Mac Multi User Agents

Configure a powerful macOS machine to host multiple dedicated OpenClaw agent users with Fast User Switching, a shared Homebrew toolchain, per-user OpenClaw homes, per-user SSH trust, and auditable rollback. Use when you want a MacBook Pro or similar Mac to run several agent users at the same time without improvising the user layout each time.

Use this skill when one Mac should support multiple dedicated OpenClaw agent users.

This skill is for the pattern you described on the MacBook Pro:

• one strong Mac
• several agent users
• Fast User Switching
• one shared /opt/homebrew toolchain
• separate ~/.openclaw, SSH, browser, and session state per user

It does not try to hide the fact that macOS user management still requires admin access.

Use This Skill For

• preparing a MacBook Pro to host 2-4 dedicated agent users
• estimating a sane number of agent users from the Mac's CPU and RAM
• keeping one shared Homebrew toolchain while isolating per-user OpenClaw state
• rendering or executing repeatable user-create commands instead of clicking around in System Settings
• checking whether a user has the required shell/tool paths
• documenting and auditing per-user rollout

Do Not Use This Skill For

• creating production macOS MDM policy
• bypassing sudo or admin approval for user creation
• pretending multiple agents should share one login
• turning the Mac into a shared human workstation and agent host without boundaries

Requirements

• admin access on the Mac
• Homebrew installed at /opt/homebrew
• OpenClaw installed in the shared toolchain
• enough RAM, storage, and browser capacity for the planned agent count

Design Rules

• one macOS user per agent
• one ~/.openclaw per agent
• one ~/.ssh per agent
• one browser profile set per agent
• shared /opt/homebrew only for binaries and formulae
• no shared session files between agents

Workflow

1. Inspect The Host

Run:

bash

scripts/detect-host.sh
scripts/recommend-layout.sh

This reports:

• current user list
• whether Homebrew/OpenClaw are on the shared path
• current Fast User Switching state
• current hostname and shell layout
• a recommended range for additional agent users based on CPU/RAM

2. Render Or Execute User Creation

Do not improvise account creation from memory.

Render the commands first:

bash

scripts/render-user-create.sh --user agent3 --full-name "Agent 3"
scripts/render-user-create.sh --user agent4 --full-name "Agent 4" --admin no

This prints a repeatable sysadminctl-based flow and the baseline directories to create afterward.

If you want the skill to actually create the user, use:

bash

export AGENT_PASSWORD='set-a-real-password'
scripts/create-user.sh --user agent3 --full-name "Agent 3" --password-env AGENT_PASSWORD

Or dry-run first:

bash

scripts/create-user.sh --user agent3 --full-name "Agent 3" --password-env AGENT_PASSWORD --dry-run

This keeps the process auditable and avoids hand-built user creation every time.

3. Keep The Toolchain Shared

Recommended shared toolchain:

• /opt/homebrew/bin/brew
• /opt/homebrew/bin/node
• /opt/homebrew/bin/npm
• /opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw

Read references/shared-homebrew.md before changing ownership or permissions under /opt/homebrew.

4. Bootstrap Per-User State

For each agent user, create or verify:

• ~/.ssh
• ~/.openclaw
• shell PATH that includes /opt/homebrew/bin
• authorized keys if cross-host or gateway SSH is required

Use:

bash

scripts/verify-user-shell.sh --user agent3

to check the resulting shell/tool state.

5. Enable Fast User Switching

Read references/fast-user-switching.md.

The purpose is:

• easy hop between agent users
• no need to log out the whole Mac
• clear separation of browser/session state

6. Leave Receipts

Use:

bash

scripts/write-receipt.sh --action "create-user" --status ok --detail "Prepared agent3 on MacBook Pro"
scripts/write-receipt.sh --action "verify-user-shell" --status ok --detail "agent3 sees brew node openclaw"

Security Rules

• do not give every agent user admin unless there is a real reason
• keep /opt/homebrew shared, but keep ~/.openclaw private per user
• do not share browser profiles between agent users
• keep SSH keys per user, not one copied private key everywhere
• if one user is removed, cleanup should not break the other users

Rollback

A single agent user should be removable without reinstalling the Mac.

Baseline rollback:

• remove that user
• remove that user’s ~/.openclaw
• remove that user’s SSH keys and browser state
• keep shared Homebrew intact

Files

• scripts/detect-host.sh: inspect the Mac and shared toolchain state
• scripts/recommend-layout.sh: suggest a sane agent-user count from hardware
• scripts/render-user-create.sh: print repeatable user-creation commands
• scripts/create-user.sh: actually create and bootstrap an agent user with sysadminctl
• scripts/verify-user-shell.sh: verify a target user sees the expected toolchain
• scripts/write-receipt.sh: append JSONL receipts for rollout work
• references/fast-user-switching.md: practical guidance for multi-user Mac agent hosts
• references/shared-homebrew.md: rules for one shared Homebrew toolchain across agent users