GitHub - nickytonline/clawspace: Clawspace is a browser-based file explorer/editor for an OpenClaw workspace.

Clawspace is a browser-based file explorer/editor for an OpenClaw workspace.

It gives you:

• File and directory browsing (/workspace)
• Timeline view (/timeline) with folder filters and pagination
• Configurable default home view for / (Files or Timeline)
• Monaco editor for text files
• Save/revert/copy actions
• Auto-format on blur (supported file types)
• Basic hardening for writes (path checks, blocked files, audit log)

Why this exists

OpenClaw users often want a fast, authenticated UI to inspect and edit workspace files without opening SSH/terminal sessions.

Clawspace is designed to run on your LAN, or behind a trusted auth proxy (for example Pomerium + OpenClaw trusted-proxy mode).

Install

git clone https://github.com/nickytonline/clawspace
cd clawspace
npm install

Quick start

npm run build
npm run clawspace:serve

Default port is 6789.

Development

Configuration

Clawspace uses the parent of the app directory as the workspace root by default. If you install it elsewhere, set CLAWSPACE_ROOT to an absolute path.

# .env (see .env.example)
CLAWSPACE_ROOT=/absolute/path/to/workspace
CLAWSPACE_IGNORE=".pnpm,dist,logs"

Environment variables

Internal files visibility

Internal root files are hidden by default (for example: SOUL.md, MEMORY.md, .env).

You can toggle their visibility from the UI at /settings.

Home and navigation behavior

• /workspace is the dedicated file browser page.
• /timeline is the dedicated timeline page.
• / renders based on the Default home view setting in /settings.
• Header navigation includes both Workspace and Timeline links.

Ignore patterns

Files and directories are hidden from browsing and blocked from the save API using patterns from (all merged):

1. Hardcoded defaults: .git, node_modules, .pnpm, .cache, .DS_Store, .astro, workspace-astro, .pi
2. .gitignore at workspace root
3. .clawspace-ignore at workspace root (same format as .gitignore)
4. CLAWSPACE_IGNORE env var (comma-separated patterns)

Scripts

• npm run build → runs SSR build (dist/server/entry.mjs)
• npm run clawspace:serve → serves production SSR build on port 6789
• ./scripts/serve.sh [port] → serve on optional port

OpenClaw integration

If you want OpenClaw to start Clawspace in your workspace session, use the root wrapper script:

bash /claw/workspace/scripts/serve.sh 6789 &

That wrapper delegates to workspace-astro/scripts/serve.sh.

Running in a separate container

You can also run Clawspace in its own container and mount the same workspace volume:

clawspace:
  image: ghcr.io/nickytonline/clawspace:latest
  environment:
    CLAWSPACE_ROOT: /claw/workspace
    CLAWSPACE_IGNORE: ".pnpm,dist,logs"
  volumes:
    - ./openclaw-data/workspace:/claw/workspace
  ports:
    - "6789:6789"

The key is sharing the workspace volume. If the workspace is mounted elsewhere, set CLAWSPACE_ROOT accordingly.

Note: I keep Clawspace inside my workspace while I’m still iterating on it with OpenClaw.

Docker

docker build -t clawspace:local .
docker run -p 6789:6789 \
  -e CLAWSPACE_ROOT=/claw/workspace \
  -e CLAWSPACE_IGNORE=".pnpm,dist,logs" \
  -v $(pwd)/openclaw-data/workspace:/claw/workspace \
  clawspace:local

Security notes

• Assume network-level auth is handled externally (LAN/private network or trusted proxy)
• Recommended: OpenClaw trusted-proxy auth mode: https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/trusted-proxy-auth
• Single-user assumption: no roles/admin checks, just your OpenClaw workspace
• File writes are restricted to workspace root and blocked for internal/sensitive files
• Writes are audited to: /claw/workspace/logs/clawspace-edit-audit.log

Customization

Clawspace is intentionally tweakable. Clone it, edit UI/guardrails, and make it yours.

Credits

• README image generated with Google Gemini (Nano Banana model).