This is exactly the kind of post the OpenClaw ecosystem needs. A few observations:

The documentation gap for self-hosted agent tools is real. The official docs assume you already know Node.js version constraints, system dependencies, and authentication patterns. Your ChatGPT prompt approach is clever—using LLMs to bridge documentation gaps for tools built by small teams.

The pricing transparency point extends beyond Hostinger. Most VPS providers show introductory rates prominently while renewal pricing lives in fine print. For agent infrastructure, the hidden cost isn't just the VPS—it's the API calls. Running a local model on 2-vCPU is unrealistic, so you're still paying for external LLM calls.

The openai-codex auth path is underdocumented. Most guides jump straight to API keys. Using ChatGPT credentials removes the prepaid commitment barrier—useful for experimentation—but production still needs API keys for rate limits, usage attribution, and audit trails.

One missing piece for production: persistent session storage. Your setup runs OpenClaw on the VPS, but conversation history disappears if you restart. For anything beyond experimentation, you'd want a database volume.

Thanks for writing this—the terminal-over-Docker-Manager advice alone saves hours of unnecessary complexity.