MCP server, so it plugs into that mechanism.

Why not just let OpenClaw keep notes in files?

Files on the box work until you need permissions, shared access, redaction, deletion you can prove, or an audit trail. The brain adds the governance layer files cannot: who read what, when, under which role.

Can my OpenClaw and my coding agents share the brain?

Yes. One brain serves every MCP-capable agent you run, each with its own scoped key. Your assistant and your Claude Code can finally know the same things.

What happens to my data if I stop using it?

Export what you own, then shred. The governed delete is real deletion with a verifiable trail, not a soft-hide.

Is there a free tier?

Yes. Personal brains are free to start, no sales call. Pricing is public at brain.aivm.io/pricing.

Keep reading

Give OpenClaw a brain it can be held to.