Create a Hetzner Account
Sign up for Hetzner Cloud and generate an API token for RunClaw.
RunClaw deploys AI agents to your own Hetzner Cloud server. You keep full ownership of the hardware, the data, and the API token. Here's how to get set up.
Step 1: Sign up for Hetzner Cloud
Go to hetzner.cloud and create an account.
You'll need to verify your identity (Hetzner requires this for all new accounts). The process usually takes a few minutes.
If you use our referral link, you'll get free credits to get started.
Step 2: Create a project
Once logged in to Hetzner Cloud Console:
- Click New Project (or use the default project)
- Give it a name like "AI Agents" or "RunClaw"
Projects help you organize resources. Your RunClaw servers will live inside this project.
Step 3: Generate an API token
This is the key step. RunClaw needs an API token to create and manage servers in your Hetzner account.
- Open your project in Hetzner Cloud Console
- Go to Security in the left sidebar
- Click the API Tokens tab
- Click Generate API Token
- Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "RunClaw")
- Select Read & Write permissions
- Click Generate API Token
- Copy the token immediately — Hetzner only shows it once
Save your token somewhere safe. Hetzner will not show it again after you close the dialog.
Your token stays in your browser
When you paste your Hetzner API token into RunClaw, it is encrypted with AES-256-GCM and stored only in your browser's local storage. It is never sent to RunClaw's servers.
All Hetzner API calls — creating servers, resizing, snapshots, deletion — happen directly from your browser to Hetzner's API. RunClaw's server only stores metadata like DNS records and connection status.
You can verify this yourself: open your browser's DevTools and check the Network tab. You'll see Hetzner API calls going directly to api.hetzner.cloud.
Next: Deploy Your First Agent