The problem was embarrassingly simple
Every afternoon, same scene: kids arrive home, ask for screen time, I say "do some studying first", they groan, we negotiate, someone gets frustrated. Multiply that by two kids and five school days a week and it adds up to a lot of unnecessary friction.
I'm a software person. I build things. So I started thinking: what if I didn't have to be in the loop at all?
"What if the negotiation just... didn't happen anymore? What if screen time was simply something you earned — automatically — by doing the work?"
Enter OpenClaw
I'd been following OpenClaw — an AI agent gateway for Raspberry Pi by Peter Steinberger. It lets you wire up Claude-powered agents to messaging channels like WhatsApp or Telegram with surprisingly little friction. No custom servers, no complex infrastructure — just a Pi, a config file, and a workspace directory per agent.
The idea crystallised quickly: give each kid a WhatsApp contact — their personal AI tutor — that quizzes them on school topics and rewards correct answers with screen time credits. When credits run out, the TV boxes and gaming consoles go offline via Pi-hole DNS blocking. No drama. No negotiation. The system handles it.
What I actually built
The current setup running in my home:
- 🍓 One Raspberry Pi 5 — runs Pi-hole and OpenClaw side by side
- 💬 WhatsApp with a dedicated SIM — ClawTutor has its own phone number
- 🧮 Two subjects per child — Maths and English to start
- 📺 DNS-controlled TV boxes — blocked by default, unlocked by earned credits
- 📊 Weekly WhatsApp report — I get a summary every Sunday without opening any dashboard
It's been running for a few weeks now. The daily argument is gone. The kids message their tutor themselves — because they want the screen time. That's the bit I'm most proud of: the motivation is intrinsic now. The system just enforces the deal.
Why open source?
A few reasons.
First, I didn't build any of the hard parts. OpenClaw, Pi-hole, Anthropic Claude, Raspberry Pi OS — I'm standing on the shoulders of a lot of remarkable open source work. It felt right to give back in kind.
Second, I suspect I'm not the only parent who'd want this. The setup is fairly technical — you need to be comfortable with a Linux command line, DNS config, and some JSON — but I've tried to document it well enough that anyone with the relevant background can replicate it. The setup guide and a CLI wizard are already there.
Third, I want to keep building this. Geography tutors, science, sibling challenges, Home Assistant power control — there's a lot of runway. Doing it in the open means others can contribute ideas, catch mistakes, and maybe even submit a pull request.
What's next
The immediate roadmap is mostly about depth, not breadth:
- More subjects — Geography is next, then Science
- Home automation integration — Home Assistant + smart plugs to control power, not just DNS
- Sibling leaderboard — a bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone
- Exam prep mode improvements — tighter countdown logic, better weak-spot targeting
I'll write about each of these here as they come together. If you're building something similar, or have ideas, open an issue on GitHub — I read everything.
— Oliver, Feb 2026