mimiclaw/README.md

# MimiClaw: Pocket AI Assitant on $5 chips

<p align="center">
  <img src="assets/banner.png" alt="MimiClaw" width="480" />
</p>

**The world's first AI assistant 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.

## What It Does

- **Ultra-light** — No Linux, no Node.js, no bloat — just pure C
- **Gets work done** — Message it from Telegram, it handles the rest
- **Self-evolving** — Learns from memory, remembers across reboots
- **Always on** — USB power, 0.5 W, runs 24/7
- **$5 total** — One ESP32-S3 board, nothing else

## How It Works

```
You (Telegram) ───▶ ESP32-S3 ───▶ Claude AI
                        │
                    Memory chip
                    (your conversations,
                     personality, notes)
```

You send a message on Telegram. The board picks it up over WiFi, asks Claude for a response (using your stored personality and memory as context), and sends the reply back to Telegram. All your chat history and memories are saved on the board's flash storage as readable text files.

## 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](https://t.me/BotFather) on Telegram to create one
- An **Anthropic API key** — from [console.anthropic.com](https://console.anthropic.com)

### Install

```bash
# You need ESP-IDF installed first:
# https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32s3/get-started/

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

idf.py set-target esp32s3
idf.py build
idf.py -p /dev/ttyACM0 flash monitor
```

### Set Up

After flashing, a serial console appears. Type these commands:

```
mimi> wifi_set YourWiFiName YourWiFiPassword
mimi> set_tg_token 123456:ABC-DEF1234ghIkl-zyx57W2v1u123ew11
mimi> set_api_key sk-ant-api03-xxxxx
mimi> restart
```

That's it. After restart, find your bot on Telegram and start chatting.

### More Commands

```
mimi> wifi_status          # am I connected?
mimi> set_model claude-sonnet-4-5-20241022   # use a different model
mimi> memory_read          # see what the bot remembers
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 |

## 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

## For Developers

Technical details live in the `docs/` folder:

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

## License

MIT

## Acknowledgments

Inspired by [OpenClaw](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw). MimiClaw reimplements the core AI agent architecture for embedded hardware — no Linux, no server, just a $5 chip.