I Built an AI That Controls My Windows PCs (And It's Terrifyingly Awesome)
How I connected OpenClaw to Windows machines and created a zero-touch deployment system. Now my AI assistant can install software, run commands, and collect inventory across my entire network.
I Built an AI That Controls My Windows PCs (And It’s Terrifyingly Awesome)
You know that feeling when you’re too lazy to walk to your server room?
Yeah, me too. So I did what any reasonable person would do: I taught an AI to manage all my Windows machines remotely.
Spoiler alert: It works. Maybe too well.
The Problem
I have several Windows PCs scattered around my network:
- DESKTOP-B4GCTCV — My main rig with a Ryzen 9 9800X3D (yes, I’m flexing)
- BALTASA — A Windows Server doing… server things
- CONTROLLER — A machine that needed an agent installed
Managing them manually? Walking to each one? In this economy?
No thanks. I wanted to:
- Install agents remotely with one command
- Collect hardware/software inventory automatically
- Run commands from my AI assistant (Discord, Telegram, wherever)
- Never touch a keyboard that isn’t mine
The Solution: OpenClaw Windows Agent
I built a Windows Service that connects back to OpenClaw — an open-source AI gateway that lets you control stuff with natural language.
What It Does
🔧 Remote Command Execution
Me: "Hey, what's the hostname of CONTROLLER?" AI: *runs command* → "CONTROLLER" Me: "Open Notepad" AI: *opens Notepad on the remote machine* 📊 Hardware & Software Inventory
- CPU, RAM, GPU, Disk info
- All installed software with versions
- Windows Updates / Hotfixes
- Network connections
- Security settings (Firewall, TPM, BitLocker)
- Browser extensions (yes, really)
🚀 Zero-Touch Installation One PowerShell command. That’s it.
.\Install-OpenClawAgent.ps1 -GatewayUrl "http://192.168.0.5:18789" -GatewayToken "your-token" The script:
- Downloads the agent from GitHub Releases
- Verifies SHA256 hash
- Extracts to
C:\Program Files\OpenClaw\Agent - Registers as a Windows Service (auto-start)
- Writes config file
- Starts service → connects to Gateway
Time to deploy: ~30 seconds per machine.
The Tech Stack
Windows Agent (C# / .NET 8)
- WPF GUI for manual config (MVVM with CommunityToolkit)
- Windows Service that runs 24/7
- WebSocket client for persistent Gateway connection
- WMI/CIM queries for inventory collection
Linux Gateway (Node.js / OpenClaw)
- Handles AI conversations
- Routes commands to connected nodes
- Stores inventory in PostgreSQL + TimescaleDB
Web Dashboard (Next.js 16 / shadcn/ui)
- Shows all connected nodes
- Hardware/Software details
- Groups and tags for organization
The Fun Part: What Can You Actually Do?
Talk to Your Machines via Discord
Me: @AI what's installed on BALTASA? AI: BALTASA has 127 applications installed, including: - Visual Studio 2022 (17.9.6) - SQL Server Management Studio - 7-Zip 24.09 ... Run Arbitrary Commands
Me: Run "Get-Process | Select -First 5" on CONTROLLER AI: *executes* Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) CPU(s) Id ProcessName ------- ------ ----- ---- ------ -- ----------- 155 10 2184 8812 0.08 456 csrss ... Check Security Status
Me: Is BitLocker enabled on my machines? AI: *queries all nodes* - DESKTOP-B4GCTCV: BitLocker ON (C:, D:) - BALTASA: BitLocker OFF - CONTROLLER: BitLocker ON (C:) Push Inventory Updates
Me: Refresh inventory on all nodes AI: *sends inventory.push to all* Done! 3 nodes updated. Zero-Touch Deployment: The Dream
The installer script was the final boss. I wanted:
- No manual steps on target machines
- Download from GitHub Releases (versioned, hashable)
- Enrollment tokens for large deployments (no shared secrets)
Here’s the flow:
- Create enrollment token in dashboard (expires in 24h, max 10 uses)
- Run one-liner on target machine:
.\Install-OpenClawAgent.ps1 -EnrollToken "abc123..." - Script calls API, gets credentials, installs everything
- Machine appears in dashboard within 30 seconds
Perfect for imaging, SCCM, Intune, PDQ Deploy, or just being lazy.
The Numbers
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Lines of C# | ~5,000 |
| Lines of Python (backend) | ~800 |
| Lines of TypeScript (frontend) | ~1,500 |
| Time to deploy new machine | ~30 seconds |
| Machines currently connected | 3 |
| Regrets | 0 |
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning. The roadmap includes:
- Job System — Schedule tasks across machine groups
- Package Management — Define, deploy, and update software
- Compliance Reporting — Check machines against security baselines
- Linux Agent — Because why stop at Windows?
- Role-Based Access Control — Multi-tenant support
Try It Yourself
Everything is open source:
- Windows Agent: github.com/BenediktSchackenberg/openclaw-windows-agent
- OpenClaw: github.com/openclaw/openclaw
- Releases: v0.3.2 (Latest)
Quick Start
- Install OpenClaw on Linux:
npm install -g openclaw openclaw gateway start - Run installer on Windows (as Admin):
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BenediktSchackenberg/openclaw-windows-agent/main/installer/Install-OpenClawAgent.ps1" -OutFile "Install.ps1" .\Install.ps1 -GatewayUrl "http://YOUR-IP:18789" -GatewayToken "YOUR-TOKEN" - Talk to your AI. Watch it control your machines. Question your life choices.
Closing Thoughts
Is giving an AI control over your Windows machines a good idea?
Probably not.
Is it incredibly fun and surprisingly useful?
Absolutely.
The future isn’t about AI replacing humans — it’s about AI doing the boring stuff so we can focus on… I don’t know, touching grass or something.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to ask my AI to check if my server is still running.
Built with 🐉 energy and questionable decision-making.
— Benedikt, February 2026