Most people run OpenClaw as a single assistant. The people getting outsized results run it as a team. For a complete overview of what single-agent setups can do, see our OpenClaw use cases guide first.
Multi-agent setup means running multiple specialized OpenClaw instances simultaneously — each with a specific role, its own memory, and its own model — coordinated through a shared channel. The result is a system that can work on several things in parallel, bring genuinely different capabilities to different tasks, and keep running 24/7 across your entire workflow.
This guide covers how the OpenClaw community is building multi-agent setups, based on real production configurations.
TL;DR — Four-Agent Team Structure
Agent | Role | Model |
Main / Orchestrator | Strategy, planning, routing | Claude |
Dev Agent | Coding, architecture, deployments | Codex |
Marketing Agent | Research, content, competitor analysis | Gemini |
Business Agent | Metrics, pricing, growth strategy | Claude |
The Solo Founder Four-Agent Setup
The most documented multi-agent configuration comes from a solo founder shared on OpenClaw's showcase page. Their setup: four agents, each with a defined role, all accessible through a single Telegram chat. For the complete solo founder stack including content, outreach, and finance automations, see our OpenClaw solo founder setup guide.
The main agent — named Milo, described as 'confident and charismatic' — handles strategy, planning, and big-picture decisions. It routes tasks to the appropriate specialist. Josh, the business agent, is 'pragmatic and straight to the point, numbers-driven' — handles pricing, metrics, and growth strategy. Angela, the marketing agent, is 'extroverted, funny and full of ideas' — research, content, competitor analysis. Bob, the dev agent, is 'introverted and analytical' — coding, architecture, technical problems.
The system runs on a VPS with scheduled daily tasks — content prompts, Reddit monitoring, reminders — that run without prompting. The key design decisions: shared memory stores the big-picture context (project docs, goals, key decisions) accessible to all agents, while each agent also maintains its own conversation context for task-specific history. Agents work in parallel. The owner controls everything through one Telegram conversation.
How to Configure Multiple Agents
Each agent runs as a separate OpenClaw profile with its own SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, and memory files.
Each profile gets a distinct SOUL.md defining its personality, role, and constraints. The dev agent's SOUL.md focuses on technical precision and code quality. The marketing agent's focuses on creative thinking and trend awareness. These aren't just aesthetic choices — they shape how each agent approaches ambiguous tasks.
Shared memory works through a common directory or Notion database that all agents can read and write. Any agent can update the project context; all agents see those updates on their next task. According to the awesome-openclaw-usecases community repo, this pattern — 'shared memory for the big stuff, individual context for the conversation' — is what separates functional multi-agent setups from chaotic ones.
Scheduling and Parallel Workloads
The power of multi-agent setups comes from parallelism. Each agent runs its own cron schedule independently.
A typical configuration: the dev agent runs dependency scans every Monday morning. The marketing agent runs competitor analysis every Wednesday. The business agent pulls weekly metrics every Friday. The orchestrator sends a consolidated weekly summary every Sunday. None require manual triggers — they run in parallel on their own schedules.
Heartbeat checks add real-time awareness. Each agent wakes up every 30 minutes, checks its assigned area for anything requiring attention, and notifies you only if something warrants it. The result is a system monitoring multiple domains simultaneously without demanding your constant attention.
What to Avoid
The most common failure mode in multi-agent setups is over-complexity at the start. The community recommendation is consistent: start with two agents (orchestrator + one specialist), get them working well together, then add the third and fourth. Four agents that are poorly configured produce worse results than one agent that's well-configured. For a full breakdown of security considerations when running multiple agents, see our guide on is OpenClaw safe.
The second failure mode: identical SOUL.md files across agents. If your dev agent and marketing agent are configured identically, they'll reach the same conclusions. The value of multi-agent systems comes from genuine specialization — different models, different behavioral instructions, different tool access. Design the differences intentionally.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I run multiple OpenClaw agents?
Each agent runs as a separate OpenClaw profile with its own SOUL.md and memory. Create profiles with openclaw --profile [name] onboard, configure each with a distinct role, and connect them to separate messaging channels. Use a shared directory or database for cross-agent memory. Route tasks from an orchestrator agent to specialists based on task type.
What's the best multi-agent setup for a solo founder?
The most documented configuration is a four-agent team: an orchestrator (Claude) for strategy and routing, a dev agent (Codex), a marketing/research agent (Gemini), and a business agent. All accessible via one Telegram chat. Shared memory stores project-level context; each agent maintains its own conversation history. Different models for different roles is the key design decision.
Can OpenClaw agents work in parallel?
Yes. Each agent runs on its own cron schedule and heartbeat cycle independently. A dev agent scanning dependencies, a marketing agent running competitor analysis, and a business agent pulling metrics can all run simultaneously without interfering with each other.
The Bottom Line
A multi-agent setup is not where most people should start. Get one agent working well first. But once your single-agent setup is stable, the move to a coordinated team of specialists is the single highest-leverage upgrade available in OpenClaw. Parallelism, specialization, and 24/7 scheduling compound into something that genuinely functions like a small team — without the coordination overhead of managing actual humans.
