CribClaw
Your newborn's 24/7 AI agent
Open-source baby tracking via Telegram.
Self-hosted. Private. Free.
3 events logged. Feed: 2oz bottle at 3:12am. Diaper: medium poop. Sleep started at 3:00am.
Baby tracking apps make you tap buttons at 3am. CribClaw lets you just talk.
Every other baby app gives you forms. Open the app, find the right screen, tap the tiny button, fill in the amount, pick the time, submit. Then do it again for the diaper. And again for sleep.
CribClaw is different. You send a single message in Telegram, in whatever words come naturally, and the AI figures out the rest. Multiple events from one message. Voice notes if you can't type. Corrections in plain English.
Add it to a family group chat and both parents can log from the same conversation. CribClaw tracks who logged what, so you always know who did the last feed.
Your data stays on your machine. A SQLite file. No account, no cloud, no subscription.
How it actually compares
| Baby apps | CribClaw | |
|---|---|---|
| Input | Buttons and forms | Natural language |
| Multi-event | One at a time | One message, multiple events |
| Voice | Paid or unavailable | Built-in, local Whisper |
| Reminders | Fixed timers | Natural language: “remind me 3 hours after each feed” |
| Multi-caregiver | Separate accounts | One group chat, both parents |
| Privacy | Their cloud | Your machine, your SQLite |
| Exports | Premium feature | Auto-generated CSVs |
| Reports | In-app only | PNG calendars to your chat |
| Migration | No import | CSV import from Huckleberry, Glow, etc. |
| Source | Closed | AGPL-3.0 |
| Cost | $5–10/mo | Free |
11 event types, zero commands
Feed · Diaper · Sleep · Milestone · Pump · Tummy time · Solids · Growth · Bath · Note · and anything else you describe.
Plus: custom reminders you set in natural language, visual calendar summaries (daily + weekly), pattern detection from your own logged data, multi-caregiver attribution, retroactive corrections with full audit trail, auto-generated CSV exports, and CSV import from Huckleberry, Glow Baby, and other trackers so you don't lose your history.
Get it running
You need two things before you start: a Telegram bot token (free, from @BotFather) and an Anthropic API key. That's it.
Paste this into Claude Code, Codex, or any AI coding assistant:
Clone https://github.com/cribclaw/cribclaw and set it up for me. I have a Telegram bot token and an Anthropic API key ready. Install dependencies, build the Docker container, help me fill in my .env file, and start the app. Walk me through each step.
Click to copy. Your AI assistant will handle the rest.
Requires Node.js ≥ 20, Docker, and your two tokens.
- Clone the repo and install dependencies
- Create a Telegram bot via @BotFather — message it /newbot, pick a name, copy the token
- Add your tokens to .env
- Build the container and start
git clone https://github.com/cribclaw/cribclaw.git cd cribclaw && npm install cp .env.example .env # add your tokens here ./container/build.sh npm run dev
Frequently asked questions
How do I set up CribClaw?
Create a Telegram bot via @BotFather, set TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your .env file, then run npm start. Send the bot a message and it will auto-register your chat. For group chats, add the bot to the group and send any message. See the README for full setup instructions.
How do I import data from Huckleberry, Glow, or another tracker?
Export a CSV from your current app, then run:
npm run cribclaw:import -- path/to/export.csv
CribClaw auto-detects Huckleberry, Glow, Baby Tracker, and BabyBuddy formats from the CSV headers. You can also send a CSV file directly in the Telegram chat and it will import automatically.
Important: Send at least one message to your Telegram bot before running the import. The importer needs your chat ID from the database to associate the data correctly. If you import before messaging the bot, the data won't show up in your chat.
How do I reset all my data?
Stop CribClaw, then delete the database file:
rm store/messages.db
Restart and it creates a fresh database. To reset only baby tracking data (keeping chat history and group registrations), run the SQL commands in the README.
What is NanoClaw? How does CribClaw relate to it?
CribClaw is a fork of NanoClaw, a general-purpose AI agent framework for messaging platforms. NanoClaw provides the infrastructure: Telegram integration, container-based agent execution, task scheduling, and the Claude Agent SDK pipeline. CribClaw adds the baby-specific layer on top: event extraction, structured tracking, visual summaries, feed reminders, and pattern detection. Think of NanoClaw as the engine and CribClaw as the car built on it.
Is my data private? What about security?
CribClaw is fully self-hosted. Your data lives in a SQLite file on your machine. Nothing is sent to a third-party server. Message content is sent to the Anthropic API for event extraction (subject to Anthropic's privacy policy), and to the Telegram Bot API for message delivery. No analytics, no tracking, no accounts. You own the database and can export or delete it at any time.
Does CribClaw provide medical advice?
No. CribClaw is a behavioral tracker for informational purposes only. It does not diagnose conditions, recommend treatments, or provide medical guidance. Pattern alerts and age-based insights are general observations, not clinical assessments. Always consult your pediatrician for medical decisions. CribClaw does not track medications. Use your pharmacy or doctor's system for that.
What does it cost to run?
CribClaw itself is free and open-source. The costs are: an Anthropic API key (for Claude, which processes your messages, typically a few cents per day for normal family use), and whatever machine you run it on (a Raspberry Pi, an old laptop, a cloud VM, etc.). Telegram is free. There is no subscription.