Scaling OpenClaw to 50+ users requires enterprise-grade architecture, identity management, cost controls, and governance. This guide walks through planning your deployment, configuring SSO, setting budgets, automating deployment, creating onboarding materials, and establishing team policies.
Why This Is Hard to Do Yourself
These are the common pitfalls that trip people up.
Shared vs. dedicated instances
One shared instance is simpler but creates noisy neighbor problems. Dedicated per-team instances are isolated but harder to manage.
Identity and access management
Managing 50+ individual accounts without SSO is unmaintainable. Integration with Okta, Azure AD, or Google Workspace is essential.
Cost control and chargebacks
Without per-team and per-user budgets, a single power user can consume the entire monthly budget in days.
Onboarding at scale
Onboarding 50 users individually is slow. You need standardized training materials, self-service docs, and automation.
Governance and compliance
Teams need policies for acceptable use, data retention, security, and compliance with company standards.
Step-by-Step Guide
Plan team architecture (shared vs dedicated instances)
Decide on your deployment topology.
# Option 1: Shared Multi-Tenant Instance
# Pros: Simple, cheap, centralized
# Cons: Noisy neighbors, shared resources, harder isolation
#
# [All 50 users] โ [Single OpenClaw Instance]
#
# Recommended for: Small teams (<20), tight budgets
# Option 2: Per-Team Dedicated Instances
# Pros: Isolation, independent scaling, team autonomy
# Cons: More infrastructure, higher cost, harder updates
#
# [Engineering Team] โ [OpenClaw Instance 1]
# [Marketing Team] โ [OpenClaw Instance 2]
# [Sales Team] โ [OpenClaw Instance 3]
#
# Recommended for: Large teams (50+), distinct use cases
# Option 3: Hybrid (Shared + Premium Dedicated)
# Pros: Cost-effective for most, premium tier for power users
# Cons: Complex routing, two classes of service
#
# [Most users] โ [Shared Instance]
# [Power users] โ [Dedicated Premium Instance]
#
# Recommended for: Mixed usage patterns, budget-conscious
# Architecture decision matrix:
# Team size | Shared | Per-Team | Hybrid
# < 20 | โ | |
# 20-50 | | | โ
# 50+ | | โ |Configure SSO/identity provider
Integrate with corporate identity provider.
# In config/auth/sso.yaml:
sso:
enabled: true
provider: okta # or "azure-ad", "google-workspace", "onelogin"
okta:
domain: company.okta.com
client_id: YOUR_CLIENT_ID
client_secret: YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET
redirect_uri: https://openclaw.company.com/auth/callback
# User provisioning:
provisioning:
auto_create_users: true
auto_assign_license: true
default_role: user
# Group mapping:
group_mapping:
"engineering": team_engineering
"marketing": team_marketing
"admins": openclaw_admins
# Session management:
session:
timeout: 8h
refresh_token: true
force_reauth: 30d
# Test SSO integration:
openclaw admin auth test-sso --provider oktaWarning: Never store SSO client secrets in plaintext config files. Use environment variables or a secret manager like Vault. Rotate SSO credentials every 90 days.
Set up per-team and per-user budgets
Control costs with granular budget limits.
# In config/budgets/limits.yaml:
budgets:
# Organization-wide monthly budget:
organization:
monthly_limit: 10000.00
currency: USD
alert_threshold: 0.8 # Alert at 80%
# Per-team budgets:
teams:
engineering:
monthly_limit: 5000.00
daily_limit: 200.00
per_user_limit: 100.00
marketing:
monthly_limit: 2000.00
daily_limit: 80.00
per_user_limit: 40.00
sales:
monthly_limit: 1000.00
daily_limit: 40.00
per_user_limit: 20.00
# Per-user budget overrides:
users:
alice@company.com:
monthly_limit: 500.00 # Power user
bob@company.com:
monthly_limit: 50.00 # Limited user
# Budget enforcement:
enforcement:
hard_limit: true # Block requests when budget exceeded
grace_period: 24h
notify_user: true
notify_admin: true
# View budget usage:
openclaw admin budgets usage --team engineering --range 30d
# Set budget for new team:
openclaw admin budgets set --team sales --monthly 1000Deploy with Ansible or Kubernetes
Automate deployment for reliability.
# For Ansible deployment (see separate guide):
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.ini deploy-openclaw.yml
# For Kubernetes deployment:
# In k8s/openclaw-deployment.yaml:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: openclaw
spec:
replicas: 3 # 3 instances for HA
selector:
matchLabels:
app: openclaw
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: openclaw
spec:
containers:
- name: openclaw
image: openclaw/openclaw:2.1.0
resources:
requests:
memory: "2Gi"
cpu: "1000m"
limits:
memory: "4Gi"
cpu: "2000m"
env:
- name: OPENCLAW_CONFIG
value: /config/openclaw.yaml
volumeMounts:
- name: config
mountPath: /config
volumes:
- name: config
configMap:
name: openclaw-config
# Deploy to Kubernetes:
kubectl apply -f k8s/openclaw-deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/openclaw-service.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/openclaw-ingress.yamlCreate onboarding materials
Build self-service onboarding for new users.
# In docs/onboarding/README.md:
# OpenClaw Onboarding Guide
## Getting Started
1. Visit https://openclaw.company.com
2. Click "Sign in with SSO"
3. Use your company email and password
4. Complete 5-minute interactive tutorial
## Your First Conversation
- Type: "Help me write a Python script to process CSV files"
- OpenClaw will guide you through the task
## Common Use Cases
- Code review: "Review this pull request for bugs"
- Documentation: "Generate API docs for this Python module"
- Debugging: "Why is this function failing?"
## Budget and Limits
- You have a $100/month budget
- View usage: Click your profile โ Usage Dashboard
- Questions? Contact #openclaw-support
# In config/onboarding/tutorial.yaml:
tutorial:
enabled: true
required_for_new_users: true
steps:
- id: welcome
title: "Welcome to OpenClaw"
content: "Let's learn the basics in 5 minutes"
- id: first_message
title: "Send your first message"
prompt: "Ask me to explain what I can do"
- id: code_request
title: "Try a code task"
prompt: "Ask me to write a Python function"
- id: review
title: "Review and edit"
content: "You can edit my code, ask follow-ups, or start over"
- id: complete
title: "You're ready!"
content: "Explore documentation at docs.company.com/openclaw"Set up governance policies
Define acceptable use and compliance rules.
# In config/governance/policies.yaml:
governance:
# Acceptable Use Policy:
acceptable_use:
prohibit_personal_use: true
prohibit_sensitive_data: true
require_data_classification: true
# Data retention:
retention:
conversation_history: 90d
audit_logs: 365d
deleted_sessions: 30d
# Content filtering:
content_filter:
enabled: true
block_pii: true
block_secrets: true # API keys, passwords
block_offensive: true
# Compliance:
compliance:
gdpr: true
hipaa: false # Set true if handling health data
sox: false # Set true if handling financial data
# Audit logging:
audit:
log_all_requests: true
log_retention: 365d
export_format: json
export_schedule: weekly
# In config/governance/terms.md:
# Terms of Use for OpenClaw
By using OpenClaw, you agree to:
- Use only for company business
- Not share API keys or credentials
- Not input sensitive personal data (SSN, health records)
- Follow company data classification policies
Violations may result in access revocation.
# Show acceptance modal on first login:
# In config/onboarding/terms.yaml:
terms:
require_acceptance: true
version: "2025-01-25"
url: /docs/terms-of-useConfigure monitoring and alerting dashboard
Set up centralized observability.
# In config/monitoring/dashboard.yaml:
monitoring:
platform: grafana
grafana:
url: https://grafana.company.com
dashboard_id: openclaw-overview
metrics:
- name: active_users
query: 'count(openclaw_active_sessions)'
- name: request_rate
query: 'rate(openclaw_requests_total[5m])'
- name: cost_burn_rate
query: 'rate(openclaw_cost_usd[1h])'
- name: error_rate
query: 'rate(openclaw_errors_total[5m])'
alerts:
- name: high_cost_burn
condition: cost_burn_rate > 100
severity: critical
notify: slack
- name: high_error_rate
condition: error_rate > 0.05
severity: warning
notify: email
- name: budget_exceeded
condition: team_budget_usage > 0.9
severity: warning
notify: team_admin
# Access dashboard:
# Visit: https://grafana.company.com/d/openclaw-overview
# Set up Slack alerts:
# In config/monitoring/slack.yaml:
slack:
webhook_url: https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK
channel: #openclaw-alerts
mention_on_critical: "@oncall"Enterprise Deployment Is Complex
SSO integration, budget controls, deployment automation, onboarding, governance, monitoring โ setting up OpenClaw for 50+ users requires enterprise expertise. Our team designs and deploys production-ready OpenClaw for large organizations.
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