ParentClaw — Parental Awareness for Windows

How it works

Three steps. Five minutes. No account needed.

Create a Telegram bot

Message @BotFather on Telegram, create a bot, copy the token. Free and takes 2 minutes.

Run the installer

Paste the one-liner into PowerShell on your child's PC. It installs everything and asks for your bot token.

Message your bot

Send "take a screenshot" or "what apps are running?" and get an instant reply with what's on screen.

What you can see

Ask your Telegram bot in natural language. It understands what you mean.

📸

Screenshots

"Take a screenshot" — see exactly what's on screen right now, sent as a photo to your chat.

📊

Running apps

"What apps are running?" — get a list of active programs with memory usage. Games, browsers, everything.

🖥

Active window

"What are they doing?" — see the currently focused window title and application name.

⏱

Screen time

"Screen time report" — how long each app has been open. Know if they've been gaming for 4 hours.

💻

System info

"How long has the PC been on?" — uptime, memory, disk usage, battery level.

📅

Daily summary

Get an automatic daily report at a time you choose. No need to ask — it comes to you.

Awareness, not control

ParentClaw is built on trust, not surveillance.

Your child knows it's there. If they ask, the AI explains itself honestly.
It observes but never controls. It can't block, install, or delete anything.
It doesn't read messages, emails, or chat contents. Ever.
Nothing is stored. Observations go to your Telegram and nowhere else.
It reports facts without judgment. You decide what to do with them.
It's open source. Every line of code is readable and auditable.

Setup guide

Windows 10/11 + a Telegram account. That's all you need.

Step 1: Create a Telegram bot

Open Telegram and message @BotFather
Send /newbot and follow the prompts
Pick a name (e.g., "Alex's PC Monitor")
Copy the bot token — looks like 123456:ABCdef...

Step 2: Get your Chat ID

Message @userinfobot on Telegram
It replies with your Chat ID (a number like 123456789)

Step 3: Run the installer

Open PowerShell on your child's PC and paste:

powershell -c "irm https://parentclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex"

It will ask for your bot token, Chat ID, and preferred daily summary time. Everything else is automatic.

Step 4: You're done

Open Telegram and message your bot. Try:

"Take a screenshot"
"What apps are running?"
"How long has the PC been on?"

FAQ

Is this spyware?

No. ParentClaw is transparent — your child knows it's installed. It can't hide itself. If asked, the AI will explain exactly what it does. It's open source, so anyone can audit the code.

Can it read my child's messages or emails?

No. ParentClaw can only take screenshots, list running processes, check the active window, report screen time, and show system info. It cannot read message contents, browser history, files, or any private data.

Can it block websites or apps?

No. ParentClaw is view-only. It cannot install, uninstall, block, or control anything on the PC. It's an awareness tool, not a control tool.

Where is the data stored?

Nowhere. Screenshots and reports are sent directly to your Telegram chat and not stored anywhere else — not on the PC, not in the cloud, not in a database.

What if my child uninstalls it?

They can. ParentClaw is designed for cooperative families with younger children (8-12). It's not tamper-resistant by design — that's a feature, not a bug.

Does it cost anything?

ParentClaw is free and open source. It runs on OpenClaw (also free). You'll need an AI API key (e.g., Anthropic or OpenRouter) for the AI agent, which has its own pricing.

Does it work on Mac or Linux?

Currently Windows only. Mac and Linux support may come later.

How do I uninstall?

Open PowerShell and run: Remove-Item -Recurse "$env:USERPROFILE\.openclaw\skills\parentclaw". To fully remove OpenClaw too: npm uninstall -g openclaw.

Know what's on their screen