Créer son premier avatar IA en 10 minutes

Create Your First AI Avatar in 10 Minutes

Do you dream of a digital assistant that speaks like you, knows your preferences, and represents your personality? Good news: creating a custom AI avatar has never been easier. In this step-by-step tutorial, we'll build your first avatar in under 10 minutes using OpenClaw, a powerful open-source platform.

Whether you're a content creator, freelancer, entrepreneur, or just curious, this guide will walk you through everything—from choosing the platform to having your first conversation with your avatar.

🤔 What Is an AI Avatar?

An AI avatar is an artificial intelligence configured to represent you. Unlike "raw" ChatGPT or Claude, an AI avatar has:

• A defined personality: tone, writing style, values
• Context about you: who you are, what you do, your preferences
• Memory: remembers past conversations and evolves
• Action capabilities: responds to messages, manages tasks, interacts with services

Think of it as a digital clone of yourself, capable of responding on your behalf via Telegram, Discord, or any other communication channel.

Practical Use Cases

🛠️ Choosing Your Platform: Why OpenClaw?

Several solutions exist for creating an AI avatar. Here's a quick comparison:

Our choice: OpenClaw, for its total flexibility. You control every aspect of your avatar, from personality files to the language model used.

📋 Prerequisites Before Starting

Before diving in, make sure you have:

1. A server (VPS or local machine) — Hostinger offers VPS from €5/month with 20% discount
2. OpenClaw installed — follow our installation guide
3. An OpenRouter account — to access LLMs (create an account)
4. A text editor — nano, vim, or VS Code via SSH
5. 10 minutes of your time ☕

💡 No server? You can also test OpenClaw locally on your machine. But for a 24/7 available avatar, a VPS is recommended.

🧬 Step 1: Write Your SOUL.md File — The Heart of Your Avatar

The SOUL.md file is the core of your avatar. This is where you define its personality, tone, values, and behavior rules. OpenClaw reads this file at the start of each session to "become" your avatar.

Where to Create It?

# Navigate to your OpenClaw workspace
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace

# Create/edit the SOUL.md file
nano SOUL.md

Recommended Structure

Here's a complete template you can adapt:

# SOUL.md — [Your Name]'s Avatar

## Identity
- Name: [Your first name or nickname]
- Role: Personal assistant to [Your Name]
- Primary Language: French

## Personality
- Tone: Friendly but professional
- Humor: Subtle, never forced
- Style: Direct, no unnecessary chatter
- Emojis: In moderation (1-2 per message max)

## Values
- Honesty: Always admit when unsure
- Privacy: Never share owner's personal info
- Quality: Prefer a good late answer over a bad quick one

## Rules
- Respond in French by default
- Use informal "tu" unless told otherwise
- Never invent facts — say "I'm not sure" if needed
- Sign long messages with a signature emoji (e.g., 🚀)

## Areas of Expertise
- [Your domain 1, e.g., web development]
- [Your domain 2, e.g., digital marketing]
- [Your domain 3, e.g., productivity]

## What I DON'T Do
- Give medical or legal advice
- Pretend to be human
- Share owner's private data

Concrete Examples by Profile

For a Freelance Developer:

## Personality
- Tone: Casual but technical
- Style: Code > theory. Always provide examples
- References: Stack Overflow, official docs
- When asked a technical question, first give the short answer, then details if requested

For a Content Creator:

## Personality
- Tone: Enthusiastic, inspiring
- Style: Storytelling, real-life examples
- Emojis: Yes, part of branding ✨
- Always suggest original angles for content

For an Entrepreneur:

## Personality
- Tone: Professional, results-oriented
- Style: Concise, bullet points, data-driven
- Prioritize actions over reflections
- Default format: problem → solution → next steps

📖 For more on SOUL.md configuration, check our detailed guide.

👤 Step 2: Write Your USER.md File — Who Are You?

The USER.md file gives your avatar context about you, its owner. This is what allows it to personalize responses and act on your behalf effectively.

nano ~/.openclaw/workspace/USER.md

USER.md Template

# USER.md — Owner Profile

## Identity
- Name: Marie Dupont
- Location: Lyon, France
- Timezone: Europe/Paris

## Professional
- Job: Freelance UX Designer
- Specialties: Design systems, accessibility, Figma
- Typical Clients: SaaS startups, digital agencies
- Rate: €500/day

## Communication Preferences
- Language: French (English OK for international clients)
- Availability: Mon-Fri 9am-6pm
- Preferred Channel: Telegram for quick, email for formal
- Desired Response Time: <2h on weekdays

## Current Projects
- UX redesign for ClientA (deadline: March 2026)
- Online Figma course (launching April)
- Personal design blog

## Interests
- Design, typography, accessibility
- Hiking, photography
- Reading: tech essays, sci-fi

## Special Instructions for Avatar
- If a prospect asks about rates → give daily rate and offer a call
- If someone requests a quote → collect: project, budget, deadline
- On weekends → politely say I'm unavailable

Why It Matters

Without USER.md, your avatar is a generic assistant. With it, it becomes your assistant. The difference:

🧠 Step 3: Configure Memory — MEMORY.md

Memory is what transforms a stateless chatbot into an evolving avatar. OpenClaw uses a Markdown-based memory system that's simple and transparent.

nano ~/.openclaw/workspace/MEMORY.md

Memory Structure

# MEMORY.md — Persistent Memory

## Important Contacts
- **Thomas**: Backend developer, often collaborates with Marie
- **Sophie**: Regular client, e-commerce project

## Decisions Made
- 2026-02-20: Adopted Figma Variables for all new projects
- 2026-02-15: Increased rate to €500/day (was €450)

## Learned Preferences
- Marie prefers morning meetings
- Deliverable format: always include PDF + Figma
- Coffee: long black, no sugar (for recurring jokes ☕)

## To Remember
- Thomas' birthday: March 15 → wish him
- Hosting renewal: April 2026

Automatic Daily Memory

OpenClaw also creates daily memory files in memory/:

memory/
├── 2026-02-24.md    # Today's notes
├── 2026-02-23.md    # Yesterday
├── 2026-02-22.md    # Day before
└── ...

These files are created automatically and contain important daily events. Your avatar consults them to maintain conversation continuity.

💡 Tip: You can manually write in MEMORY.md to "teach" your avatar things. Just say "Remember that..." and it will update the file.

🔌 Step 4: Connect an LLM via OpenRouter

Your avatar needs a "brain"—a language model (LLM). OpenRouter is a service that gives you access to dozens of models through a single API.

Create an OpenRouter Account

1. Go to openrouter.ai
2. Create an account (free)
3. Generate an API key in settings
4. Add credit (from $5)

Configure the Key in OpenClaw

# Edit the config file
nano ~/.openclaw/.env

Add your key:

OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-your-key-here

Choose Your Model

The model choice affects your avatar's quality and cost:

🎯 Our recommendation for beginners: Claude Sonnet offers the best quality/price balance for a personal avatar. For simple tasks, Gemini Flash as fallback reduces costs.

Model Configuration in OpenClaw

In your OpenClaw config file, set the default model:

# In OpenClaw config
model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514
default_model: google/gemini-2.5-flash

The model is used for main tasks, while default_model handles secondary tasks (summaries, classification, etc.).

💬 Step 5: First Test — Talk to Your Avatar

Everything is configured! Time to test your avatar. Depending on your communication channel:

Via Telegram (Recommended for Beginners)

1. Create a Telegram bot via @BotFather
2. Get the bot token
3. Configure it in OpenClaw:

# Add to your .env
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your-telegram-token

1. Start OpenClaw:

openclaw gateway start

1. Send a message to your bot on Telegram!

First Test Messages

Try these messages to verify everything works:

```
You: "Hi! What can you do?"
You: "What are Marie's rates?"
You: "When is she available for a meeting?"
You: "Remember that my new project deadline is May 15"