The Claw Wars

Two weeks ago, I published a comparison of PicoClaw, NanoClaw, ZeroClaw, and ZeptoClaw. They are a fascinating family of open source experimental agents, but in the short time since that description has become obsolete. The claw landscape is no longer merely an experimental playground; it has emerged as a critical battleground shaping the future of decentralized AI, identity, and corporate security. The past fortnight marked a turning point, bringing a high profile corporate acquisition, the rapid clarification of distinct use cases across the forks, an accelerated release cadence led by ZeroClaw’s intense optimization efforts, and a forceful corporate response following widely publicized security failures. This is no longer a hobbyist niche but a broader industry reckoning.

ZeroClaw: The Rust Performance Milestone

ZeroClaw, the project focused on deterministic execution, has arguably seen the most significant structural progress in the last two weeks.

• The 5MB RAM Milestone: Following weeks of intense optimization, the team officially released a stable binary (v0.1.6) on February 22, 2026 that is a masterclass in efficiency. The agent now operates as a complete executable requiring only 3.4 MB of storage and, crucially, functions under 5 MB of RAM at peak load. This makes it, by far, the most resource-efficient claw variant available, effectively redefining what is possible for minimal agent deployment.

• Native WhatsApp Support: On February 19, the core team merged a native Rust client (wa-rs). This development is pivotal: ZeroClaw can now act as a powerful WhatsApp bot without the need for an underlying web browser session or a JavaScript bridge. This drastically reduces the threat surface and setup complexity for enterprise-grade messaging.

• The doctor is In: To support wider adoption, they introduced zeroclaw doctor, a diagnostic utility designed to audit local environments for AI compatibility and identify missing libraries or configuration conflicts.

Positioning update: ZeroClaw has shed its experimental label and is now firmly positioned as the robust, highly structured workhorse agent. If your workflows require deterministic, predictable, and incredibly efficient execution on minimal infrastructure, ZeroClaw v0.1.6 is now the clear choice.

PicoClaw: The Edge AI Darling

While ZeroClaw was optimized for pure speed, PicoClaw focused on pure distribution, gaining massive mainstream traction.

• The Raspberry Pi Effect: On February 19, the official Raspberry Pi blog featured a definitive guide recommending PicoClaw as the agent for the Pi Zero 2 W. This spotlight catalyzed a huge wave of adoption among the IoT and maker communities, validating PicoClaw’s strict 10MB memory limit as the correct design choice for edge devices.

• AI-Generated Maintenance: Perhaps the most fascinating revelation was the discovery by community researchers that approximately 95% of PicoClaw’s core optimization code (critical memory management fixes) was actually authored by another large language model. This revelation has triggered a meta-debate about the maintainability of software where the complexity is managed primarily by AI assistants.

Positioning update: PicoClaw is the undisputed champion of edge AI and low-cost hobbyist setups. It is now categorized as the $10 Agent, viable for large-scale, distributed IoT sensor nets and personal home automation dashboards running on entry-level hardware.

NanoClaw: Security-First Pivot

The conversation around NanoClaw in the last two weeks has been entirely dominated by architecture and security validation.

• The Single-Process Container: In a featured interview on "The New Stack" podcast (Feb 20), NanoClaw founder Gavriel Cohen articulated the project's existential pivot. While other Claws leverage complex plugin ecosystems that can access the host system, NanoClaw requires all agent processes to operate within a unified, strictly limited container (utilizing macOS Tahoe's advanced sandboxing).

• Production Pilot Acceptance: Cohen revealed that, precisely because of this architectural isolation, NanoClaw has been quietly piloted by several mid-sized fintech firms for automating high-sensitivity personal tasks (such as securely scraping bank statements). This contrasts sharply with the reception its sibling forks are receiving in corporate settings (see below).

Positioning update: NanoClaw has finalized its identity as the security specialist. It is the choice for deployment on corporate-managed machines or any environment where data privacy is the overriding concern, providing the closest experience to official application integration while retaining its claw DNA.

ZeptoClaw: The Stateless Specialist

ZeptoClaw, initially the most abstract fork, has found its purpose as the most ephemeral.

• The Stateless Definition: The broader claw taxonomy has finalized ZeptoClaw’s identity. It is now formally defined as the stateless sunction of the ecosystem. ZeptoClaw agents are designed to be ephemeral: they are spun up to execute exactly one task (e.g., to process a structured data object or validate a cryptographic proof), report the result, and immediately terminate, carrying zero persistent state.

• Repeatability in Data Pipelines: This design has led to surprise adoption in high-reliability data processing. Data engineers are leveraging ZeptoClaw for single-step transformations where its perfect repeatability (no risk of memory drift or persistent file-system contamination) is essential.

Positioning update: ZeptoClaw is now the default tool for high-reliability, repeatable data pipelines. If your agent only needs to answer one specific question and then disappear, ZeptoClaw is the architectural model of choice.

IronClaw: The Fortress Runtime

I am adding another claw into the mix. I do need to spend some more time with this one since I discovered it as I was writing up this post. While the other forks prioritize speed or minimalism, IronClaw, officially launched by NEAR AI at NEARCON on February 24, 2026, is the ecosystem’s answer to the security black hole. Developed by Illia Polosukhin, IronClaw is not just a fork. It is a complete re-engineering of the OpenClaw vision in Rust, designed to move agents from experimental toys to verifiable financial actors.

• The TEE Advantage The headline development is IronClaw’s deployment within Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). By running agents inside encrypted hardware enclaves on the NEAR AI Cloud, the runtime ensures that even the host operator cannot see the agent’s memory or credentials. This effectively solves the credential leak fear that has plagued the original OpenClaw community.

• WASM Isolation: Every third-party skill or tool in IronClaw operates in an isolated WebAssembly (WASM) sandbox. This architecture ensures that even if an agent downloads a malicious tool, that tool is restricted by capability-based permissions, preventing it from accessing your local files or network without an explicit cryptographic signature.

• Always-On Infrastructure: Unlike ZeptoClaw’s ephemeral nature, IronClaw is designed for persistence. It introduced a heartbeat system on Feb 25, allowing agents to perform background maintenance, monitor market arbitrage opportunities, or execute confidential intents across 35+ blockchains while the user is offline.

Positioning update: IronClaw has emerged as the institutional guardian. It is the only variant in the claw family currently viable for managing actual crypto assets or sensitive enterprise data. If ZeroClaw is the efficient worker and NanoClaw is the private assistant, IronClaw is the secure vault that can actually pull the trigger on a transaction.

Global Ecosystem News

The narrative of the last two weeks shifted from technology to policy on February 15, 2026, when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the hire of Peter Steinberger, the creator of the original OpenClaw protocol. This acqui-hire has split the community; while Steinberger promises the core protocol will remain an independent, open-source foundation, the move has accelerated "The Great Forking" as users migrate to independent projects like ZeroClaw to avoid corporate capture.

In response to rising safety concerns, the community released the Fortress Upgrade (v2026.2.19). This major security patch introduces physical authentication via Apple Watch confirmation prompts for high-risk actions and implements a new plugin sandboxing layer. The hardening arrives none too soon, as the ecosystem faces a massive corporate crackdown. Meta and Google have reportedly banned claw agents after a high-profile "Inbox Nuke" incident where a researcher’s agent ignored stop commands and mass-deleted her corporate emails.

Finally, I must issue a critical warning regarding malicious forks. The viral success of the claw family has led to a wave of fraudulent clones on Reddit and Discord. These rogue versions often masquerade as "optimized builds" but contain obfuscated malware designed to steal local .env files, exfiltrate browser cookies, or scan local networks for vulnerabilities. Always verify your source and only download from official project organizations on GitHub. I have linked to the official Github repos for each app in both of my articles.

Where We Are Now

In just two weeks, the claw ecosystem has evolved from experimental curiosity to a critical testing ground for personal and enterprise agents. PicoClaw is proving edge-friendly agents can move quickly from novelty to utility, NanoClaw has made container-first security a core principle, ZeroClaw continues to push the limits of size and speed, and ZeptoClaw blends minimalism with extensibility and migration pragmatism.

The forks are diverging into distinct philosophies: edge execution, isolated containers, radical minimalism, and hybrid balance. Releases are accelerating, use cases are solidifying, and security is driving design. The claw family has moved from curiosity to consequence, and the next phase will be defined not by benchmarks, but by adoption, trust, and resilience.