{"id":"bSDfKXZy_fo","title":"Introduction to IronClaw | Private Agents, Real Automations","description":"IronClaw is NEAR AI's secure, open-source agent harness. It runs your tools without ever handing credentials to the model. This walkthrough sets up the web interface, runs a real research task, and builds a daily automation, then checks where the confidentiality claims hold up against where they depend on choices you make.\n\nThe research workflow shows its reasoning and the underlying facts behind an answer, rather than returning a single response to take at face value.\n\nBefore you try it: confidentiality depends partly on which inference provider you select. The free hosted starter plan runs on NEAR AI inference. Connecting your own API key from an outside provider changes that. IronClaw also runs locally for anyone who prefers to self-host.\n\nGet started: ironclaw.com\nWebsite: https://near.org/\nNEAR AI: https://near.ai/\nIntents: https://near.org/intents\nSharding: https://nearone.org/\n\nFor the devs\nGitHub: https://github.com/near \nDev Docs: https://docs.near.org/\nDevhub: https://devhub.near.page/ @NEARDevHub\n\nConnect with socials\nTwitter:   / nearprotocol  \nBlog: https://near.org/blog/\nMedium:   / nearprotocol  \n#NEAR #nearprotocol #NEARAI","channel_name":"NEAR Protocol","published_at":"2026-08-26T00:00:00.000Z","thumbnail_url":"https://img.youtube.com/vi/bSDfKXZy_fo/hqdefault.jpg","transcript_text":"there. Let me introduce you to Ironclaw. If you don't know what Ironclaw is, it's a chat agent uh just like you've seen probably before out there. Um OpenClaw or Hermes or different versions out there. What's different about ironclaw is at first it is built from the ground up to be focused on privacy and security. Ironclaw is a very capable agent and I'm going to first kind of show some of the things that are built into this. So I actually asked it uh what can you do and show me what ironclaw is capable of today and it kind of breaks down a lot of the things and you'll see here that it is very focused on allowing you to do work. It is built to be a tool. Uh it is not necessarily built as just a companion. It is really built as something that is hopefully not just improving your product productivity but actually really being part of your daily workflow both in life as well as in obviously your your job as well. So uh it can do all the things that you would expect. Uh it can integrate with GitHub. It has many different developer workflows. It has uh different task management workflows. you know things around finance and uh portfolio management, content creation and then you know just the general web searches and research tools and things like that. Uh I have personally been using it a lot for research. It's done really well with that. And not only can it search the internet, it can actually synthesize and put together stuff really pretty well. I'll give you an example here. I actually as a test I asked it, what is the cheapest way to start an LLC in the United States? It's an LLC is a type of corporation that you can form here in America. And I asked it to break it down the different costs. And it gave me all of this and actually, you know, with a really simple prompt of just the cheapest way to do it. It showed me the different states. It showed me different things that need to be set up. It I asked it a simple question about, you know, hey, do I have to live in this particular state? It said no. Uh and it walked me through some of the different other scenarios there. And the beauty of ironclaw here is one again my stuff is private but it also is formatting things in a way that I can actually read through and make my own decisions. It is providing me with the facts behind the decision. It is where sometimes you are working with an agent or some kind of chatbot and it just gives you an answer and you are supposed to take that an answer at face value. This feels much more like a researched conversation more than just providing you a simple answer which I find I think is much better for getting things done both in life and in work. From here uh let me show you a little bit about some of the things that I can do. So one of my favorite parts here is the automation piece of this. And this is nice because tasks that I want to have done regularly or things that I want to have prepared for me on a regular basis can be done pretty easily. For example, uh every day if I want an air quality report uh because I have allergies then it can provide that to me. So every day will run at the same time and provide me that report. It goes and gets the information from the internet provides it into a little report and it looks great. And so here I'll open up today's and it breaks it down uh all the different uh levels it could find information I could find what's going to be throughout the day uh some recommendations nice and easy and that's a really great way to start your day. You can do this with research topics. You can do this with anything you can think of that can be on a regular schedule. This can go and do. Uh all the typical extensions are in here. Uh by default, if you sign up with the hosted version at ironcloud.com, you get some uh a free plan that has some basic inference through nearai, which again is private. Uh then you can also always connect things like your Google suite, notion, slack, telegram. Uh there are different ways to connect to it directly. Uh you can also uh if I go into my settings, I can change the inference I'm using. So if I have an API key for something else that I'm using, uh you can use that. Now when we talk about this being private, um that's something you do need to be aware of. Depending on what your choice for inference is, it could affect that. But this from a security standpoint as soon as I put my API key in for any of these different things like for example you know my Google suite that stuff is is secure within this and it's not able to be accessed directly by the agent. So it can't by mistake leak my secrets around that. I can't by accident give out an API key. I can use it in different languages. Um, so that's a nice plus too for someone who does not just speak English or English is not their first language. Uh, and then there are different tools that are built in here. And you can see all the permissions are able to be tracked right here. I can change those at any time. And just like any other agent you expect nowadays, uh, I can build out skills and have these loaded in which is a really nice opportunity as well. Lastly, uh, in the web interface, there is a workspace. This is where all the different files that is working on are then stored for you. So you can go in and you can see not only is the memory of the agent there, but also too uh if I'm working on some kind of project, if I have it write up something, things like that, uh it can do that. It will store them all right there that I can go and retrieve and go from there. So as I mentioned, it's really easy to kind of get started here. Uh I can set up with my Google account, my near account, or my GitHub. Uh from here once I actually sign in I can then quickly and select how I want my agent to be either the starter which is free you can get it going. Uh it will eventually be $5 a month but you can start for free right now. There's a basic or a pro option as well and you can always upgrade as you go from there. Um once I get going I've I've put in my credit card details or whatever it might be. Uh I can easily get this started. [snorts] Uh right now it does have a key. This is a backup key for you even in the hosted version. You can run this also locally too which is a really nice option for those who feel comfortable with that. It's going to create me that instance and once this is up and going which takes a few seconds. Uh I am then off and I am ready to go. So it's really easy to get started as I mentioned it is free at ironclaw.com to get started and from there uh you can start exploring and see how you feel about it.","transcript_synced_at":"2026-11-03T04:22:28.395Z","segments":[{"start_seconds":2,"text":"there. Let me introduce you to Ironclaw.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=2s"},{"start_seconds":4,"text":"If you don't know what Ironclaw is, it's a chat agent uh just like you've seen probably before out there. Um OpenClaw or Hermes or different versions out","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=4s"},{"start_seconds":11,"text":"there. What's different about ironclaw is at first it is built from the ground up to be focused on privacy and security. Ironclaw is a very capable","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=11s"},{"start_seconds":20,"text":"agent and I'm going to first kind of show some of the things that are built into this. So I actually asked it uh what can you do and show me what","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=20s"},{"start_seconds":27,"text":"ironclaw is capable of today and it kind of breaks down a lot of the things and you'll see here that it is very focused on allowing you to do work. It is built","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=27s"},{"start_seconds":36,"text":"to be a tool. Uh it is not necessarily built as just a companion. It is really built as something that is hopefully not","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=36s"},{"start_seconds":44,"text":"just improving your product productivity but actually really being part of your daily workflow both in life as well as","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=44s"},{"start_seconds":53,"text":"in obviously your your job as well. So uh it can do all the things that you would expect. Uh it can integrate with","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=53s"},{"start_seconds":60,"text":"GitHub. It has many different developer workflows. It has uh different task management workflows. you know things","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=60s"},{"start_seconds":68,"text":"around finance and uh portfolio management, content creation and then you know just the general web searches and research tools and things like that.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=68s"},{"start_seconds":77,"text":"Uh I have personally been using it a lot for research. It's done really well with that. And not only can it search the internet, it can actually synthesize and put together stuff really pretty well.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=77s"},{"start_seconds":86,"text":"I'll give you an example here. I actually as a test I asked it, what is the cheapest way to start an LLC in the United States? It's an LLC is a type of","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=86s"},{"start_seconds":95,"text":"corporation that you can form here in America. And I asked it to break it down the different costs. And it gave me all of this and actually, you know, with a","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=95s"},{"start_seconds":103,"text":"really simple prompt of just the cheapest way to do it. It showed me the different states. It showed me different things that need to be set up. It I","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=103s"},{"start_seconds":111,"text":"asked it a simple question about, you know, hey, do I have to live in this particular state? It said no. Uh and it walked me through some of the different","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=111s"},{"start_seconds":119,"text":"other scenarios there. And the beauty of ironclaw here is one again my stuff is private but it also is formatting things","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=119s"},{"start_seconds":128,"text":"in a way that I can actually read through and make my own decisions. It is providing me with the facts behind the","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=128s"},{"start_seconds":135,"text":"decision. It is where sometimes you are working with an agent or some kind of chatbot and it just gives you an answer and you are supposed to take that an","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=135s"},{"start_seconds":144,"text":"answer at face value. This feels much more like a researched conversation more than just providing you a simple answer","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=144s"},{"start_seconds":153,"text":"which I find I think is much better for getting things done both in life and in work. From here uh let me show you a little bit about some of the things that","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=153s"},{"start_seconds":160,"text":"I can do. So one of my favorite parts here is the automation piece of this.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=160s"},{"start_seconds":166,"text":"And this is nice because tasks that I want to have done regularly or things that I want to have prepared for me on a regular basis can be done pretty easily.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=166s"},{"start_seconds":176,"text":"For example, uh every day if I want an air quality report uh because I have allergies then it can provide that to me. So every day will run at the same","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=176s"},{"start_seconds":184,"text":"time and provide me that report. It goes and gets the information from the internet provides it into a little report and it looks great. And so here","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=184s"},{"start_seconds":192,"text":"I'll open up today's and it breaks it down uh all the different uh levels it could find","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=192s"},{"start_seconds":199,"text":"information I could find what's going to be throughout the day uh some recommendations nice and easy and that's a really great","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=199s"},{"start_seconds":208,"text":"way to start your day. You can do this with research topics. You can do this with anything you can think of that can be on a regular schedule. This can go and do. Uh all the typical extensions","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=208s"},{"start_seconds":217,"text":"are in here. Uh by default, if you sign up with the hosted version at ironcloud.com, you get some uh a free plan that has some basic inference through nearai, which again is private.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=217s"},{"start_seconds":228,"text":"Uh then you can also always connect things like your Google suite, notion, slack, telegram. Uh there are different","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=228s"},{"start_seconds":238,"text":"ways to connect to it directly. Uh you can also uh if I go into my settings, I can change the inference I'm using. So","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=238s"},{"start_seconds":246,"text":"if I have an API key for something else that I'm using, uh you can use that. Now when we talk about this being private, um that's something you do need to be","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=246s"},{"start_seconds":254,"text":"aware of. Depending on what your choice for inference is, it could affect that.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=254s"},{"start_seconds":258,"text":"But this from a security standpoint as soon as I put my API key in for any of these different things like for example you know my Google suite that stuff is","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=258s"},{"start_seconds":267,"text":"is secure within this and it's not able to be accessed directly by the agent. So it can't by mistake leak my secrets","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=267s"},{"start_seconds":275,"text":"around that. I can't by accident give out an API key.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=275s"},{"start_seconds":280,"text":"I can use it in different languages. Um, so that's a nice plus too for someone who does not just speak English or English is not their first language. Uh,","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=280s"},{"start_seconds":288,"text":"and then there are different tools that are built in here. And you can see all the permissions are able to be tracked right here. I can change those at any","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=288s"},{"start_seconds":295,"text":"time. And just like any other agent you expect nowadays, uh, I can build out skills and have these loaded in which is a really nice opportunity as well.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=295s"},{"start_seconds":304,"text":"Lastly, uh, in the web interface, there is a workspace. This is where all the different files that is working on are then stored for you. So you can go in","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=304s"},{"start_seconds":313,"text":"and you can see not only is the memory of the agent there, but also too uh if I'm working on some kind of project, if","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=313s"},{"start_seconds":321,"text":"I have it write up something, things like that, uh it can do that. It will store them all right there that I can go and retrieve and go from there. So as I","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=321s"},{"start_seconds":328,"text":"mentioned, it's really easy to kind of get started here. Uh I can set up with my Google account, my near account, or my GitHub. Uh from here once I actually","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=328s"},{"start_seconds":336,"text":"sign in I can then quickly and select how I want my agent to be either the starter which is free you can get it","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=336s"},{"start_seconds":343,"text":"going. Uh it will eventually be $5 a month but you can start for free right now. There's a basic or a pro option as well and you can always upgrade as you","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=343s"},{"start_seconds":350,"text":"go from there. Um once I get going I've I've put in my credit card details or whatever it might be. Uh I can easily","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=350s"},{"start_seconds":358,"text":"get this started. [snorts] Uh right now it does have a key. This is a backup key for you even in the hosted version. You can run this also locally too which is a","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=358s"},{"start_seconds":366,"text":"really nice option for those who feel comfortable with that. It's going to create me that instance and once this is up and going which takes a few seconds.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=366s"},{"start_seconds":374,"text":"Uh I am then off and I am ready to go.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=374s"},{"start_seconds":378,"text":"So it's really easy to get started as I mentioned it is free at ironclaw.com to get started and from there uh you can start exploring and see how you feel about it.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo&t=378s"}],"youtube_url":"https://youtube.com/watch?v=bSDfKXZy_fo","url":"https://near-pedia.xyz/videos/bSDfKXZy_fo"}