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GCP Compute Engine (Docker)

GCP Compute Engine (Docker)

Scope

This is a production-style setup for running the Moltbot Gateway 24/7 on Google Cloud:

  • Docker runtime (repeatable rebuilds)
  • Persistent state on the host (~/.moltbot and ~/clawd)
  • Loopback-only bind on the VM; access from your laptop via SSH tunnel

Prerequisites

  • A GCP account with billing enabled
  • A Compute Engine VM (Debian 12 or Ubuntu)
  • Docker + Compose on the VM
  • Model/channel credentials ready (API keys, OAuth, bot tokens, etc.)

Setup (operator runbook)

1) Create the VM

Pick a small VM to start (e.g. e2-small). Ensure you can SSH in.

2) Install Docker (on the VM) 

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y git curl ca-certificates
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh
sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"
exit

SSH back in and verify:

docker --version
docker compose version

3) Clone the repo and create persistent directories 

git clone https://github.com/moltbot/moltbot.git
cd moltbot

mkdir -p ~/.moltbot
mkdir -p ~/clawd

4) Create .env (do not commit) 

cat > .env <<'EOF'
MOLTBOT_IMAGE=moltbot:latest
MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN=change-me-now
MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_BIND=lan
MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_PORT=18789

MOLTBOT_CONFIG_DIR=/home/$USER/.moltbot
MOLTBOT_WORKSPACE_DIR=/home/$USER/clawd

GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD=change-me-now
XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/node/.moltbot
EOF

Generate strong secrets:

openssl rand -hex 32

5) Create docker-compose.yml

This keeps the Gateway loopback-only on the VM and mounts durable state from the host:

services:
  moltbot-gateway:
    image: ${MOLTBOT_IMAGE}
    build: .
    restart: unless-stopped
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      - HOME=/home/node
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - TERM=xterm-256color
      - MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_BIND=${MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_BIND}
      - MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_PORT=${MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_PORT}
      - MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN=${MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN}
      - GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD=${GOG_KEYRING_PASSWORD}
      - XDG_CONFIG_HOME=${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}
    volumes:
      - ${MOLTBOT_CONFIG_DIR}:/home/node/.moltbot
      - ${MOLTBOT_WORKSPACE_DIR}:/home/node/clawd
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:${MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_PORT}:18789"
    command:
      [
        "node",
        "dist/index.js",
        "gateway",
        "--bind",
        "${MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_BIND}",
        "--port",
        "${MOLTBOT_GATEWAY_PORT}"
      ]

6) Bake required binaries into the image (important)

If any of your skills depend on external binaries, install them in the Dockerfile at build time (not inside a running container).

7) Build and start 

docker compose build
docker compose up -d moltbot-gateway
docker compose logs -f moltbot-gateway

8) Access from your laptop (SSH tunnel) 

gcloud compute ssh moltbot-gateway --zone=us-central1-a -- -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789

Open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ and paste your Gateway token.

Updates 

cd ~/moltbot
git pull
docker compose build
docker compose up -d

Troubleshooting

  • Gateway not reachable: check docker compose logs -f moltbot-gateway and confirm the port mapping is loopback-only.
  • Out of memory: start with e2-small (2GB) rather than e2-micro.

Further reading

  • Docker flow: /docs/install/docker/
  • Gateway security: /docs/gateway/security/
  • Remote access: /docs/web/
Gateway on macOS (external launchd)Health Checks on macOS