MimiClaw: Pocket AI Assistant on a $5 Chip

The world's first AI assistant(OpenClaw) on a $5 chip. No Linux. No Node.js. Just pure C

MimiClaw turns a tiny ESP32-S3 board into a personal AI assistant. Plug it into USB power, connect to WiFi, and talk to it through Telegram — it handles any task you throw at it and evolves over time with local memory — all on a chip the size of a thumb.

Meet MimiClaw

Tiny — No Linux, no Node.js, no bloat — just pure C
Handy — Message it from Telegram, it handles the rest
Loyal — Learns from memory, remembers across reboots
Energetic — USB power, 0.5 W, runs 24/7
Lovable — One ESP32-S3 board, $5, nothing else

How It Works

You send a message on Telegram. The ESP32-S3 picks it up over WiFi, feeds it into an agent loop — the LLM thinks, calls tools, reads memory — and sends the reply back. Supports both Anthropic (Claude) and OpenAI (GPT) as providers, switchable at runtime. Everything runs on a single $5 chip with all your data stored locally on flash.

Quick Start

What You Need

An ESP32-S3 dev board with 16 MB flash and 8 MB PSRAM (e.g. Xiaozhi AI board, ~$10)
A USB Type-C cable
A Telegram bot token — talk to @BotFather on Telegram to create one
An Anthropic API key — from console.anthropic.com, or an OpenAI API key — from platform.openai.com

Install

# You need ESP-IDF v5.5+ installed first:
# https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/v5.5.2/esp32s3/get-started/

git clone https://github.com/memovai/mimiclaw.git
cd mimiclaw

idf.py set-target esp32s3

Configure

MimiClaw uses a two-layer config system: build-time defaults in mimi_secrets.h, with runtime overrides via the serial CLI. CLI values are stored in NVS flash and take priority over build-time values.

cp main/mimi_secrets.h.example main/mimi_secrets.h

Edit main/mimi_secrets.h:

#define MIMI_SECRET_WIFI_SSID       "YourWiFiName"
#define MIMI_SECRET_WIFI_PASS       "YourWiFiPassword"
#define MIMI_SECRET_TG_TOKEN        "123456:ABC-DEF1234ghIkl-zyx57W2v1u123ew11"
#define MIMI_SECRET_API_KEY         "sk-ant-api03-xxxxx"
#define MIMI_SECRET_MODEL_PROVIDER  "anthropic"     // "anthropic" or "openai"
#define MIMI_SECRET_SEARCH_KEY      ""              // optional: Brave Search API key
#define MIMI_SECRET_PROXY_HOST      ""              // optional: e.g. "10.0.0.1"
#define MIMI_SECRET_PROXY_PORT      ""              // optional: e.g. "7897"

Then build and flash:

# Clean build (required after any mimi_secrets.h change)
idf.py fullclean && idf.py build

# Find your serial port
ls /dev/cu.usb*          # macOS
ls /dev/ttyACM*          # Linux

# Flash and monitor (replace PORT with your port)
# USB adapter: likely /dev/cu.usbmodem11401 (macOS) or /dev/ttyACM0 (Linux)
idf.py -p PORT flash monitor

Important: Plug into the correct USB port! Most ESP32-S3 boards have two USB-C ports. You must use the one labeled USB (native USB Serial/JTAG), not the one labeled COM (external UART bridge). Plugging into the wrong port will cause flash/monitor failures.
<details> <summary>Show reference photo</summary> <img src="assets/esp32s3-usb-port.jpg" alt="Plug into the USB port, not COM" width="480" /> </details>

CLI Commands

Connect via serial to configure or debug. Config commands let you change settings without recompiling — just plug in a USB cable anywhere.

Runtime config (saved to NVS, overrides build-time defaults):

mimi> wifi_set MySSID MyPassword   # change WiFi network
mimi> set_tg_token 123456:ABC...   # change Telegram bot token
mimi> set_api_key sk-ant-api03-... # change API key (Anthropic or OpenAI)
mimi> set_model_provider openai    # switch provider (anthropic|openai)
mimi> set_model gpt-4o             # change LLM model
mimi> set_proxy 127.0.0.1 7897  # set HTTP proxy
mimi> clear_proxy                  # remove proxy
mimi> set_search_key BSA...        # set Brave Search API key
mimi> config_show                  # show all config (masked)
mimi> config_reset                 # clear NVS, revert to build-time defaults

Debug & maintenance:

mimi> wifi_status              # am I connected?
mimi> memory_read              # see what the bot remembers
mimi> memory_write "content"   # write to MEMORY.md
mimi> heap_info                # how much RAM is free?
mimi> session_list             # list all chat sessions
mimi> session_clear 12345      # wipe a conversation
mimi> restart                  # reboot

Memory

MimiClaw stores everything as plain text files you can read and edit:

File	What it is
`SOUL.md`	The bot's personality — edit this to change how it behaves
`USER.md`	Info about you — name, preferences, language
`MEMORY.md`	Long-term memory — things the bot should always remember
`2026-02-05.md`	Daily notes — what happened today
`tg_12345.jsonl`	Chat history — your conversation with the bot

Tools

MimiClaw supports tool calling for both Anthropic and OpenAI — the LLM can call tools during a conversation and loop until the task is done (ReAct pattern).

Tool	Description
`web_search`	Search the web via Brave Search API for current information
`get_current_time`	Fetch current date/time via HTTP and set the system clock

To enable web search, set a Brave Search API key via MIMI_SECRET_SEARCH_KEY in mimi_secrets.h.

Also Included

WebSocket gateway on port 18789 — connect from your LAN with any WebSocket client
OTA updates — flash new firmware over WiFi, no USB needed
Dual-core — network I/O and AI processing run on separate CPU cores
HTTP proxy — CONNECT tunnel support for restricted networks
Multi-provider — supports both Anthropic (Claude) and OpenAI (GPT), switchable at runtime
Tool use — ReAct agent loop with tool calling for both providers

For Developers

Technical details live in the docs/ folder:

docs/ARCHITECTURE.md — system design, module map, task layout, memory budget, protocols, flash partitions
docs/TODO.md — feature gap tracker and roadmap

License

MIT

Acknowledgments

Inspired by OpenClaw and Nanobot. MimiClaw reimplements the core AI agent architecture for embedded hardware — no Linux, no server, just a $5 chip.

mimiclaw

Implemented Skills

README