OpenClaw Multi-Agent Setup: Run Multiple AI Assistants

February 08, 2026

OpenClaw Multi-Agent Setup: Run Multiple AI Assistants

By Elena Rodriguez | February 7, 2026

OpenClaw Multi-Agent Setup: Run Multiple AI Assistants

OpenClaw supports running multiple independent agents, each with its own personality, memory, and configuration. This is powerful for separating work and personal contexts.

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Why Multiple Agents?

Use Cases

Scenario	Why Multiple Agents?
Work & Personal	Different contexts, tools, and memories
Team collaboration	Each team member gets their own agent
Specialized tasks	Coding agent, writing agent, research agent
Testing	Experiment without affecting main agent

Key Concepts

Term	Meaning
agentId	Unique identifier for an agent "brain"
workspace	Agent's files, memory, and configuration
binding	Routes messages to specific agents

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Creating Multiple Agents

Directory Structure

Each agent needs its own workspace:

~/.openclaw/ ├── agents/ │   ├── main/           # Primary agent │   │   ├── AGENTS.md │   │   ├── SOUL.md │   │   ├── memory/ │   │   └── config/ │   ├── work/           # Work agent │   │   ├── AGENTS.md │   │   ├── SOUL.md │   │   └── memory/ │   └── assistant/      # Personal assistant │       ├── AGENTS.md │       ├── SOUL.md │       └── memory/ └── openclaw.json

Create a New Agent

# Create agent directory mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/agents/work cd ~/.openclaw/agents/work
Create required files
 touch AGENTS.md SOUL.md config/.gitkeep
Add to openclaw.json
 openclaw config set agents.list[+].id "work" openclaw config set agents.list[+].workspace "/Users/you/.openclaw/agents/work"

Agent Configuration

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{   "agents": {     "list": [       {         "id": "main",         "name": "Primary Agent",         "workspace": "/Users/you/.openclaw/agents/main"       },       {         "id": "work",         "name": "Work Assistant",         "workspace": "/Users/you/.openclaw/agents/work",         "model": "claude-opus-4-20250514"       },       {         "id": "personal",         "name": "Personal Assistant",         "workspace": "/Users/you/.openclaw/agents/personal",         "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"       }     ]   } }

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Agent Personalities

Define Agent Personality

Create SOUL.md in each agent's directory:

Work Agent SOUL.md:

# Work Agent Personality
You are a professional work assistant focused on: 
Coding and technical tasks
 Project management
 Meeting preparation
 Email and communication
Your communication style: 
Professional and concise
 Action-oriented
 Data-driven decisions
You have access to: 
GitHub API
 Calendar integration
 Project management tools

Personal Agent SOUL.md:

# Personal Agent Personality
You are a friendly personal assistant focused on: 
Daily planning and organization
 Research and learning
 Creative projects
 General conversation
Your communication style: 
Warm and approachable
 Helpful and patient
 Encouraging
You have access to: 
Weather API
 Recipe skills
 Entertainment recommendations

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Channel-to-Agent Routing

Route by Channel

Configure channels to use different agents:

{   "channels": {     "telegram": {       "agentId": "personal"     },     "discord": {       "agentId": "work"     },     "whatsapp": {       "agentId": "personal"     }   } }

Route by User

{   "channels": {     "discord": {       "bindings": {         "user:123456789": "personal",         "user:987654321": "work"       }     }   } }

Route by Channel/Team

{   "channels": {     "discord": {       "bindings": {         "guild:11112222333": {           "channel:general": "work",           "channel:random": "personal"         }       }     }   } }

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Switching Between Agents

CLI Command

# Switch to different agent openclaw agent switch --to work
Start new session with specific agent
 openclaw agent start --agent work
View current agent
 openclaw agent status

In Conversation

You: @work What's on my calendar today? You: @personal What's the weather like?

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Isolated Workspaces

File Isolation

Each agent has its own workspace:

# Work agent files ls ~/.openclaw/agents/work/ → AGENTS.md  SOUL.md  memory/  config/
Personal agent files  
 ls ~/.openclaw/agents/personal/ → AGENTS.md  SOUL.md  memory/  config/

Memory Isolation

# Work agent memory cat ~/.openclaw/agents/work/memory/2026-02-07.md
Personal agent memory
 cat ~/.openclaw/agents/personal/memory/2026-02-07.md

Authentication Isolation

Each agent can have its own API keys:

# Work agent keys (in agents/work/config/) cat ~/.openclaw/agents/work/config/secrets.json
Personal agent keys (in agents/personal/config/)
 cat ~/.openclaw/agents/personal/config/secrets.json

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Multi-Agent Best Practices

Organization Tips

Practice	Description
Clear naming	Use descriptive agent names
Document purposes	Document what each agent does
Consistent structure	Same folder structure for all agents
Regular cleanup	Archive old agent data

Security Considerations

Separate API keys per agent

Restrict channel access appropriately

Document which agent has access to what

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Troubleshooting Multi-Agent

Agent Not Found

# List available agents openclaw agents list
Verify configuration
 openclaw config get agents.list

Messages Going to Wrong Agent

# Check current routing openclaw channels routing-status
Verify bindings
 openclaw config get channels.discord.bindings

Memory Not Isolated

# Check agent workspace openclaw agent workspace
Verify isolation
 ls ~/.openclaw/agents/*/memory/

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