From Broken Docker Containers to a Working AI Agent: The Full OpenClaw Journey
Dev.to AI
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Generative AI
AI Safety
Every blocker, every fix, and why bare metal is the sweet spot for a personal AI agent setup. TL;DR: I spent several weeks self-hosting OpenClaw on a Hetzner VPS. The setup involved blockers than I expected - a 3-day crash loop caused by a model hallucinating its own config, a Docker isolation wall that prevented the agent from using any tools I didn't bake into the image at build time, and a browser control problem I had completely misunderstood. I migrated to bare metal. Everything works now. Here's the full story with every exact fix.