Skip to main content

​
Podman

Run the Velaclaw Gateway in a rootless Podman container, managed by your current non-root user. The intended model is:
  • Podman runs the gateway container.
  • Your host velaclaw CLI is the control plane.
  • Persistent state lives on the host under ~/.velaclaw by default.
  • Day-to-day management uses velaclaw --container <name> ... instead of sudo -u velaclaw, podman exec, or a separate service user.

​
Prerequisites

  • Podman in rootless mode
  • Velaclaw CLI installed on the host
  • Optional: systemd --user if you want Quadlet-managed auto-start
  • Optional: sudo only if you want loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)" for boot persistence on a headless host

​
Quick start

1

One-time setup

From the repo root, run ./scripts/podman/setup.sh.
2

Start the Gateway container

Start the container with ./scripts/run-velaclaw-podman.sh launch.
3

Run onboarding inside the container

Run ./scripts/run-velaclaw-podman.sh launch setup, then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/.
4

Manage the running container from the host CLI

Set VELACLAW_CONTAINER=velaclaw, then use normal velaclaw commands from the host.
Setup details:
  • ./scripts/podman/setup.sh builds velaclaw:local in your rootless Podman store by default, or uses VELACLAW_IMAGE / VELACLAW_PODMAN_IMAGE if you set one.
  • It creates ~/.Zavianx/velaclaw-dev.json with gateway.mode: "local" if missing.
  • It creates ~/.velaclaw/.env with VELACLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN if missing.
  • For manual launches, the helper reads only a small allowlist of Podman-related keys from ~/.velaclaw/.env and passes explicit runtime env vars to the container; it does not hand the full env file to Podman.
Quadlet-managed setup:
Quadlet is a Linux-only option because it depends on systemd user services. You can also set VELACLAW_PODMAN_QUADLET=1. Optional build/setup env vars:
  • VELACLAW_IMAGE or VELACLAW_PODMAN_IMAGE — use an existing/pulled image instead of building velaclaw:local
  • VELACLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES — install extra apt packages during image build
  • VELACLAW_EXTENSIONS — pre-install extension dependencies at build time
Container start:
The script starts the container as your current uid/gid with --userns=keep-id and bind-mounts your Velaclaw state into the container. Onboarding:
Then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ and use the token from ~/.velaclaw/.env. Host CLI default:
Then commands such as these will run inside that container automatically:
On macOS, Podman machine may make the browser appear non-local to the gateway. If the Control UI reports device-auth errors after launch, use the Tailscale guidance in Podman + Tailscale.

​
Podman + Tailscale

For HTTPS or remote browser access, follow the main Tailscale docs. Podman-specific note:
  • Keep the Podman publish host at 127.0.0.1.
  • Prefer host-managed tailscale serve over velaclaw gateway --tailscale serve.
  • On macOS, if local browser device-auth context is unreliable, use Tailscale access instead of ad hoc local tunnel workarounds.
See:

​
Systemd (Quadlet, optional)

If you ran ./scripts/podman/setup.sh --quadlet, setup installs a Quadlet file at:
Useful commands:
  • Start: systemctl --user start velaclaw.service
  • Stop: systemctl --user stop velaclaw.service
  • Status: systemctl --user status velaclaw.service
  • Logs: journalctl --user -u velaclaw.service -f
After editing the Quadlet file:
For boot persistence on SSH/headless hosts, enable lingering for your current user:

​
Config, env, and storage

  • Config dir: ~/.velaclaw
  • Workspace dir: ~/.velaclaw/workspace
  • Token file: ~/.velaclaw/.env
  • Launch helper: ./scripts/run-velaclaw-podman.sh
The launch script and Quadlet bind-mount host state into the container:
  • VELACLAW_CONFIG_DIR -> /home/node/.velaclaw
  • VELACLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR -> /home/node/.velaclaw/workspace
By default those are host directories, not anonymous container state, so velaclaw.json, per-agent auth-profiles.json, channel/provider state, sessions, and workspace survive container replacement. The Podman setup also seeds gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins for 127.0.0.1 and localhost on the published gateway port so the local dashboard works with the container’s non-loopback bind. Useful env vars for the manual launcher:
  • VELACLAW_PODMAN_CONTAINER — container name (velaclaw by default)
  • VELACLAW_PODMAN_IMAGE / VELACLAW_IMAGE — image to run
  • VELACLAW_PODMAN_GATEWAY_HOST_PORT — host port mapped to container 18789
  • VELACLAW_PODMAN_BRIDGE_HOST_PORT — host port mapped to container 18790
  • VELACLAW_PODMAN_PUBLISH_HOST — host interface for published ports; default is 127.0.0.1
  • VELACLAW_GATEWAY_BIND — gateway bind mode inside the container; default is lan
  • VELACLAW_PODMAN_USERNS — keep-id (default), auto, or host
The manual launcher reads ~/.velaclaw/.env before finalizing container/image defaults, so you can persist these there. If you use a non-default VELACLAW_CONFIG_DIR or VELACLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR, set the same variables for both ./scripts/podman/setup.sh and later ./scripts/run-velaclaw-podman.sh launch commands. The repo-local launcher does not persist custom path overrides across shells. Quadlet note:
  • The generated Quadlet service intentionally keeps a fixed, hardened default shape: 127.0.0.1 published ports, --bind lan inside the container, and keep-id user namespace.
  • It pins VELACLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1, Restart=on-failure, and TimeoutStartSec=300.
  • It publishes both 127.0.0.1:18789:18789 (gateway) and 127.0.0.1:18790:18790 (bridge).
  • It reads ~/.velaclaw/.env as a runtime EnvironmentFile for values such as VELACLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN, but it does not consume the manual launcher’s Podman-specific override allowlist.
  • If you need custom publish ports, publish host, or other container-run flags, use the manual launcher or edit ~/.config/containers/systemd/velaclaw.container directly, then reload and restart the service.

​
Useful commands

  • Container logs: podman logs -f velaclaw
  • Stop container: podman stop velaclaw
  • Remove container: podman rm -f velaclaw
  • Open dashboard URL from host CLI: velaclaw dashboard --no-open
  • Health/status via host CLI: velaclaw gateway status --deep (RPC probe + extra service scan)

​
Troubleshooting

  • Permission denied (EACCES) on config or workspace: The container runs with --userns=keep-id and --user <your uid>:<your gid> by default. Ensure the host config/workspace paths are owned by your current user.
  • Gateway start blocked (missing gateway.mode=local): Ensure ~/.Zavianx/velaclaw-dev.json exists and sets gateway.mode="local". scripts/podman/setup.sh creates this if missing.
  • Container CLI commands hit the wrong target: Use velaclaw --container <name> ... explicitly, or export VELACLAW_CONTAINER=<name> in your shell.
  • velaclaw update fails with --container: Expected. Rebuild/pull the image, then restart the container or the Quadlet service.
  • Quadlet service does not start: Run systemctl --user daemon-reload, then systemctl --user start velaclaw.service. On headless systems you may also need sudo loginctl enable-linger "$(whoami)".
  • SELinux blocks bind mounts: Leave the default mount behavior alone; the launcher auto-adds :Z on Linux when SELinux is enforcing or permissive.