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An owner without developer skills can export the agent and restore it working on a runtime or host the provider does not operate, within minutes of asking and without provider approval. Running the runtime on the owner's own machine counts as not provider-operated.

Export is one immediate local command (`openclaw backup create`) with no provider involvement, but `openclaw backup restore` only verifies and extracts into an empty staging directory and refuses to write into live state; the owner must then stop the Gateway, move state into place or set OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, run doctor and reinstall plugin dependencies. One shortfall: restore is not a single action that leaves the agent working. Sources

Export is immediate (the agent is one .adf file; copying it and using Open is documented), but restoring a working agent on another machine takes several documented steps: import the owner seed phrase to unlock sealed keys, re-add a model provider key (app-level keys are not in the file), re-register app-level MCP servers, then review and accept the file. One shortfall (restore is not a single action). Sources

The export contains everything that defines the agent: configuration, instructions, memory, action history, logic, schedules and triggers, files, any identity, and credentials or a way to re-link each integration without any provider-registered client or broker. Derived data (embeddings, indexes, summaries) is accompanied by the source it was derived from.

The default full archive includes config, credentials, both SQLite databases (sessions, transcripts, memory index, audit events, cron jobs and runs, device identity, secret store) and the workspace with Markdown memory sources, so embeddings travel with their source text. Skipped `.jsonl`/`.log` files are legacy or diagnostic copies whose data now lives in SQLite; integrations re-link with owner-held credentials or the vendor's own OAuth clients (GitHub also accepts a PAT where OpenClaw's device-flow client ID is used). Sources

The spec places config, instructions, memory, loops, timers, triggers, lambdas, files, messages, audit, logs, sealed identity keys and per-agent credentials in the .adf file; the project holds nothing. Items outside the file (app-level provider keys, app-scoped MCP credentials, WhatsApp session directory, runtime settings) can be re-linked by the owner without any ADF-registered client (MCP OAuth uses dynamic client registration; subscriptions use OpenAI/xAI client ids). A customised global base prompt is an app setting and does not travel; recorded, not counted, because the default install uses the shipped prompt. Sources

With a non-provider model configured per P4, the exported agent runs indefinitely without any service, account, licence or payment controlled by the original provider, and the owner holds a perpetual, irrevocable right to run it. No provider action, inaction or disappearance can disable or degrade it.

The runtime is MIT-licensed with no licence key, account or payment gate. Provider services contacted by default (update check at telemetry.openclaw.ai, model catalog at catalog.openclaw.ai, ClawHub registry) are non-fatal and can each be disabled or pointed at an owner-chosen endpoint. Not verified hands-on with provider domains blocked; the App Store iOS companion's push relay is outside the graded offering. Sources

The runtime is MIT-licensed with no licence check, account or ADF-run relay; the only ADF-project endpoints (GitHub update check, MCP registry, skill catalog, online docs) are optional, have off switches or bundled fallbacks, and are not needed to start or act. Mesh uses LAN, tailnet or owner-chosen addresses. Desk grade; a provider-blocked run is required at certification. Sources

The owner can choose any model that meets a documented minimum, including a local open-weight model, without provider involvement, and every capability of the agent (tools, triggers, messaging, memory, automation) keeps working. A swap may lower reasoning quality but never removes a capability.

Local models are first-party (bundled Ollama and LM Studio providers, llama.cpp plugin), and memory embeddings, speech-to-text, TTS, vision and image generation have local options. Realtime Talk mode is registered only by Google and OpenAI providers, the Reef channel guard is restricted by schema to `openai` or `anthropic`, and no single minimum-model contract is published. Sources

Tool calling is the documented minimum and local open-weight models (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp) are first-class provider options; triggers, timers, lambdas and middleware run in the runtime. However, video input is implemented by injecting OpenAI-format video_url parts and is documented only for hosted providers (OpenRouter, Gemini), and no test against a local model is published, so under G12 at least one capability is not shown to survive a local model. Sources

Whatever the P2 export contains stays obtainable, current to the moment of termination, after account suspension or ban, a lapsed subscription, a price change, an acquisition, or the provider shutting down.

All authoritative agent state is SQLite and files under ~/.openclaw and the workspace on the owner's own host, and the self-installed offering needs no OpenClaw account or subscription, so a current copy is always in the owner's hands regardless of provider action. Sources

State is local-first: the agent is a SQLite file on the owner's disk with no ADF account or hosted copy, so no termination, ban or shutdown by the project can remove access to it. Sources