Podman

Podman

Run the CoderClaw gateway in a rootless Podman container. Uses the same image as Docker (build from the repo Dockerfile).

Requirements

• Podman (rootless)
• Sudo for one-time setup (create user, build image)

Quick start

1. One-time setup (from repo root; creates user, builds image, installs launch script):

./setup-podman.sh

This also creates a minimal ~coderclaw/.coderclaw/coderclaw.json (sets gateway.mode="local") so the gateway can start without running the wizard.

By default the container is not installed as a systemd service, you start it manually (see below). For a production-style setup with auto-start and restarts, install it as a systemd Quadlet user service instead:

./setup-podman.sh --quadlet

(Or set CODERCLAW_PODMAN_QUADLET=1; use --container to install only the container and launch script.)

2. Start gateway (manual, for quick smoke testing):

./scripts/run-coderclaw-podman.sh launch

3. Onboarding wizard (e.g. to add channels or providers):

./scripts/run-coderclaw-podman.sh launch setup

Then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ and use the token from ~coderclaw/.coderclaw/.env (or the value printed by setup).

Systemd (Quadlet, optional)

If you ran ./setup-podman.sh --quadlet (or CODERCLAW_PODMAN_QUADLET=1), a Podman Quadlet unit is installed so the gateway runs as a systemd user service for the coderclaw user. The service is enabled and started at the end of setup.

• Start: sudo systemctl --machine coderclaw@ --user start coderclaw.service
• Stop: sudo systemctl --machine coderclaw@ --user stop coderclaw.service
• Status: sudo systemctl --machine coderclaw@ --user status coderclaw.service
• Logs: sudo journalctl --machine coderclaw@ --user -u coderclaw.service -f

The quadlet file lives at ~coderclaw/.config/containers/systemd/coderclaw.container. To change ports or env, edit that file (or the .env it sources), then sudo systemctl --machine coderclaw@ --user daemon-reload and restart the service. On boot, the service starts automatically if lingering is enabled for coderclaw (setup does this when loginctl is available).

To add quadlet after an initial setup that did not use it, re-run: ./setup-podman.sh --quadlet.

The coderclaw user (non-login)

setup-podman.sh creates a dedicated system user coderclaw:

• Shell: nologin — no interactive login; reduces attack surface.

• Home: e.g. /home/coderclaw — holds ~/.coderclaw (config, workspace) and the launch script run-coderclaw-podman.sh.

• Rootless Podman: The user must have a subuid and subgid range. Many distros assign these automatically when the user is created. If setup prints a warning, add lines to /etc/subuid and /etc/subgid:

  coderclaw:100000:65536

  Then start the gateway as that user (e.g. from cron or systemd):

  sudo -u coderclaw /home/coderclaw/run-coderclaw-podman.sh
  sudo -u coderclaw /home/coderclaw/run-coderclaw-podman.sh setup

• Config: Only coderclaw and root can access /home/coderclaw/.coderclaw. To edit config: use the Control UI once the gateway is running, or sudo -u coderclaw $EDITOR /home/coderclaw/.coderclaw/coderclaw.json.

Environment and config

• Token: Stored in ~coderclaw/.coderclaw/.env as CODERCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN. setup-podman.sh and run-coderclaw-podman.sh generate it if missing (uses openssl, python3, or od).
• Optional: In that .env you can set provider keys (e.g. GROQ_API_KEY, OLLAMA_API_KEY) and other CoderClaw env vars.
• Host ports: By default the script maps 18789 (gateway) and 18790 (bridge). Override the host port mapping with CODERCLAW_PODMAN_GATEWAY_HOST_PORT and CODERCLAW_PODMAN_BRIDGE_HOST_PORT when launching.
• Paths: Host config and workspace default to ~coderclaw/.coderclaw and ~coderclaw/.coderclaw/workspace. Override the host paths used by the launch script with CODERCLAW_CONFIG_DIR and CODERCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR.

Useful commands

• Logs: With quadlet: sudo journalctl --machine coderclaw@ --user -u coderclaw.service -f. With script: sudo -u coderclaw podman logs -f coderclaw
• Stop: With quadlet: sudo systemctl --machine coderclaw@ --user stop coderclaw.service. With script: sudo -u coderclaw podman stop coderclaw
• Start again: With quadlet: sudo systemctl --machine coderclaw@ --user start coderclaw.service. With script: re-run the launch script or podman start coderclaw
• Remove container: sudo -u coderclaw podman rm -f coderclaw — config and workspace on the host are kept

Troubleshooting

• Permission denied (EACCES) on config or auth-profiles: The container defaults to --userns=keep-id and runs as the same uid/gid as the host user running the script. Ensure your host CODERCLAW_CONFIG_DIR and CODERCLAW_WORKSPACE_DIR are owned by that user.
• Gateway start blocked (missing gateway.mode=local): Ensure ~coderclaw/.coderclaw/coderclaw.json exists and sets gateway.mode="local". setup-podman.sh creates this file if missing.
• Rootless Podman fails for user coderclaw: Check /etc/subuid and /etc/subgid contain a line for coderclaw (e.g. coderclaw:100000:65536). Add it if missing and restart.
• Container name in use: The launch script uses podman run --replace, so the existing container is replaced when you start again. To clean up manually: podman rm -f coderclaw.
• Script not found when running as coderclaw: Ensure setup-podman.sh was run so that run-coderclaw-podman.sh is copied to coderclaw’s home (e.g. /home/coderclaw/run-coderclaw-podman.sh).
• Quadlet service not found or fails to start: Run sudo systemctl --machine coderclaw@ --user daemon-reload after editing the .container file. Quadlet requires cgroups v2: podman info --format '{{.Host.CgroupsVersion}}' should show 2.

Optional: run as your own user

To run the gateway as your normal user (no dedicated coderclaw user): build the image, create ~/.coderclaw/.env with CODERCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN, and run the container with --userns=keep-id and mounts to your ~/.coderclaw. The launch script is designed for the coderclaw-user flow; for a single-user setup you can instead run the podman run command from the script manually, pointing config and workspace to your home. Recommended for most users: use setup-podman.sh and run as the coderclaw user so config and process are isolated.