Overview
NemoClaw is an open-source stack by NVIDIA that installs and runs OpenClaw inside a sandboxed environment (OpenShell) with policy-enforced security controls. OpenShell provides Landlock, seccomp, and network namespace isolation. Sandboxes enforce strict egress control — all inference requests route through the OpenShell gateway, not directly to the internet. Network and inference policies are hot-reloadable; filesystem and process policies are locked at creation.
Instructions
1. Install NemoClaw
Prerequisites: Linux Ubuntu 22.04+, Node.js 20+, Docker running, NVIDIA OpenShell installed, NVIDIA API key from build.nvidia.com.
curl -fsSL https://nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash
The installer runs the guided onboard wizard, creates a sandbox, configures inference (NVIDIA cloud), and applies security policies. After install you see:
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
Sandbox my-assistant (Landlock + seccomp + netns)
Model nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b (NVIDIA Cloud API)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
2. Manage sandboxes from the host
nemoclaw onboard # Interactive setup wizard
nemoclaw my-assistant connect # Shell into sandbox
nemoclaw my-assistant status # Sandbox health check
nemoclaw my-assistant logs --follow # Stream logs
nemoclaw start # Start auxiliary services
nemoclaw stop # Stop services
nemoclaw deploy my-assistant # Deploy via Brev to remote GPU instance
3. Work inside the sandbox
openclaw tui # Interactive chat TUI
openclaw agent --agent main --local -m "hello" --session-id test
openclaw nemoclaw launch # Bootstrap OpenClaw in sandbox
openclaw nemoclaw status # Show sandbox health
openclaw nemoclaw logs [-f] # Stream logs
4. Security policies
- Network: All outbound blocked by default, allowlist-based egress, hot-reloadable. When agent requests unlisted host → blocked + surfaced in TUI for operator approval.
- Filesystem: Only
/sandboxand/tmpwritable, locked at creation. - Process: Privilege escalation blocked, seccomp syscall filtering, locked at creation.
- Inference: All model API calls intercepted by OpenShell gateway, routed to NVIDIA cloud. Default model:
nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b.
5. Troubleshoot
nemoclaw my-assistant status # NemoClaw health
openshell sandbox list # OpenShell sandbox state
nemoclaw my-assistant logs --follow | grep inference # Check inference connectivity
Common issues: Docker not running → start daemon. API key invalid → re-run nemoclaw onboard. Sandbox conflicts → check openshell sandbox list. Network blocked → check egress allowlist.
Examples
Example 1: Set up a new sandboxed coding agent
User request: "I want to run an OpenClaw agent in a secure sandbox with NemoClaw on my Ubuntu server"
Actions taken:
- Verify prerequisites: confirm Ubuntu 22.04+, Node.js 20+, Docker running
- Install OpenShell from https://github.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell
- Run the NemoClaw installer:
bash
curl -fsSL https://nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash - Follow onboard wizard — enter sandbox name
code-agent, select Nemotron model, provide NVIDIA API key - Connect to sandbox:
bash
nemoclaw code-agent connect - Inside sandbox, start the agent TUI:
bash
openclaw tui
Expected output: Agent running inside isolated sandbox with Landlock filesystem protection, seccomp syscall filtering, network namespace isolation, and all inference routed through OpenShell gateway.
Example 2: Deploy a sandboxed agent to a remote GPU instance
User request: "Deploy my NemoClaw sandbox to a remote GPU so I can run larger models"
Actions taken:
- Confirm local sandbox
research-agentis working:Output:bashnemoclaw research-agent statusresearch-agent: running (Landlock + seccomp + netns) - Deploy to remote GPU via Brev:
bash
nemoclaw deploy research-agent - Monitor remote deployment:
bash
nemoclaw research-agent logs --follow
Expected output: Remote GPU instance provisioned, NemoClaw installed, sandbox research-agent running on remote with same security policies applied. All inference routed through NVIDIA cloud API.
Guidelines
- NemoClaw requires a fresh OpenClaw installation — do not install on existing OpenClaw setups.
- Alpha software — APIs may change without notice; not production-ready yet.
- Linux only — Ubuntu 22.04+ required, no macOS or Windows support.
- The
curl | bashinstaller is from nvidia.com (official NVIDIA source). For manual installation, clone the repo and follow the README at https://github.com/NVIDIA/NemoClaw. - When the agent tries to reach a host not in the egress allowlist, the request is blocked and surfaced in the OpenShell TUI for operator approval. If approved, the host is added to the allowlist.
- Blueprint lifecycle: Resolve artifact → Verify digest → Plan resources → Apply through OpenShell CLI.
- Architecture: Host runs nemoclaw CLI (TypeScript) + Blueprint (Python) + OpenShell Runtime → Sandbox contains the OpenClaw agent with strict isolation.