Windows WSL2 AI assistant with PicoClaw

WSL2 is a common way to get a Linux environment on Windows without heavy setup. PicoClaw is designed to be fast to start and low-memory, so it works well for development and local automation.

1. Enable WSL2 (setup)

Install WSL2 from Microsoft documentation, then choose a Linux distribution (Ubuntu is common).

2. Install PicoClaw in WSL2

Inside your WSL2 shell:

sudo apt update

# Install dependencies if needed
sudo apt install -y curl ca-certificates

# Download the latest Linux binary (choose the correct one in your Download page)
curl -L "https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases/latest/download/picoclaw-linux-amd64" -o picoclaw
chmod +x picoclaw
sudo mv picoclaw /usr/local/bin/

picoclaw --version

If your environment differs (ARM, other distros), use the Download page for the correct release.

3. Configure your LLM provider

Use Configuration and set your API key(s) in your PicoClaw config. Many providers work well for lightweight assistants, including OpenRouter, OpenAI, Groq, and others.

4. Run PicoClaw

• CLI assistant: picoclaw agent -m "Hello, introduce yourself"
• Messaging gateway: run picoclaw gateway and connect to Telegram/Discord via Integrations.

5. Add automation

Once the assistant works, use Heartbeat (scheduled tasks) to run summaries and recurring jobs. This keeps your assistant useful even when you are not actively chatting.

Next, you may want to read Docs for CLI and configuration commands.