The OpenClaw Foundation has released version 2.0 of its open-source AI platform, marking its largest update to date. The release includes over 16,000 pull requests, adding features like shared cloud sessions, a streamlined onboarding process, and a browser app rebuilt from scratch. The software now detects existing resources on the computer, including ChatGPT or Claude subscriptions, API keys, and local models, which reduces configuration steps for users. Additional settings can be adjusted later during a conversation with the bot.
The browser app is rebuilt from scratch, allowing users to open a conversation immediately and continue setup, pick up ongoing work, or track tasks in real time. A new feature called the 'Session Rail' provides a compact status display inside the chat, showing the progress of a running session, including ratings, plan progress, and pull requests. There is also an integrated companion thread that lets users ask questions about the current session without interrupting the agent. According to the documentation, the gateway loads a limited snapshot of the session for this and uses a separate utility model.
Shared Cloud Sessions let multiple users work on the same tasks, pulling team members into ongoing work or assigning them tasks along with their context. OpenClaw said its own team already uses this feature to build OpenClaw itself. Sessions can run in three places: on the local gateway as the default, on the user's own hardware connected via openclaw connect (Paired Devices), or on rented disposable machines through the Crabbox provisioning tool, which supports backends like AWS and Hetzner. Provider credentials always stay on the gateway and never reach the remote machine, according to the documentation.
Source: thedecoder
