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In this post, I'll start from scratch and build up to OpenClaw's architecture step by step, showing how you could have invented it yourself from first principles, using nothing but a messaging API, an LLM, and the desire to make AI actually useful outside the chat window.
End goal: understand how persistent AI assistants work, so you can build your own (or become an OpenClaw power user).
When you use ChatGPT or Claude in a browser, there are several limitations: