AI Agent tool practical tutorial: from installation to automated workflow

Tutorial Objectives

In 45 minutes, build an automated workflow based on AI Agent from scratch, covering OpenClaw deployment, n8n workflow concatenation, and OpenRouter model access.

What will you build?

• Local OpenClaw Agent environment (5 minutes to get started quickly)
• n8n workflow serial AI tool (automated task orchestration)
• OpenRouter access to multiple models (cost optimization + backup plan)
• A production-ready AI automated assistant

Preparation list

• An internet-connected computer (macOS/Linux/Windows)
• Access to GitHub and npm/yarn -Basic command line experience
• Curiosity about AI tools

Why choose this combination?

In actual operations, we found that OpenClaw + n8n + OpenRouter is the most cost-effective combination for small and medium-sized teams:

The advantage of this combination is that OpenClaw is responsible for AI logic and task disassembly, n8n is responsible for external systems and scheduled triggering, and OpenRouter is responsible for calling the most appropriate model on demand.

If you only use OpenAI ChatGPT, the monthly cost may be more than $100. OpenRouter allows you to switch between GPT-4o, Mistral, and Claude, with the cost reduced by 60%.

Step 1: Install OpenClaw (5 minutes)

Basic environment check

# Node.js （ v18+）
node --version

# : v18.x.x

# npm
npm --version

# : 9.x.x

OpenClaw

# npm
npm install -g openclaw

#
openclaw --version

#
mkdir ai-agent-workspace && cd ai-agent-workspace

# OpenClaw
openclaw init

# API

OpenClaw SOUL.md、AGENTS.md 。 Claude Code，——"Agent "。

2 OpenRouter （10 ）

OpenRouter

• GPT-4o ，（$5/1M tokens）
• Claude 3.5 ，
• ，

OpenRouter API ，， 50+ 。

OpenRouter API Key

1. openrouter.ai
2. API Key
3. $20 （）

OpenClaw OpenRouter

# OpenClaw
cat > openclaw.json << 'EOF'
{
  "model": "openrouter/openai/gpt-4o",
  "fallbacks": [
    "openrouter/mistral/mistral-medium",
    "openrouter/anthropic/claude-3-opus"
  ],
  "api_base": "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
  "api_key": "sk-or-v1-your-key-here"
}
EOF

# GPT-4o
openclaw chat --model openrouter/openai/gpt-4o --prompt "Hello"

# Claude Opus
openclaw chat --model openrouter/anthropic/claude-3-opus --prompt "Hello"

#
openclaw cost-log
`__TOK16 __`bash

# Docker （）
docker run -d \
  --name n8n \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
  n8nio/n8n

# npm
npm install -g n8n
n8n start

AI

n8n （http://localhost:5678）

1. Workflow
2. Schedule Trigger（）
3. OpenClaw Node（ Agent）
4. Telegram/Email Node（）

// OpenClaw Node
{
  "model": "openrouter/openai/gpt-4o",
 "prompt": " SEO ， 3 ",
  "api_base": "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
  "api_key": "sk-or-v1-your-key"
}

## Schedule Trigger
       ↓
[OpenClaw Agent] → SEO
       ↓
[Condition] → ？
   Yes → [Email Notification]
   No  → [Log & Skip]

4 LangChain （10 ）

LangChain

OpenClaw Agent ，n8n ， RAG（） Memory ，LangChain 。

# langchain-openai langchain-community
pip install langchain-openai langchain-community

# RAG
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain_community.retrievers import TavilySearchAPIRetriever

llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="gpt-4o",
    openai_api_base="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
    openai_api_key="sk-or-v1-your-key"
)

#
retriever = TavilySearchAPIRetriever(k=5)
docs = retriever.get_relevant_documents("OpenClaw ")
response = llm.invoke(f": {docs}")

OpenClaw

LangChain ，OpenClaw ，

5 （5 ）

OpenRouter

• $50
• $5
• 80%

#
openclaw cost-log --period week

#
openclaw cost-log --model-breakdown

Q1OpenClaw "Permission denied

#
chmod +x $(which openclaw)

#
npm uninstall -g openclaw && npm install -g openclaw

Q2OpenRouter API 401

• API Key
• openrouter.ai/keys

Q3n8n

• OpenClaw Agent
• n8n docker logs n8n
• Confirm that the webhook URL is reachable

Tool entry quick check

Next action

1. Complete the above 5-step installation
2. Run your first automated workflow
3. Monitor costs for a week and optimize model selection
4. Integrate this process into your content publishing system

If you encounter problems, please leave a message at waytoclawearn.com and I will update the FAQ section.

Related Tools: OpenClaw, n8n, OpenRouter, LangChain, Claude Code