Overview#

NemoClaw is the OpenClaw plugin for NVIDIA OpenShell. It moves OpenClaw into a sandboxed environment where every network request, file access, and inference call is governed by declarative policy.

What NemoClaw Does#

  • Sandboxes OpenClaw. Creates an OpenShell sandbox pre-configured for OpenClaw, with strict filesystem and network policies applied from the first boot.

  • Routes inference through NVIDIA. Configures OpenShell inference routing so agent traffic flows through cloud-hosted Nemotron 3 Super 120B, a local NIM service, or vLLM, depending on the selected profile.

  • Manages the lifecycle. Handles blueprint versioning, digest verification, and sandbox setup.

How It Fits Together#

NemoClaw is a thin TypeScript plugin that registers commands under the openclaw nemoclaw namespace. It delegates heavy lifting to a versioned blueprint, a Python artifact that orchestrates sandbox creation, policy application, and inference provider setup through the OpenShell CLI.

        flowchart TB
    subgraph Host
        CMD["openclaw nemoclaw launch"]
        PLUGIN[nemoclaw plugin]
        BLUEPRINT[blueprint runner]
        CLI["openshell CLI\nsandbox · gateway · inference · policy"]

        CMD --> PLUGIN
        PLUGIN --> BLUEPRINT
        BLUEPRINT --> CLI
    end

    subgraph Sandbox["OpenShell Sandbox"]
        AGENT[OpenClaw agent]
        INF[NVIDIA inference, routed]
        NET[strict network policy]
        FS[filesystem isolation]

        AGENT --- INF
        AGENT --- NET
        AGENT --- FS
    end

    PLUGIN --> AGENT

    classDef nv fill:#76b900,stroke:#333,color:#fff
    classDef nvLight fill:#e6f2cc,stroke:#76b900,color:#1a1a1a
    classDef nvDark fill:#333,stroke:#76b900,color:#fff

    class CMD,PLUGIN,BLUEPRINT nvDark
    class CLI nv
    class AGENT nv
    class INF,NET,FS nvLight

    style Host fill:none,stroke:#76b900,stroke-width:2px,color:#1a1a1a
    style Sandbox fill:#f5faed,stroke:#76b900,stroke-width:2px,color:#1a1a1a

Design Principles#

Thin plugin, versioned blueprint

The plugin stays small and stable. Orchestration logic lives in the blueprint and evolves on its own release cadence.

Respect CLI boundaries

Plugin commands live under the nemoclaw namespace and never override built-in OpenClaw commands.

Supply chain safety

Blueprint artifacts are immutable, versioned, and digest-verified before execution.

OpenShell-native for new installs

For users without an existing OpenClaw installation, NemoClaw recommends openshell sandbox create directly rather than forcing a plugin-driven bootstrap.

Reproducible setup

Running setup again recreates the sandbox from the same blueprint and policy definitions.