Hi everyone,  
I’m completely new to this ecosystem, so apologies if some of my questions don’t make perfect sense.  
I’ve been following ChatGPT’s recommendations while setting up my first AI development environment. It suggested starting with Qwen3.5-9B as my local model, and I’m trying to get everything working on my TrueNAS home lab.  
My hardware  
● TrueNAS SCALE  
● ASUS STRIX Z270G GAMING  
● Intel Core i7-7700K  
● 48 GB DDR4-2666 RAM  
● NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB

My software so far  
● Windows 11 VM for development running of a 512GB Samsung NVME M2  
● WSL, Ubuntu 24.04  
● OpenClaw  
● Tailscale  
● Cloudflare Tunnel  
● MacBook used to remotely access the VM

I’m currently running Jellyfin server with seerr in pair and it’s been amazing ever since I switched to it.

My goal  
I don’t just want to chat with an LLM.  
I’d like to build iOS apps (Swift) or any apps if possible and eventually have multiple AI agents working together on the same project.  
For example:  
● one agent plans the architecture  
● another writes code  
● another reviews PRs  
● another researches APIs  
● another keeps project documentation updated

Ideally I’d like all of them to share the same context and work toward one common goal instead of acting independently.  
I was also thinking about connecting OpenRouter.ai so I could switch between different cloud models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Qwen, MiniMax, etc.) whenever needed.  
I’m stuck at the moment I’m honestly struggling just to get OpenClaw talking to any model reliably.  
I’ve spent quite a while configuring WSL, gateways, and remote access, but I’m still confused about the “correct” architecture for models.

Questions I have:  
● Should I start with a local model like Qwen3.5-9B first, or just use OpenRouter from day one?  
● Can OpenClaw seamlessly switch between local Ollama models and OpenRouter models?  
● Is there a recommended setup for beginners?  
● Is building a shared multi-agent environment actually realistic today, or am I trying to do too much too early?  
● Can n8n be used to orchestrate these agents and visualize workflows, or is there a better alternative?  
I’m trying to learn the “right” way rather than hack something together that I’ll rebuild in two weeks.

Any architecture diagrams, GitHub repos, YouTube videos, or personal setups would be hugely appreciated.

I know it’s very long post, but there are so many questions to ask and it seems that chat gpt or other ai can’t give me a better advice how to make it work.

Thanks in advance!

New to OpenClaw & AI agents - looking for advice on building a multi-agent app development environment