Tested deployment templates
Start from a working, hardened configuration instead of a blank file. Customize from a secure baseline, not from zero.
About
Rise of the Bots.
What is LaunchThatBot?
LaunchThatBot is a deployment and management platform for AI Agents, currently focused on OpenClaw -- the open-source AI agent runtime. It handles the infrastructure, security, and operational tooling so you can focus entirely on building your agents. Free for most users and usecases.
1
Why
The journey from one agent to “I need to build a platform”
I come from a background of integrating AI systems into existing platforms. So when I first deployed an OpenClaw agent directly on a DigitalOcean VPS, it was actually pretty straightforward -- easier than I expected. One agent, one server, and it just worked.
But pretty quickly I wanted more. More agents. Observability into what they were doing. Insight into how much I was spending on AI provider credits and whether the agents were actually making progress. A single agent on a bare VPS does not give you any of that.
Phase two: containers and monitoring
I moved to a Docker-based setup with Portainer for container management, Grafana for dashboards, and Prometheus for metrics. A better system by far. But now I was running multiple containers for the infrastructure stack itself, and the server was running out of resources. DigitalOcean started getting expensive for what was supposed to be a side project.
So I moved to Hetzner for cheaper compute. That meant setting everything up all over again -- Hetzner does not have great infrastructure-as-code tooling, so it was a manual migration. Containers sometimes had issues and I needed to log into Portainer to restart the OpenClaw container. The operational overhead was creeping up.
And the resource costs were not just about running agents. When you use natural language to set up OpenClaw infrastructure, the AI has your VPS doing heavy work in the background -- building Docker images, compiling dependencies, pulling containers. I went from a 1GB server to a 3-4GB server just so the build processes could run without starving my agents of CPU and memory. That is real money. A 1GB VPS costs $4-6 a month. A 4GB VPS costs $16-24 a month. I was paying four times more, not because my agents needed the resources, but because the setup process did.
The long-term question
I started thinking about the long term. 10 agents. 50. 100. The current setup was already complex at 3. I needed a real system for centralized logs, emergency stop buttons for runaway agents, and insight into how much each individual agent was costing me in provider credits. None of that existed.
I use Convex daily for other apps I build. Real-time database, scheduled functions, server-side logic -- all without managing database infrastructure. Then I saw Convex launch their Convex for Claw program -- backing developers building in the OpenClaw ecosystem.
That was the spark. A real-time backend I already knew and trusted, with first-class support for the OpenClaw ecosystem. I could build the operational layer I needed -- deployment state, agent monitoring, cost tracking, scheduled maintenance, emergency controls -- all on Convex. And every user could connect their own Convex instance, so they would own their data completely.
I opened my IDE and started building.
The VPS savings
Because LaunchThatBot handles the heavy infrastructure work -- container builds, image management, orchestration -- your VPS only needs enough resources for your agents themselves. Smaller server, lower bill, same performance where it matters.
2
What
A deployment and management platform for OpenClaw
LaunchThatBot gives you a bulletproof OpenClaw configuration out of the box -- for free. No AI credits burned on setup. No guessing which defaults are safe and which will leave your instance exposed.
Beyond the initial deployment, it is the management layer that OpenClaw does not ship with:
Real management dashboard
See all your deployments, their health, their configs, and their agents in one place. No SSH. No terminal. No grepping logs.
Multi-instance at scale
Your second deployment takes minutes. Your fiftieth inherits the same security baseline. Templates capture what works and reuse it.
Clean detach, zero lock-in
Disconnect LaunchThatBot anytime. Your deployment keeps running on your infrastructure. Your data stays in your Convex instance.
The goal is simple
Get you to a working, secure, observable deployment for free -- so you can spend your AI credits on building agents that do interesting, valuable work instead of fighting with infrastructure.
3
When
Built for myself, then realized everyone needed it
After the $40 setup experience, I set off to build something for myself -- a tool to make my own OpenClaw deployments painless. A few days in, I realized every solo builder deploying OpenClaw was hitting the exact same walls. This was not a personal problem. It was an ecosystem problem.
So I kept building. Seven days of intense, focused development. Here is what each day produced:
Day 1Schema & deployment engine
Designed the Convex schema, wrote the deployment workflow, and got the first container spinning up on Portainer via API.
Day 2Provider abstraction
Built the provider layer so deployments work across Hetzner, DigitalOcean, and custom infrastructure without config changes.
Day 3Security baseline
Cloudflare tunnel integration, subdomain isolation, container-level network policies. The security template that ships with every deployment.
Day 4Dashboard & observability
Real-time deployment status, agent activity feeds, structured event logging. The management surface that replaces SSH.
Day 5Agent discovery & sync
Automatic detection of running agents, configuration sync across instances, health check orchestration.
Day 6Templates & reusability
Deployment templates that capture working configurations. Deploy your second instance in minutes, not hours.
Day 7Convex Mode & detach flow
User-owned Convex instances for operational data, scheduled functions, and the clean detach workflow. Ship it.
Seven days is fast. It was possible because I had already spent months building custom Convex components that I can reuse across multiple standalone apps. Most of the patterns in LaunchThatBot -- deployment workflows, real-time state management, scheduled operations, dashboard architecture -- I had already built for other platforms I work on: TraderLaunchpad and LaunchThat.app. The seven days were not about figuring things out from scratch -- they were about applying proven patterns to a new problem.
4
Where
On your infrastructure. Always.
LaunchThatBot is not a hosting platform. It does not run your agents on our servers. It does not store your data in our database. It does not trap you in our ecosystem.
When you deploy through LaunchThatBot:
Your VPS
You choose the provider. Hetzner, DigitalOcean, your own hardware. The server belongs to you.
Your data
If you enable Convex Mode, the database tables, scheduled functions, and operational state run in your Convex project. Not ours.
Your exit
Disconnect from LaunchThatBot anytime. No migration. No export. Everything keeps running because it was always running on your infrastructure.
OpenClaw is open source because its creators believe developers should own their tools. LaunchThatBot is built in that same spirit. You own the deployment. You own the data. You own the decision to stay or leave.
5
How
This would not exist without AI and Convex
Building a deployment platform from scratch in seven days sounds impossible. It would be -- without the tools I used to build it.
AI as a development multiplier
I used AI coding assistants extensively to build LaunchThatBot itself. Not for setup and configuration -- for actual development. Writing deployment workflows, designing the schema, building the dashboard, iterating on security templates.
This is the right use of AI credits: building real things, not fighting with infrastructure. That distinction is the entire thesis of LaunchThatBot.
Convex as the operational backbone
Convex gave me a real-time database, scheduled functions, and server-side logic without managing any database infrastructure. The deployment engine, agent sync, and operational state all run on Convex.
When users enable Convex Mode, they get the same power: a structured backend for their agents with tables, crons, and queries -- on their own Convex instance.
The irony is not lost on me. I built a platform to save people from spending AI credits on setup -- and I used AI credits to build it. The difference is that those credits went into creating something permanent, reusable, and available to everyone. That is what AI tokens should be spent on.
Ready to build?
Stop spending tokens on setup. Start building agents.
LaunchThatBot gives you a tested, hardened OpenClaw deployment with a real management dashboard -- so every dollar you spend on AI goes toward creating something great, not configuring infrastructure.
Go deeper
Compare
LaunchThatBot vs. Other Platforms
Open source core, user-owned infrastructure, and no vendor lock-in. See the full comparison.
Origin Story
I Built This Because Deploying OpenClaw Shouldn't Be This Hard
The afternoon that started it all, and the three frustrations that kept breaking me.
AI Credits
Spend Your AI Tokens on Building, Not Setup
The $40 wake-up call and why your credits belong on agents, not infrastructure.
Portability
Deploy Now, Detach Whenever
Why we designed LaunchThatBot to let you leave, and why that matters for open source.
All Articles
Read the Full Blog
Security deep-dives, Convex guides, and more from the LaunchThatBot team.