Install ERPClaw in 5 minutes

Step-by-step install guide for the ERPClaw core. Covers OpenClaw + ClawHub install, database init, first commands, and verification.

ERPClaw installs as one OpenClaw skill. Every module, every action, and every table shares one SQLite database at ~/.openclaw/erpclaw/data.sqlite. PostgreSQL is supported as an alternative backend via the same code (PyPika handles the dialect translation). Five minutes from zero to a working ERP.

This guide is for the published ERPClaw core through OpenClaw. ERPClaw Atrium is in TestFlight testing and coming soon to the Mac App Store. The newest ERPClaw features are available on request before they reach the public download. Request access. PostgreSQL remains fully supported, and ERPClaw remains $0 forever and self-hosted.

Prerequisites

You need Python 3.10 or newer and git (most macOS and Linux installs already have both). You do not need PostgreSQL, Redis, or Docker. ERPClaw and your books run on your machine; the AI model you connect through OpenClaw sees only the requests and results it works with.

To verify Python:

python3 --version

If you see anything 3.10 or higher, you are good.

Step 1, install OpenClaw

OpenClaw is the agent runtime that hosts ERPClaw. The installer is a single shell command:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

The installer drops openclaw and clawhub binaries into ~/.npm-global/bin/ and prints completion instructions. Add the bin directory to your PATH if it is not already there. Most users do not need to change anything.

Step 2, install ERPClaw via ClawHub

clawhub install erpclaw

ClawHub fetches the latest ERPClaw release and unpacks it into ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/erpclaw/. The install also brings in the shared erpclaw_lib library and the module registry, and its post-install step initializes the database.

The first install pulls about 5 MB of code. No images, no docker layers, no node_modules.

Step 3, initialize the database

The ClawHub install runs this for you. To run it by hand (for example after pointing ERPClaw at a different database):

python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/erpclaw/scripts/erpclaw-setup/db_query.py --action initialize-database

This creates the SQLite database at ~/.openclaw/erpclaw/data.sqlite with the core tables. It starts empty: no company yet.

To explore with sample data, ask for the demo company (“load the demo data”, which runs seed-demo-data). That creates Stark Manufacturing with the US chart of accounts (94 accounts pre-built) and sample transactions. For your own business, describe it instead (“I run a retail store called Sunrise Goods, set me up”) and ERPClaw creates the company, a US GAAP chart of accounts, and a fiscal year.

Step 4, verify the install

Open a chat with OpenClaw (or use the CLI directly) and try:

list-companies

If you loaded the demo data, you should see Stark Manufacturing in the result. Try a couple more:

list-customers
list-items
trial-balance

If trial-balance returns a balanced sheet, GL is wired correctly. The demo data has 102 GL entries, 33 stock-ledger entries, and a balanced trial balance of $194,389.50.

Step 5, install verticals as needed

ERPClaw ships 14 industry verticals: retail, restaurant, healthcare, legal, nonprofit, education, real estate, agriculture, automotive, food, hospitality, construction, fleet, logistics. Install only what you need: describe your business (“set me up for a restaurant”) or ask for the module by name, and ERPClaw fetches it from GitHub after you approve.

install-module --module-name retailclaw
install-module --module-name hospitalityclaw

Each vertical adds its own tables on top of the shared core. You never have to migrate data between modules; they all read and write to the same database.

Switching to PostgreSQL

If you outgrow SQLite (typically many concurrent users, or you already run Postgres), switch to PostgreSQL by setting two environment variables and initializing the new database:

export ERPCLAW_DB_DIALECT=postgresql
export ERPCLAW_DB_URL=postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/erpclaw
python3 ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/erpclaw/scripts/erpclaw-setup/db_query.py --action initialize-database

The same actions work without any code change. PyPika translates the SQL dialect at query time.

Where things live

Code: ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/erpclaw/
Database: ~/.openclaw/erpclaw/data.sqlite
Shared library: ~/.openclaw/erpclaw/lib/erpclaw_lib/
Vertical modules: ~/.openclaw/erpclaw/modules/<module>/

What is next

Accounting basics covers the chart of accounts, journals, and how postings flow.
Purchasing walks the purchase order to invoice to payment loop.
Stripe docs for the payment integration.
Shopify docs for the ecommerce integration.

Total install time on a modern laptop is under five minutes. If anything fails, check the troubleshooting section or open an issue.

See Core features