OpenClaw Ollama Memory

Set up local semantic memory search in OpenClaw using Ollama + nomic-embed-text. Free, private, offline-capable. Replaces cloud embedding APIs (OpenAI, Gemini) with a locally-running model. Trigger phrases: ollama memory, local embeddings, private memory search, offline memory, free embeddings, nomic-embed-text.

Local semantic memory search for OpenClaw using Ollama — free, private, no API key required.

Quick Start

1. Install & Run Ollama

Download from https://ollama.ai, then pull the embedding model:

bash

ollama pull nomic-embed-text

Verify Ollama is running:

bash

curl http://127.0.0.1:11434/api/tags

2. Configure OpenClaw

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and add under agents.defaults.memorySearch:

json

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "memorySearch": {
        "provider": "ollama",
        "model": "nomic-embed-text:latest",
        "remote": {
          "baseUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:11434"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Restart OpenClaw

bash

openclaw gateway restart

Key Points

• Ollama must be explicit — use provider: "ollama", not "openai". OpenClaw doesn't auto-detect Ollama.
• No API key needed — runs locally, fully offline.
• nomic-embed-text — 274MB model, fast, accurate, free.
• baseUrl format — http://127.0.0.1:11434 (no /v1 suffix, no trailing slash).

Next Steps

• See references/config-reference.md for advanced tuning (hybrid search, MMR, temporal decay, extra paths).
• See references/troubleshooting.md for common errors and fixes.