🚀 Zerostart

One-click OpenClaw/Moltbot provisioning for instant AI assistant deployment.

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Overview

Zerostart is a backend provisioning engine that automates Digital Ocean droplet creation with Cloudflare DNS management. Users get their own dedicated OpenClaw (Moltbot) AI assistant server with a custom subdomain in minutes.

Live: https://zerostart.cloud

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw (formerly Moltbot/Clawd) is an open-source personal AI assistant that runs on your own infrastructure. It connects to messaging apps you already use (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord) and provides a web-based control UI.

GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/

Architecture

flowchart TB
    subgraph User["👤 User"]
        Browser[Browser]
    end

    subgraph Frontend["🌐 Frontend (Vercel)"]
        Dashboard[Zerostart Dashboard]
        Auth[Supabase Auth]
    end

    subgraph Backend["⚙️ Zerostart API (Railway)"]
        API[Express API]
        Provisioner[Provisioner Service]
    end

    subgraph Services["☁️ External Services"]
        Supabase[(Supabase DB)]
        DO[Digital Ocean API]
        CF[Cloudflare API]
    end

    subgraph Droplets["🖥️ User Droplets (Moltbot Image)"]
        D1["zerocool.zerostart.cloud<br/>OpenClaw + Caddy SSL"]
        D2["alice.zerostart.cloud<br/>OpenClaw + Caddy SSL"]
        D3["bob.zerostart.cloud<br/>OpenClaw + Caddy SSL"]
    end

    Browser --> Dashboard
    Dashboard --> Auth
    Dashboard --> API
    API --> Provisioner
    Provisioner --> Supabase
    Provisioner --> DO
    Provisioner --> CF
    DO --> D1
    DO --> D2
    DO --> D3

Provisioning Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as 👤 User
    participant FE as 🌐 Frontend
    participant API as ⚙️ Zerostart API
    participant SB as 🗄️ Supabase
    participant DO as 🌊 Digital Ocean
    participant CF as ☁️ Cloudflare

    U->>FE: Click "Create Instance"
    FE->>API: POST /api/droplets {subdomain: "zerocool"}
    API->>SB: Create droplet record (status: provisioning)
    API->>DO: Create droplet with Moltbot image
    DO-->>API: Return droplet_id
    API-->>FE: Return {status: provisioning}
    
    loop Poll every 5s
        FE->>API: GET /api/droplets/me
        API->>DO: Get droplet status & IP
        DO-->>API: Return IP when ready
    end

    API->>CF: Create DNS A record (zerocool → IP)
    API->>SB: Update status: active, ip_address
    API-->>FE: Return {status: active, ip_address}
    
    U->>D1: Access https://IP or https://zerocool.zerostart.cloud
    D1-->>U: OpenClaw Dashboard (first-time setup wizard)

Droplet Lifecycle

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Provisioning: User creates instance
    Provisioning --> Active: Droplet ready + DNS configured
    Provisioning --> Error: Creation failed
    Active --> Destroyed: User deletes instance
    Error --> Destroyed: Cleanup
    Destroyed --> [*]
    
    Active --> Active: User accesses OpenClaw

Tech Stack

mindmap
    root((Zerostart))
        Backend
            Node.js 20+
            TypeScript
            Express
        Database
            Supabase
            PostgreSQL
        Infrastructure
            Digital Ocean Droplets
            Moltbot 1-Click Image
            Cloudflare DNS
        Deployment
            Railway
            Vercel
        Auth
            Supabase Auth
            JWT Tokens

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Auth	Description
`GET`	`/health`	No	Health check
`POST`	`/api/droplets`	Yes	Create droplet for user
`GET`	`/api/droplets/me`	Yes	Get user's droplet (includes IP)
`DELETE`	`/api/droplets/me`	Yes	Destroy user's droplet

Full API documentation: See API.md

Environment Variables

Backend (Railway)

# Digital Ocean
DO_API_TOKEN=dop_v1_xxx
DO_SSH_KEY_ID=53775063

# Supabase
SUPABASE_URL=https://xxx.supabase.co
SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY=eyJxxx

# Cloudflare
CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN=xxx
CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID=xxx

# App
DOMAIN=zerostart.cloud
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=production

Frontend (Vercel)

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://xxx.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJxxx
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://zerostart-production.up.railway.app

Database Schema

CREATE TABLE droplets (
  id UUID DEFAULT gen_random_uuid() PRIMARY KEY,
  user_id TEXT NOT NULL,
  droplet_id BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
  name TEXT NOT NULL,
  ip_address TEXT,
  subdomain TEXT NOT NULL,
  region TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'nyc3',
  size TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 's-2vcpu-4gb',
  status TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'provisioning',
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW(),
  updated_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);

-- Allow subdomain reuse after destroyed/error
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX droplets_subdomain_active_unique 
ON droplets (subdomain) 
WHERE status IN ('provisioning', 'active');

CREATE INDEX idx_droplets_user_id ON droplets(user_id);

Moltbot Image Details

The moltbot Digital Ocean 1-Click image includes:

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
OpenClaw/Clawdbot pre-installed
Caddy web server with auto-SSL
Systemd service for auto-start

Accessing OpenClaw

Once droplet is active:

Via IP (immediate): https://{ip_address}
Via subdomain (after DNS ~2-5 min): https://{subdomain}.zerostart.cloud

First-Time Setup

Users see a setup wizard on first access:

Select AI provider (Anthropic recommended)
Enter API key
Configure messaging channels (optional)

Management Commands (SSH)

# Check status
systemctl status clawdbot

# View logs
journalctl -u clawdbot -f

# Restart
systemctl restart clawdbot

# Update
/opt/update-clawdbot.sh

Local Development

# Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/your-org/zerostart.git
cd zerostart

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .env
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your values

# Run development server
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Start production server
npm start

Deployment

Railway (Backend)

Connect GitHub repo to Railway
Add environment variables
Deploy automatically on push

Vercel (Frontend)

Connect GitHub repo to Vercel
Add environment variables
Deploy automatically on push

Project Structure

zerostart/
├── src/
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── index.ts          # Environment config
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── droplets.ts       # Droplet CRUD endpoints
│   │   └── health.ts         # Health check
│   ├── services/
│   │   ├── digitalocean.ts   # DO API integration
│   │   ├── cloudflare.ts     # CF DNS management
│   │   └── supabase.ts       # Database operations
│   ├── utils/
│   │   ├── auth.ts           # JWT validation
│   │   ├── cors.ts           # CORS middleware
│   │   └── banner.ts         # ASCII banner
│   ├── types/
│   │   └── index.ts          # TypeScript types
│   └── index.ts              # Express app entry
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── API.md                    # API documentation
└── README.md

Cloudflare Configuration

DNS Records

Type	Name	Content	Proxy
A	`@`	Vercel IP	Yes
CNAME	`www`	`cname.vercel-dns.com`	Yes
A	`{subdomain}`	Droplet IP	Yes

SSL/TLS Settings

Mode: Full (strict)
Always Use HTTPS: On
Minimum TLS: 1.2

Troubleshooting

Droplet not becoming active

Check Railway logs for DO API errors
Verify DO_API_TOKEN is valid
Check DO dashboard for droplet status

DNS not resolving

Check Cloudflare DNS records
Verify CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN has DNS edit permissions
Wait 2-5 minutes for propagation

521 Error (Cloudflare)

Droplet might still be booting (wait 2-3 min)
Check if OpenClaw service is running: systemctl status clawdbot
Verify Cloudflare SSL mode is "Full" or "Full (strict)"

CORS Errors

Check src/utils/cors.ts includes frontend origin
Verify OPTIONS preflight is handled
Check Railway deployment has latest code

Security Notes

All API endpoints require Supabase JWT authentication
Droplets are created with SSH key access only (no password)
OpenClaw dashboard uses gateway tokens for access
Cloudflare proxy hides origin IP addresses
HTTPS enforced via Cloudflare and Caddy

Cost Estimates

Resource	Cost
Droplet (s-2vcpu-4gb)	$24/month per user
Railway	~$5/month
Cloudflare	Free
Supabase	Free tier
Vercel	Free tier

Contributing

Fork the repo
Create feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing
Commit changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
Push: git push origin feature/amazing
Open Pull Request

License

MIT

Links

Live App: https://zerostart.cloud
API Docs: API.md
OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai
OpenClaw Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
Digital Ocean: https://digitalocean.com
Cloudflare: https://cloudflare.com

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
src		src
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
API.md		API.md
README.md		README.md
USER_JOURNEY.md		USER_JOURNEY.md
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json

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