openclaw/docs/plugins/architecture.md

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Plugin internals: capability model, ownership, contracts, load pipeline, and runtime helpers	Building or debugging native OpenClaw plugins Understanding the plugin capability model or ownership boundaries Working on the plugin load pipeline or registry Implementing provider runtime hooks or channel plugins	Plugin internals	Internals

This is the deep architecture reference for the OpenClaw plugin system. For practical guides, start with one of the focused pages below.

End-user guide for adding, enabling, and troubleshooting plugins. First-plugin tutorial with the smallest working manifest. Build a messaging channel plugin. Build a model provider plugin. Import map and registration API reference.

Public capability model

Capabilities are the public native plugin model inside OpenClaw. Every native OpenClaw plugin registers against one or more capability types:

Capability	Registration method	Example plugins
Text inference	api.registerProvider(...)	openai, anthropic
CLI inference backend	api.registerCliBackend(...)	openai, anthropic
Speech	api.registerSpeechProvider(...)	elevenlabs, microsoft
Realtime transcription	api.registerRealtimeTranscriptionProvider(...)	openai
Realtime voice	api.registerRealtimeVoiceProvider(...)	openai
Media understanding	api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider(...)	openai, google
Image generation	api.registerImageGenerationProvider(...)	openai, google, fal, minimax
Music generation	api.registerMusicGenerationProvider(...)	google, minimax
Video generation	api.registerVideoGenerationProvider(...)	qwen
Web fetch	api.registerWebFetchProvider(...)	firecrawl
Web search	api.registerWebSearchProvider(...)	google
Channel / messaging	api.registerChannel(...)	msteams, matrix

A plugin that registers zero capabilities but provides hooks, tools, or services is a legacy hook-only plugin. That pattern is still fully supported.

External compatibility stance

The capability model is landed in core and used by bundled/native plugins today, but external plugin compatibility still needs a tighter bar than "it is exported, therefore it is frozen."

Plugin situation	Guidance
Existing external plugins	Keep hook-based integrations working; this is the compatibility baseline.
New bundled/native plugins	Prefer explicit capability registration over vendor-specific reach-ins or new hook-only designs.
External plugins adopting capability registration	Allowed, but treat capability-specific helper surfaces as evolving unless docs mark them stable.

Capability registration is the intended direction. Legacy hooks remain the safest no-breakage path for external plugins during the transition. Exported helper subpaths are not all equal — prefer narrow documented contracts over incidental helper exports.

Plugin shapes

OpenClaw classifies every loaded plugin into a shape based on its actual registration behavior (not just static metadata):

• plain-capability: registers exactly one capability type (for example a provider-only plugin like mistral).
• hybrid-capability: registers multiple capability types (for example openai owns text inference, speech, media understanding, and image generation).
• hook-only: registers only hooks (typed or custom), no capabilities, tools, commands, or services.
• non-capability: registers tools, commands, services, or routes but no capabilities.

Use openclaw plugins inspect <id> to see a plugin's shape and capability breakdown. See CLI reference for details.

Legacy hooks

The before_agent_start hook remains supported as a compatibility path for hook-only plugins. Legacy real-world plugins still depend on it.

Direction:

• keep it working
• document it as legacy
• prefer before_model_resolve for model/provider override work
• prefer before_prompt_build for prompt mutation work
• remove only after real usage drops and fixture coverage proves migration safety

Compatibility signals

When you run openclaw doctor or openclaw plugins inspect <id>, you may see one of these labels:

Signal	Meaning
config valid	Config parses fine and plugins resolve
compatibility advisory	Plugin uses a supported-but-older pattern (e.g. hook-only)
legacy warning	Plugin uses before_agent_start, which is deprecated
hard error	Config is invalid or plugin failed to load

Neither hook-only nor before_agent_start will break your plugin today: hook-only is advisory, and before_agent_start only triggers a warning. These signals also appear in openclaw status --all and openclaw plugins doctor.

Architecture overview

OpenClaw's plugin system has four layers:

1. Manifest + discovery OpenClaw finds candidate plugins from configured paths, workspace roots, global plugin roots, and bundled plugins. Discovery reads native openclaw.plugin.json manifests plus supported bundle manifests first.
2. Enablement + validation Core decides whether a discovered plugin is enabled, disabled, blocked, or selected for an exclusive slot such as memory.
3. Runtime loading Native OpenClaw plugins are loaded in-process via jiti and register capabilities into a central registry. Compatible bundles are normalized into registry records without importing runtime code.
4. Surface consumption The rest of OpenClaw reads the registry to expose tools, channels, provider setup, hooks, HTTP routes, CLI commands, and services.

For plugin CLI specifically, root command discovery is split in two phases:

• parse-time metadata comes from registerCli(..., { descriptors: [...] })
• the real plugin CLI module can stay lazy and register on first invocation

That keeps plugin-owned CLI code inside the plugin while still letting OpenClaw reserve root command names before parsing.

The important design boundary:

• discovery + config validation should work from manifest/schema metadata without executing plugin code
• native runtime behavior comes from the plugin module's register(api) path

That split lets OpenClaw validate config, explain missing/disabled plugins, and build UI/schema hints before the full runtime is active.

Channel plugins and the shared message tool

Channel plugins do not need to register a separate send/edit/react tool for normal chat actions. OpenClaw keeps one shared message tool in core, and channel plugins own the channel-specific discovery and execution behind it.

The current boundary is:

• core owns the shared message tool host, prompt wiring, session/thread bookkeeping, and execution dispatch
• channel plugins own scoped action discovery, capability discovery, and any channel-specific schema fragments
• channel plugins own provider-specific session conversation grammar, such as how conversation ids encode thread ids or inherit from parent conversations
• channel plugins execute the final action through their action adapter

For channel plugins, the SDK surface is ChannelMessageActionAdapter.describeMessageTool(...). That unified discovery call lets a plugin return its visible actions, capabilities, and schema contributions together so those pieces do not drift apart.

When a channel-specific message-tool param carries a media source such as a local path or remote media URL, the plugin should also return mediaSourceParams from describeMessageTool(...). Core uses that explicit list to apply sandbox path normalization and outbound media-access hints without hardcoding plugin-owned param names. Prefer action-scoped maps there, not one channel-wide flat list, so a profile-only media param does not get normalized on unrelated actions like send.

Core passes runtime scope into that discovery step. Important fields include:

• accountId
• currentChannelId
• currentThreadTs
• currentMessageId
• sessionKey
• sessionId
• agentId
• trusted inbound requesterSenderId

That matters for context-sensitive plugins. A channel can hide or expose message actions based on the active account, current room/thread/message, or trusted requester identity without hardcoding channel-specific branches in the core message tool.

This is why embedded-runner routing changes are still plugin work: the runner is responsible for forwarding the current chat/session identity into the plugin discovery boundary so the shared message tool exposes the right channel-owned surface for the current turn.

For channel-owned execution helpers, bundled plugins should keep the execution runtime inside their own extension modules. Core no longer owns the Discord, Slack, Telegram, or WhatsApp message-action runtimes under src/agents/tools. We do not publish separate plugin-sdk/*-action-runtime subpaths, and bundled plugins should import their own local runtime code directly from their extension-owned modules.

The same boundary applies to provider-named SDK seams in general: core should not import channel-specific convenience barrels for Slack, Discord, Signal, WhatsApp, or similar extensions. If core needs a behavior, either consume the bundled plugin's own api.ts / runtime-api.ts barrel or promote the need into a narrow generic capability in the shared SDK.

For polls specifically, there are two execution paths:

• outbound.sendPoll is the shared baseline for channels that fit the common poll model
• actions.handleAction("poll") is the preferred path for channel-specific poll semantics or extra poll parameters

Core now defers shared poll parsing until after plugin poll dispatch declines the action, so plugin-owned poll handlers can accept channel-specific poll fields without being blocked by the generic poll parser first.

See Load pipeline for the full startup sequence.

Capability ownership model

OpenClaw treats a native plugin as the ownership boundary for a company or a feature, not as a grab bag of unrelated integrations.

That means:

• a company plugin should usually own all of that company's OpenClaw-facing surfaces
• a feature plugin should usually own the full feature surface it introduces
• channels should consume shared core capabilities instead of re-implementing provider behavior ad hoc

- **Vendor multi-capability**: `openai` owns text inference, speech, realtime voice, media understanding, and image generation. `google` owns text inference plus media understanding, image generation, and web search. `qwen` owns text inference plus media understanding and video generation. - **Vendor single-capability**: `elevenlabs` and `microsoft` own speech; `firecrawl` owns web-fetch; `minimax` / `mistral` / `moonshot` / `zai` own media-understanding backends. - **Feature plugin**: `voice-call` owns call transport, tools, CLI, routes, and Twilio media-stream bridging, but consumes shared speech, realtime transcription, and realtime voice capabilities instead of importing vendor plugins directly.

The intended end state is:

• OpenAI lives in one plugin even if it spans text models, speech, images, and future video
• another vendor can do the same for its own surface area
• channels do not care which vendor plugin owns the provider; they consume the shared capability contract exposed by core

This is the key distinction:

• plugin = ownership boundary
• capability = core contract that multiple plugins can implement or consume

So if OpenClaw adds a new domain such as video, the first question is not "which provider should hardcode video handling?" The first question is "what is the core video capability contract?" Once that contract exists, vendor plugins can register against it and channel/feature plugins can consume it.

If the capability does not exist yet, the right move is usually:

1. define the missing capability in core
2. expose it through the plugin API/runtime in a typed way
3. wire channels/features against that capability
4. let vendor plugins register implementations

This keeps ownership explicit while avoiding core behavior that depends on a single vendor or a one-off plugin-specific code path.

Capability layering

Use this mental model when deciding where code belongs:

• core capability layer: shared orchestration, policy, fallback, config merge rules, delivery semantics, and typed contracts
• vendor plugin layer: vendor-specific APIs, auth, model catalogs, speech synthesis, image generation, future video backends, usage endpoints
• channel/feature plugin layer: Slack/Discord/voice-call/etc. integration that consumes core capabilities and presents them on a surface

For example, TTS follows this shape:

• core owns reply-time TTS policy, fallback order, prefs, and channel delivery
• openai, elevenlabs, and microsoft own synthesis implementations
• voice-call consumes the telephony TTS runtime helper

That same pattern should be preferred for future capabilities.

Multi-capability company plugin example

A company plugin should feel cohesive from the outside. If OpenClaw has shared contracts for models, speech, realtime transcription, realtime voice, media understanding, image generation, video generation, web fetch, and web search, a vendor can own all of its surfaces in one place:

import type { OpenClawPluginDefinition } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
import {
  describeImageWithModel,
  transcribeOpenAiCompatibleAudio,
} from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/media-understanding";

const plugin: OpenClawPluginDefinition = {
  id: "exampleai",
  name: "ExampleAI",
  register(api) {
    api.registerProvider({
      id: "exampleai",
      // auth/model catalog/runtime hooks
    });

    api.registerSpeechProvider({
      id: "exampleai",
      // vendor speech config — implement the SpeechProviderPlugin interface directly
    });

    api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider({
      id: "exampleai",
      capabilities: ["image", "audio", "video"],
      async describeImage(req) {
        return describeImageWithModel({
          provider: "exampleai",
          model: req.model,
          input: req.input,
        });
      },
      async transcribeAudio(req) {
        return transcribeOpenAiCompatibleAudio({
          provider: "exampleai",
          model: req.model,
          input: req.input,
        });
      },
    });

    api.registerWebSearchProvider(
      createPluginBackedWebSearchProvider({
        id: "exampleai-search",
        // credential + fetch logic
      }),
    );
  },
};

export default plugin;

What matters is not the exact helper names. The shape matters:

• one plugin owns the vendor surface
• core still owns the capability contracts
• channels and feature plugins consume api.runtime.* helpers, not vendor code
• contract tests can assert that the plugin registered the capabilities it claims to own

Capability example: video understanding

OpenClaw already treats image/audio/video understanding as one shared capability. The same ownership model applies there:

1. core defines the media-understanding contract
2. vendor plugins register describeImage, transcribeAudio, and describeVideo as applicable
3. channels and feature plugins consume the shared core behavior instead of wiring directly to vendor code

That avoids baking one provider's video assumptions into core. The plugin owns the vendor surface; core owns the capability contract and fallback behavior.

Video generation already uses that same sequence: core owns the typed capability contract and runtime helper, and vendor plugins register api.registerVideoGenerationProvider(...) implementations against it.

Need a concrete rollout checklist? See Capability Cookbook.

Contracts and enforcement

The plugin API surface is intentionally typed and centralized in OpenClawPluginApi. That contract defines the supported registration points and the runtime helpers a plugin may rely on.

Why this matters:

• plugin authors get one stable internal standard
• core can reject duplicate ownership such as two plugins registering the same provider id
• startup can surface actionable diagnostics for malformed registration
• contract tests can enforce bundled-plugin ownership and prevent silent drift

There are two layers of enforcement:

1. runtime registration enforcement The plugin registry validates registrations as plugins load. Examples: duplicate provider ids, duplicate speech provider ids, and malformed registrations produce plugin diagnostics instead of undefined behavior.
2. contract tests Bundled plugins are captured in contract registries during test runs so OpenClaw can assert ownership explicitly. Today this is used for model providers, speech providers, web search providers, and bundled registration ownership.

The practical effect is that OpenClaw knows, up front, which plugin owns which surface. That lets core and channels compose seamlessly because ownership is declared, typed, and testable rather than implicit.

What belongs in a contract

Good plugin contracts are:

• typed
• small
• capability-specific
• owned by core
• reusable by multiple plugins
• consumable by channels/features without vendor knowledge

Bad plugin contracts are:

• vendor-specific policy hidden in core
• one-off plugin escape hatches that bypass the registry
• channel code reaching straight into a vendor implementation
• ad hoc runtime objects that are not part of OpenClawPluginApi or api.runtime

When in doubt, raise the abstraction level: define the capability first, then let plugins plug into it.

Execution model

Native OpenClaw plugins run in-process with the Gateway. They are not sandboxed. A loaded native plugin has the same process-level trust boundary as core code.

Implications:

• a native plugin can register tools, network handlers, hooks, and services
• a native plugin bug can crash or destabilize the gateway
• a malicious native plugin is equivalent to arbitrary code execution inside the OpenClaw process

Compatible bundles are safer by default because OpenClaw currently treats them as metadata/content packs. In current releases, that mostly means bundled skills.

Use allowlists and explicit install/load paths for non-bundled plugins. Treat workspace plugins as development-time code, not production defaults.

For bundled workspace package names, keep the plugin id anchored in the npm name: @openclaw/<id> by default, or an approved typed suffix such as -provider, -plugin, -speech, -sandbox, or -media-understanding when the package intentionally exposes a narrower plugin role.

Important trust note:

• plugins.allow trusts plugin ids, not source provenance.
• A workspace plugin with the same id as a bundled plugin intentionally shadows the bundled copy when that workspace plugin is enabled/allowlisted.
• This is normal and useful for local development, patch testing, and hotfixes.
• Bundled-plugin trust is resolved from the source snapshot — the manifest and code on disk at load time — rather than from install metadata. A corrupted or substituted install record cannot silently widen a bundled plugin's trust surface beyond what the actual source claims.

Export boundary

OpenClaw exports capabilities, not implementation convenience.

Keep capability registration public. Trim non-contract helper exports:

• bundled-plugin-specific helper subpaths
• runtime plumbing subpaths not intended as public API
• vendor-specific convenience helpers
• setup/onboarding helpers that are implementation details

Some bundled-plugin helper subpaths still remain in the generated SDK export map for compatibility and bundled-plugin maintenance. Current examples include plugin-sdk/feishu, plugin-sdk/feishu-setup, plugin-sdk/zalo, plugin-sdk/zalo-setup, and several plugin-sdk/matrix* seams. Treat those as reserved implementation-detail exports, not as the recommended SDK pattern for new third-party plugins.

Load pipeline

At startup, OpenClaw does roughly this:

1. discover candidate plugin roots
2. read native or compatible bundle manifests and package metadata
3. reject unsafe candidates
4. normalize plugin config (plugins.enabled, allow, deny, entries, slots, load.paths)
5. decide enablement for each candidate
6. load enabled native modules: built bundled modules use a native loader; unbuilt native plugins use jiti
7. call native register(api) hooks and collect registrations into the plugin registry
8. expose the registry to commands/runtime surfaces

`activate` is a legacy alias for `register` — the loader resolves whichever is present (`def.register ?? def.activate`) and calls it at the same point. All bundled plugins use `register`; prefer `register` for new plugins.

The safety gates happen before runtime execution. Candidates are blocked when the entry escapes the plugin root, the path is world-writable, or path ownership looks suspicious for non-bundled plugins.

Manifest-first behavior

The manifest is the control-plane source of truth. OpenClaw uses it to:

• identify the plugin
• discover declared channels/skills/config schema or bundle capabilities
• validate plugins.entries.<id>.config
• augment Control UI labels/placeholders
• show install/catalog metadata
• preserve cheap activation and setup descriptors without loading plugin runtime

For native plugins, the runtime module is the data-plane part. It registers actual behavior such as hooks, tools, commands, or provider flows.

Optional manifest activation and setup blocks stay on the control plane. They are metadata-only descriptors for activation planning and setup discovery; they do not replace runtime registration, register(...), or setupEntry. The first live activation consumers now use manifest command, channel, and provider hints to narrow plugin loading before broader registry materialization:

• CLI loading narrows to plugins that own the requested primary command
• channel setup/plugin resolution narrows to plugins that own the requested channel id
• explicit provider setup/runtime resolution narrows to plugins that own the requested provider id

Setup discovery now prefers descriptor-owned ids such as setup.providers and setup.cliBackends to narrow candidate plugins before it falls back to setup-api for plugins that still need setup-time runtime hooks. If more than one discovered plugin claims the same normalized setup provider or CLI backend id, setup lookup refuses the ambiguous owner instead of relying on discovery order.

What the loader caches

OpenClaw keeps short in-process caches for:

• discovery results
• manifest registry data
• loaded plugin registries

These caches reduce bursty startup and repeated command overhead. They are safe to think of as short-lived performance caches, not persistence.

Performance note:

• Set OPENCLAW_DISABLE_PLUGIN_DISCOVERY_CACHE=1 or OPENCLAW_DISABLE_PLUGIN_MANIFEST_CACHE=1 to disable these caches.
• Tune cache windows with OPENCLAW_PLUGIN_DISCOVERY_CACHE_MS and OPENCLAW_PLUGIN_MANIFEST_CACHE_MS.

Registry model

Loaded plugins do not directly mutate random core globals. They register into a central plugin registry.

The registry tracks:

• plugin records (identity, source, origin, status, diagnostics)
• tools
• legacy hooks and typed hooks
• channels
• providers
• gateway RPC handlers
• HTTP routes
• CLI registrars
• background services
• plugin-owned commands

Core features then read from that registry instead of talking to plugin modules directly. This keeps loading one-way:

• plugin module -> registry registration
• core runtime -> registry consumption

That separation matters for maintainability. It means most core surfaces only need one integration point: "read the registry", not "special-case every plugin module".

Conversation binding callbacks

Plugins that bind a conversation can react when an approval is resolved.

Use api.onConversationBindingResolved(...) to receive a callback after a bind request is approved or denied:

export default {
  id: "my-plugin",
  register(api) {
    api.onConversationBindingResolved(async (event) => {
      if (event.status === "approved") {
        // A binding now exists for this plugin + conversation.
        console.log(event.binding?.conversationId);
        return;
      }

      // The request was denied; clear any local pending state.
      console.log(event.request.conversation.conversationId);
    });
  },
};

Callback payload fields:

• status: "approved" or "denied"
• decision: "allow-once", "allow-always", or "deny"
• binding: the resolved binding for approved requests
• request: the original request summary, detach hint, sender id, and conversation metadata

This callback is notification-only. It does not change who is allowed to bind a conversation, and it runs after core approval handling finishes.

Provider runtime hooks

Provider plugins have three layers:

• Manifest metadata for cheap pre-runtime lookup: providerAuthEnvVars, providerAuthAliases, providerAuthChoices, and channelEnvVars.
• Config-time hooks: catalog (legacy discovery) plus applyConfigDefaults.
• Runtime hooks: 40+ optional hooks covering auth, model resolution, stream wrapping, thinking levels, replay policy, and usage endpoints. See the full list under Hook order and usage.

OpenClaw still owns the generic agent loop, failover, transcript handling, and tool policy. These hooks are the extension surface for provider-specific behavior without needing a whole custom inference transport.

Use manifest providerAuthEnvVars when the provider has env-based credentials that generic auth/status/model-picker paths should see without loading plugin runtime. Use manifest providerAuthAliases when one provider id should reuse another provider id's env vars, auth profiles, config-backed auth, and API-key onboarding choice. Use manifest providerAuthChoices when onboarding/auth-choice CLI surfaces should know the provider's choice id, group labels, and simple one-flag auth wiring without loading provider runtime. Keep provider runtime envVars for operator-facing hints such as onboarding labels or OAuth client-id/client-secret setup vars.

Use manifest channelEnvVars when a channel has env-driven auth or setup that generic shell-env fallback, config/status checks, or setup prompts should see without loading channel runtime.

Hook order and usage

For model/provider plugins, OpenClaw calls hooks in this rough order. The "When to use" column is the quick decision guide.

#	Hook	What it does	When to use
1	catalog	Publish provider config into models.providers during models.json generation	Provider owns a catalog or base URL defaults
2	applyConfigDefaults	Apply provider-owned global config defaults during config materialization	Defaults depend on auth mode, env, or provider model-family semantics
--	(built-in model lookup)	OpenClaw tries the normal registry/catalog path first	(not a plugin hook)
3	normalizeModelId	Normalize legacy or preview model-id aliases before lookup	Provider owns alias cleanup before canonical model resolution
4	normalizeTransport	Normalize provider-family api / baseUrl before generic model assembly	Provider owns transport cleanup for custom provider ids in the same transport family
5	normalizeConfig	Normalize models.providers.<id> before runtime/provider resolution	Provider needs config cleanup that should live with the plugin; bundled Google-family helpers also backstop supported Google config entries
6	applyNativeStreamingUsageCompat	Apply native streaming-usage compat rewrites to config providers	Provider needs endpoint-driven native streaming usage metadata fixes
7	resolveConfigApiKey	Resolve env-marker auth for config providers before runtime auth loading	Provider has provider-owned env-marker API-key resolution; amazon-bedrock also has a built-in AWS env-marker resolver here
8	resolveSyntheticAuth	Surface local/self-hosted or config-backed auth without persisting plaintext	Provider can operate with a synthetic/local credential marker
9	resolveExternalAuthProfiles	Overlay provider-owned external auth profiles; default persistence is runtime-only for CLI/app-owned creds	Provider reuses external auth credentials without persisting copied refresh tokens; declare contracts.externalAuthProviders in the manifest
10	shouldDeferSyntheticProfileAuth	Lower stored synthetic profile placeholders behind env/config-backed auth	Provider stores synthetic placeholder profiles that should not win precedence
11	resolveDynamicModel	Sync fallback for provider-owned model ids not in the local registry yet	Provider accepts arbitrary upstream model ids
12	prepareDynamicModel	Async warm-up, then resolveDynamicModel runs again	Provider needs network metadata before resolving unknown ids
13	normalizeResolvedModel	Final rewrite before the embedded runner uses the resolved model	Provider needs transport rewrites but still uses a core transport
14	contributeResolvedModelCompat	Contribute compat flags for vendor models behind another compatible transport	Provider recognizes its own models on proxy transports without taking over the provider
15	capabilities	Provider-owned transcript/tooling metadata used by shared core logic	Provider needs transcript/provider-family quirks
16	normalizeToolSchemas	Normalize tool schemas before the embedded runner sees them	Provider needs transport-family schema cleanup
17	inspectToolSchemas	Surface provider-owned schema diagnostics after normalization	Provider wants keyword warnings without teaching core provider-specific rules
18	resolveReasoningOutputMode	Select native vs tagged reasoning-output contract	Provider needs tagged reasoning/final output instead of native fields
19	prepareExtraParams	Request-param normalization before generic stream option wrappers	Provider needs default request params or per-provider param cleanup
20	createStreamFn	Fully replace the normal stream path with a custom transport	Provider needs a custom wire protocol, not just a wrapper
21	wrapStreamFn	Stream wrapper after generic wrappers are applied	Provider needs request headers/body/model compat wrappers without a custom transport
22	resolveTransportTurnState	Attach native per-turn transport headers or metadata	Provider wants generic transports to send provider-native turn identity
23	resolveWebSocketSessionPolicy	Attach native WebSocket headers or session cool-down policy	Provider wants generic WS transports to tune session headers or fallback policy
24	formatApiKey	Auth-profile formatter: stored profile becomes the runtime apiKey string	Provider stores extra auth metadata and needs a custom runtime token shape
25	refreshOAuth	OAuth refresh override for custom refresh endpoints or refresh-failure policy	Provider does not fit the shared pi-ai refreshers
26	buildAuthDoctorHint	Repair hint appended when OAuth refresh fails	Provider needs provider-owned auth repair guidance after refresh failure
27	matchesContextOverflowError	Provider-owned context-window overflow matcher	Provider has raw overflow errors generic heuristics would miss
28	classifyFailoverReason	Provider-owned failover reason classification	Provider can map raw API/transport errors to rate-limit/overload/etc
29	isCacheTtlEligible	Prompt-cache policy for proxy/backhaul providers	Provider needs proxy-specific cache TTL gating
30	buildMissingAuthMessage	Replacement for the generic missing-auth recovery message	Provider needs a provider-specific missing-auth recovery hint
31	suppressBuiltInModel	Stale upstream model suppression plus optional user-facing error hint	Provider needs to hide stale upstream rows or replace them with a vendor hint
32	augmentModelCatalog	Synthetic/final catalog rows appended after discovery	Provider needs synthetic forward-compat rows in models list and pickers
33	resolveThinkingProfile	Model-specific /think level set, display labels, and default	Provider exposes a custom thinking ladder or binary label for selected models
34	isBinaryThinking	On/off reasoning toggle compatibility hook	Provider exposes only binary thinking on/off
35	supportsXHighThinking	xhigh reasoning support compatibility hook	Provider wants xhigh on only a subset of models
36	resolveDefaultThinkingLevel	Default /think level compatibility hook	Provider owns default /think policy for a model family
37	isModernModelRef	Modern-model matcher for live profile filters and smoke selection	Provider owns live/smoke preferred-model matching
38	prepareRuntimeAuth	Exchange a configured credential into the actual runtime token/key just before inference	Provider needs a token exchange or short-lived request credential
39	resolveUsageAuth	Resolve usage/billing credentials for /usage and related status surfaces	Provider needs custom usage/quota token parsing or a different usage credential
40	fetchUsageSnapshot	Fetch and normalize provider-specific usage/quota snapshots after auth is resolved	Provider needs a provider-specific usage endpoint or payload parser
41	createEmbeddingProvider	Build a provider-owned embedding adapter for memory/search	Memory embedding behavior belongs with the provider plugin
42	buildReplayPolicy	Return a replay policy controlling transcript handling for the provider	Provider needs custom transcript policy (for example, thinking-block stripping)
43	sanitizeReplayHistory	Rewrite replay history after generic transcript cleanup	Provider needs provider-specific replay rewrites beyond shared compaction helpers
44	validateReplayTurns	Final replay-turn validation or reshaping before the embedded runner	Provider transport needs stricter turn validation after generic sanitation
45	onModelSelected	Run provider-owned post-selection side effects	Provider needs telemetry or provider-owned state when a model becomes active

normalizeModelId, normalizeTransport, and normalizeConfig first check the matched provider plugin, then fall through other hook-capable provider plugins until one actually changes the model id or transport/config. That keeps alias/compat provider shims working without requiring the caller to know which bundled plugin owns the rewrite. If no provider hook rewrites a supported Google-family config entry, the bundled Google config normalizer still applies that compatibility cleanup.

If the provider needs a fully custom wire protocol or custom request executor, that is a different class of extension. These hooks are for provider behavior that still runs on OpenClaw's normal inference loop.

Provider example

api.registerProvider({
  id: "example-proxy",
  label: "Example Proxy",
  auth: [],
  catalog: {
    order: "simple",
    run: async (ctx) => {
      const apiKey = ctx.resolveProviderApiKey("example-proxy").apiKey;
      if (!apiKey) {
        return null;
      }
      return {
        provider: {
          baseUrl: "https://proxy.example.com/v1",
          apiKey,
          api: "openai-completions",
          models: [{ id: "auto", name: "Auto" }],
        },
      };
    },
  },
  resolveDynamicModel: (ctx) => ({
    id: ctx.modelId,
    name: ctx.modelId,
    provider: "example-proxy",
    api: "openai-completions",
    baseUrl: "https://proxy.example.com/v1",
    reasoning: false,
    input: ["text"],
    cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
    contextWindow: 128000,
    maxTokens: 8192,
  }),
  prepareRuntimeAuth: async (ctx) => {
    const exchanged = await exchangeToken(ctx.apiKey);
    return {
      apiKey: exchanged.token,
      baseUrl: exchanged.baseUrl,
      expiresAt: exchanged.expiresAt,
    };
  },
  resolveUsageAuth: async (ctx) => {
    const auth = await ctx.resolveOAuthToken();
    return auth ? { token: auth.token } : null;
  },
  fetchUsageSnapshot: async (ctx) => {
    return await fetchExampleProxyUsage(ctx.token, ctx.timeoutMs, ctx.fetchFn);
  },
});

Built-in examples

Bundled provider plugins combine the hooks above to fit each vendor's catalog, auth, thinking, replay, and usage needs. The authoritative hook set lives with each plugin under extensions/; this page illustrates the shapes rather than mirroring the list.

OpenRouter, Kilocode, Z.AI, xAI register `catalog` plus `resolveDynamicModel` / `prepareDynamicModel` so they can surface upstream model ids ahead of OpenClaw's static catalog. GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, ChatGPT Codex, MiniMax, Xiaomi, z.ai pair `prepareRuntimeAuth` or `formatApiKey` with `resolveUsageAuth` + `fetchUsageSnapshot` to own token exchange and `/usage` integration. Shared named families (`google-gemini`, `passthrough-gemini`, `anthropic-by-model`, `hybrid-anthropic-openai`) let providers opt into transcript policy via `buildReplayPolicy` instead of each plugin re-implementing cleanup. `byteplus`, `cloudflare-ai-gateway`, `huggingface`, `kimi-coding`, `nvidia`, `qianfan`, `synthetic`, `together`, `venice`, `vercel-ai-gateway`, and `volcengine` register just `catalog` and ride the shared inference loop. Beta headers, `/fast` / `serviceTier`, and `context1m` live inside the Anthropic plugin's public `api.ts` / `contract-api.ts` seam (`wrapAnthropicProviderStream`, `resolveAnthropicBetas`, `resolveAnthropicFastMode`, `resolveAnthropicServiceTier`) rather than in the generic SDK.

Runtime helpers

Plugins can access selected core helpers via api.runtime. For TTS:

const clip = await api.runtime.tts.textToSpeech({
  text: "Hello from OpenClaw",
  cfg: api.config,
});

const result = await api.runtime.tts.textToSpeechTelephony({
  text: "Hello from OpenClaw",
  cfg: api.config,
});

const voices = await api.runtime.tts.listVoices({
  provider: "elevenlabs",
  cfg: api.config,
});

Notes:

• textToSpeech returns the normal core TTS output payload for file/voice-note surfaces.
• Uses core messages.tts configuration and provider selection.
• Returns PCM audio buffer + sample rate. Plugins must resample/encode for providers.
• listVoices is optional per provider. Use it for vendor-owned voice pickers or setup flows.
• Voice listings can include richer metadata such as locale, gender, and personality tags for provider-aware pickers.
• OpenAI and ElevenLabs support telephony today. Microsoft does not.

Plugins can also register speech providers via api.registerSpeechProvider(...).

api.registerSpeechProvider({
  id: "acme-speech",
  label: "Acme Speech",
  isConfigured: ({ config }) => Boolean(config.messages?.tts),
  synthesize: async (req) => {
    return {
      audioBuffer: Buffer.from([]),
      outputFormat: "mp3",
      fileExtension: ".mp3",
      voiceCompatible: false,
    };
  },
});

Notes:

• Keep TTS policy, fallback, and reply delivery in core.
• Use speech providers for vendor-owned synthesis behavior.
• Legacy Microsoft edge input is normalized to the microsoft provider id.
• The preferred ownership model is company-oriented: one vendor plugin can own text, speech, image, and future media providers as OpenClaw adds those capability contracts.

For image/audio/video understanding, plugins register one typed media-understanding provider instead of a generic key/value bag:

api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider({
  id: "google",
  capabilities: ["image", "audio", "video"],
  describeImage: async (req) => ({ text: "..." }),
  transcribeAudio: async (req) => ({ text: "..." }),
  describeVideo: async (req) => ({ text: "..." }),
});

Notes:

• Keep orchestration, fallback, config, and channel wiring in core.
• Keep vendor behavior in the provider plugin.
• Additive expansion should stay typed: new optional methods, new optional result fields, new optional capabilities.
• Video generation already follows the same pattern:
  • core owns the capability contract and runtime helper
  • vendor plugins register api.registerVideoGenerationProvider(...)
  • feature/channel plugins consume api.runtime.videoGeneration.*

For media-understanding runtime helpers, plugins can call:

const image = await api.runtime.mediaUnderstanding.describeImageFile({
  filePath: "/tmp/inbound-photo.jpg",
  cfg: api.config,
  agentDir: "/tmp/agent",
});

const video = await api.runtime.mediaUnderstanding.describeVideoFile({
  filePath: "/tmp/inbound-video.mp4",
  cfg: api.config,
});

For audio transcription, plugins can use either the media-understanding runtime or the older STT alias:

const { text } = await api.runtime.mediaUnderstanding.transcribeAudioFile({
  filePath: "/tmp/inbound-audio.ogg",
  cfg: api.config,
  // Optional when MIME cannot be inferred reliably:
  mime: "audio/ogg",
});

Notes:

• api.runtime.mediaUnderstanding.* is the preferred shared surface for image/audio/video understanding.
• Uses core media-understanding audio configuration (tools.media.audio) and provider fallback order.
• Returns { text: undefined } when no transcription output is produced (for example skipped/unsupported input).
• api.runtime.stt.transcribeAudioFile(...) remains as a compatibility alias.

Plugins can also launch background subagent runs through api.runtime.subagent:

const result = await api.runtime.subagent.run({
  sessionKey: "agent:main:subagent:search-helper",
  message: "Expand this query into focused follow-up searches.",
  provider: "openai",
  model: "gpt-4.1-mini",
  deliver: false,
});

Notes:

• provider and model are optional per-run overrides, not persistent session changes.
• OpenClaw only honors those override fields for trusted callers.
• For plugin-owned fallback runs, operators must opt in with plugins.entries.<id>.subagent.allowModelOverride: true.
• Use plugins.entries.<id>.subagent.allowedModels to restrict trusted plugins to specific canonical provider/model targets, or "*" to allow any target explicitly.
• Untrusted plugin subagent runs still work, but override requests are rejected instead of silently falling back.

For web search, plugins can consume the shared runtime helper instead of reaching into the agent tool wiring:

const providers = api.runtime.webSearch.listProviders({
  config: api.config,
});

const result = await api.runtime.webSearch.search({
  config: api.config,
  args: {
    query: "OpenClaw plugin runtime helpers",
    count: 5,
  },
});

Plugins can also register web-search providers via api.registerWebSearchProvider(...).

Notes:

• Keep provider selection, credential resolution, and shared request semantics in core.
• Use web-search providers for vendor-specific search transports.
• api.runtime.webSearch.* is the preferred shared surface for feature/channel plugins that need search behavior without depending on the agent tool wrapper.

api.runtime.imageGeneration

const result = await api.runtime.imageGeneration.generate({
  config: api.config,
  args: { prompt: "A friendly lobster mascot", size: "1024x1024" },
});

const providers = api.runtime.imageGeneration.listProviders({
  config: api.config,
});

• generate(...): generate an image using the configured image-generation provider chain.
• listProviders(...): list available image-generation providers and their capabilities.

Gateway HTTP routes

Plugins can expose HTTP endpoints with api.registerHttpRoute(...).

api.registerHttpRoute({
  path: "/acme/webhook",
  auth: "plugin",
  match: "exact",
  handler: async (_req, res) => {
    res.statusCode = 200;
    res.end("ok");
    return true;
  },
});

Route fields:

• path: route path under the gateway HTTP server.
• auth: required. Use "gateway" to require normal gateway auth, or "plugin" for plugin-managed auth/webhook verification.
• match: optional. "exact" (default) or "prefix".
• replaceExisting: optional. Allows the same plugin to replace its own existing route registration.
• handler: return true when the route handled the request.

Notes:

• api.registerHttpHandler(...) was removed and will cause a plugin-load error. Use api.registerHttpRoute(...) instead.
• Plugin routes must declare auth explicitly.
• Exact path + match conflicts are rejected unless replaceExisting: true, and one plugin cannot replace another plugin's route.
• Overlapping routes with different auth levels are rejected. Keep exact/prefix fallthrough chains on the same auth level only.
• auth: "plugin" routes do not receive operator runtime scopes automatically. They are for plugin-managed webhooks/signature verification, not privileged Gateway helper calls.
• auth: "gateway" routes run inside a Gateway request runtime scope, but that scope is intentionally conservative:
  • shared-secret bearer auth (gateway.auth.mode = "token" / "password") keeps plugin-route runtime scopes pinned to operator.write, even if the caller sends x-openclaw-scopes
  • trusted identity-bearing HTTP modes (for example trusted-proxy or gateway.auth.mode = "none" on a private ingress) honor x-openclaw-scopes only when the header is explicitly present
  • if x-openclaw-scopes is absent on those identity-bearing plugin-route requests, runtime scope falls back to operator.write
• Practical rule: do not assume a gateway-auth plugin route is an implicit admin surface. If your route needs admin-only behavior, require an identity-bearing auth mode and document the explicit x-openclaw-scopes header contract.

Plugin SDK import paths

Use narrow SDK subpaths instead of the monolithic openclaw/plugin-sdk root barrel when authoring new plugins. Core subpaths:

Subpath	Purpose
openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry	Plugin registration primitives
openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core	Channel entry/build helpers
openclaw/plugin-sdk/core	Generic shared helpers and umbrella contract
openclaw/plugin-sdk/config-schema	Root openclaw.json Zod schema (OpenClawSchema)

Channel plugins pick from a family of narrow seams — channel-setup, setup-runtime, setup-adapter-runtime, setup-tools, channel-pairing, channel-contract, channel-feedback, channel-inbound, channel-lifecycle, channel-reply-pipeline, command-auth, secret-input, webhook-ingress, channel-targets, and channel-actions. Approval behavior should consolidate on one approvalCapability contract rather than mixing across unrelated plugin fields. See Channel plugins.

Runtime and config helpers live under matching *-runtime subpaths (approval-runtime, config-runtime, infra-runtime, agent-runtime, lazy-runtime, directory-runtime, text-runtime, runtime-store, etc.).

`openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-runtime` is deprecated — a compatibility shim for older plugins. New code should import narrower generic primitives instead.

Repo-internal entry points (per bundled plugin package root):

• index.js — bundled plugin entry
• api.js — helper/types barrel
• runtime-api.js — runtime-only barrel
• setup-entry.js — setup plugin entry

External plugins should only import openclaw/plugin-sdk/* subpaths. Never import another plugin package's src/* from core or from another plugin. Facade-loaded entry points prefer the active runtime config snapshot when one exists, then fall back to the resolved config file on disk.

Capability-specific subpaths such as image-generation, media-understanding, and speech exist because bundled plugins use them today. They are not automatically long-term frozen external contracts — check the relevant SDK reference page when relying on them.

Message tool schemas

Plugins should own channel-specific describeMessageTool(...) schema contributions for non-message primitives such as reactions, reads, and polls. Shared send presentation should use the generic MessagePresentation contract instead of provider-native button, component, block, or card fields. See Message Presentation for the contract, fallback rules, provider mapping, and plugin author checklist.

Send-capable plugins declare what they can render through message capabilities:

• presentation for semantic presentation blocks (text, context, divider, buttons, select)
• delivery-pin for pinned-delivery requests

Core decides whether to render the presentation natively or degrade it to text. Do not expose provider-native UI escape hatches from the generic message tool. Deprecated SDK helpers for legacy native schemas remain exported for existing third-party plugins, but new plugins should not use them.

Channel target resolution

Channel plugins should own channel-specific target semantics. Keep the shared outbound host generic and use the messaging adapter surface for provider rules:

• messaging.inferTargetChatType({ to }) decides whether a normalized target should be treated as direct, group, or channel before directory lookup.
• messaging.targetResolver.looksLikeId(raw, normalized) tells core whether an input should skip straight to id-like resolution instead of directory search.
• messaging.targetResolver.resolveTarget(...) is the plugin fallback when core needs a final provider-owned resolution after normalization or after a directory miss.
• messaging.resolveOutboundSessionRoute(...) owns provider-specific session route construction once a target is resolved.

Recommended split:

• Use inferTargetChatType for category decisions that should happen before searching peers/groups.
• Use looksLikeId for "treat this as an explicit/native target id" checks.
• Use resolveTarget for provider-specific normalization fallback, not for broad directory search.
• Keep provider-native ids like chat ids, thread ids, JIDs, handles, and room ids inside target values or provider-specific params, not in generic SDK fields.

Config-backed directories

Plugins that derive directory entries from config should keep that logic in the plugin and reuse the shared helpers from openclaw/plugin-sdk/directory-runtime.

Use this when a channel needs config-backed peers/groups such as:

• allowlist-driven DM peers
• configured channel/group maps
• account-scoped static directory fallbacks

The shared helpers in directory-runtime only handle generic operations:

• query filtering
• limit application
• deduping/normalization helpers
• building ChannelDirectoryEntry[]

Channel-specific account inspection and id normalization should stay in the plugin implementation.

Provider catalogs

Provider plugins can define model catalogs for inference with registerProvider({ catalog: { run(...) { ... } } }).

catalog.run(...) returns the same shape OpenClaw writes into models.providers:

• { provider } for one provider entry
• { providers } for multiple provider entries

Use catalog when the plugin owns provider-specific model ids, base URL defaults, or auth-gated model metadata.

catalog.order controls when a plugin's catalog merges relative to OpenClaw's built-in implicit providers:

• simple: plain API-key or env-driven providers
• profile: providers that appear when auth profiles exist
• paired: providers that synthesize multiple related provider entries
• late: last pass, after other implicit providers

Later providers win on key collision, so plugins can intentionally override a built-in provider entry with the same provider id.

Compatibility:

• discovery still works as a legacy alias
• if both catalog and discovery are registered, OpenClaw uses catalog

Read-only channel inspection

If your plugin registers a channel, prefer implementing plugin.config.inspectAccount(cfg, accountId) alongside resolveAccount(...).

Why:

• resolveAccount(...) is the runtime path. It is allowed to assume credentials are fully materialized and can fail fast when required secrets are missing.
• Read-only command paths such as openclaw status, openclaw status --all, openclaw channels status, openclaw channels resolve, and doctor/config repair flows should not need to materialize runtime credentials just to describe configuration.

Recommended inspectAccount(...) behavior:

• Return descriptive account state only.
• Preserve enabled and configured.
• Include credential source/status fields when relevant, such as:
  • tokenSource, tokenStatus
  • botTokenSource, botTokenStatus
  • appTokenSource, appTokenStatus
  • signingSecretSource, signingSecretStatus
• You do not need to return raw token values just to report read-only availability. Returning tokenStatus: "available" (and the matching source field) is enough for status-style commands.
• Use configured_unavailable when a credential is configured via SecretRef but unavailable in the current command path.

This lets read-only commands report "configured but unavailable in this command path" instead of crashing or misreporting the account as not configured.

Package packs

A plugin directory may include a package.json with openclaw.extensions:

{
  "name": "my-pack",
  "openclaw": {
    "extensions": ["./src/safety.ts", "./src/tools.ts"],
    "setupEntry": "./src/setup-entry.ts"
  }
}

Each entry becomes a plugin. If the pack lists multiple extensions, the plugin id becomes name/<fileBase>.

If your plugin imports npm deps, install them in that directory so node_modules is available (npm install / pnpm install).

Security guardrail: every openclaw.extensions entry must stay inside the plugin directory after symlink resolution. Entries that escape the package directory are rejected.

Security note: openclaw plugins install installs plugin dependencies with npm install --omit=dev --ignore-scripts (no lifecycle scripts, no dev dependencies at runtime). Keep plugin dependency trees "pure JS/TS" and avoid packages that require postinstall builds.

Optional: openclaw.setupEntry can point at a lightweight setup-only module. When OpenClaw needs setup surfaces for a disabled channel plugin, or when a channel plugin is enabled but still unconfigured, it loads setupEntry instead of the full plugin entry. This keeps startup and setup lighter when your main plugin entry also wires tools, hooks, or other runtime-only code.

Optional: openclaw.startup.deferConfiguredChannelFullLoadUntilAfterListen can opt a channel plugin into the same setupEntry path during the gateway's pre-listen startup phase, even when the channel is already configured.

Use this only when setupEntry fully covers the startup surface that must exist before the gateway starts listening. In practice, that means the setup entry must register every channel-owned capability that startup depends on, such as:

• channel registration itself
• any HTTP routes that must be available before the gateway starts listening
• any gateway methods, tools, or services that must exist during that same window

If your full entry still owns any required startup capability, do not enable this flag. Keep the plugin on the default behavior and let OpenClaw load the full entry during startup.

Bundled channels can also publish setup-only contract-surface helpers that core can consult before the full channel runtime is loaded. The current setup promotion surface is:

• singleAccountKeysToMove
• namedAccountPromotionKeys
• resolveSingleAccountPromotionTarget(...)

Core uses that surface when it needs to promote a legacy single-account channel config into channels.<id>.accounts.* without loading the full plugin entry. Matrix is the current bundled example: it moves only auth/bootstrap keys into a named promoted account when named accounts already exist, and it can preserve a configured non-canonical default-account key instead of always creating accounts.default.

Those setup patch adapters keep bundled contract-surface discovery lazy. Import time stays light; the promotion surface is loaded only on first use instead of re-entering bundled channel startup on module import.

When those startup surfaces include gateway RPC methods, keep them on a plugin-specific prefix. Core admin namespaces (config.*, exec.approvals.*, wizard.*, update.*) remain reserved and always resolve to operator.admin, even if a plugin requests a narrower scope.

Example:

{
  "name": "@scope/my-channel",
  "openclaw": {
    "extensions": ["./index.ts"],
    "setupEntry": "./setup-entry.ts",
    "startup": {
      "deferConfiguredChannelFullLoadUntilAfterListen": true
    }
  }
}

Channel catalog metadata

Channel plugins can advertise setup/discovery metadata via openclaw.channel and install hints via openclaw.install. This keeps the core catalog data-free.

Example:

{
  "name": "@openclaw/nextcloud-talk",
  "openclaw": {
    "extensions": ["./index.ts"],
    "channel": {
      "id": "nextcloud-talk",
      "label": "Nextcloud Talk",
      "selectionLabel": "Nextcloud Talk (self-hosted)",
      "docsPath": "/channels/nextcloud-talk",
      "docsLabel": "nextcloud-talk",
      "blurb": "Self-hosted chat via Nextcloud Talk webhook bots.",
      "order": 65,
      "aliases": ["nc-talk", "nc"]
    },
    "install": {
      "npmSpec": "@openclaw/nextcloud-talk",
      "localPath": "<bundled-plugin-local-path>",
      "defaultChoice": "npm"
    }
  }
}

Useful openclaw.channel fields beyond the minimal example:

• detailLabel: secondary label for richer catalog/status surfaces
• docsLabel: override link text for the docs link
• preferOver: lower-priority plugin/channel ids this catalog entry should outrank
• selectionDocsPrefix, selectionDocsOmitLabel, selectionExtras: selection-surface copy controls
• markdownCapable: marks the channel as markdown-capable for outbound formatting decisions
• exposure.configured: hide the channel from configured-channel listing surfaces when set to false
• exposure.setup: hide the channel from interactive setup/configure pickers when set to false
• exposure.docs: mark the channel as internal/private for docs navigation surfaces
• showConfigured / showInSetup: legacy aliases still accepted for compatibility; prefer exposure
• quickstartAllowFrom: opt the channel into the standard quickstart allowFrom flow
• forceAccountBinding: require explicit account binding even when only one account exists
• preferSessionLookupForAnnounceTarget: prefer session lookup when resolving announce targets

OpenClaw can also merge external channel catalogs (for example, an MPM registry export). Drop a JSON file at one of:

• ~/.openclaw/mpm/plugins.json
• ~/.openclaw/mpm/catalog.json
• ~/.openclaw/plugins/catalog.json

Or point OPENCLAW_PLUGIN_CATALOG_PATHS (or OPENCLAW_MPM_CATALOG_PATHS) at one or more JSON files (comma/semicolon/PATH-delimited). Each file should contain { "entries": [ { "name": "@scope/pkg", "openclaw": { "channel": {...}, "install": {...} } } ] }. The parser also accepts "packages" or "plugins" as legacy aliases for the "entries" key.

Context engine plugins

Context engine plugins own session context orchestration for ingest, assembly, and compaction. Register them from your plugin with api.registerContextEngine(id, factory), then select the active engine with plugins.slots.contextEngine.

Use this when your plugin needs to replace or extend the default context pipeline rather than just add memory search or hooks.

import { buildMemorySystemPromptAddition } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/core";

export default function (api) {
  api.registerContextEngine("lossless-claw", () => ({
    info: { id: "lossless-claw", name: "Lossless Claw", ownsCompaction: true },
    async ingest() {
      return { ingested: true };
    },
    async assemble({ messages, availableTools, citationsMode }) {
      return {
        messages,
        estimatedTokens: 0,
        systemPromptAddition: buildMemorySystemPromptAddition({
          availableTools: availableTools ?? new Set(),
          citationsMode,
        }),
      };
    },
    async compact() {
      return { ok: true, compacted: false };
    },
  }));
}

If your engine does not own the compaction algorithm, keep compact() implemented and delegate it explicitly:

import {
  buildMemorySystemPromptAddition,
  delegateCompactionToRuntime,
} from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/core";

export default function (api) {
  api.registerContextEngine("my-memory-engine", () => ({
    info: {
      id: "my-memory-engine",
      name: "My Memory Engine",
      ownsCompaction: false,
    },
    async ingest() {
      return { ingested: true };
    },
    async assemble({ messages, availableTools, citationsMode }) {
      return {
        messages,
        estimatedTokens: 0,
        systemPromptAddition: buildMemorySystemPromptAddition({
          availableTools: availableTools ?? new Set(),
          citationsMode,
        }),
      };
    },
    async compact(params) {
      return await delegateCompactionToRuntime(params);
    },
  }));
}

Adding a new capability

When a plugin needs behavior that does not fit the current API, do not bypass the plugin system with a private reach-in. Add the missing capability.

Recommended sequence:

1. define the core contract Decide what shared behavior core should own: policy, fallback, config merge, lifecycle, channel-facing semantics, and runtime helper shape.
2. add typed plugin registration/runtime surfaces Extend OpenClawPluginApi and/or api.runtime with the smallest useful typed capability surface.
3. wire core + channel/feature consumers Channels and feature plugins should consume the new capability through core, not by importing a vendor implementation directly.
4. register vendor implementations Vendor plugins then register their backends against the capability.
5. add contract coverage Add tests so ownership and registration shape stay explicit over time.

This is how OpenClaw stays opinionated without becoming hardcoded to one provider's worldview. See the Capability Cookbook for a concrete file checklist and worked example.

Capability checklist

When you add a new capability, the implementation should usually touch these surfaces together:

• core contract types in src/<capability>/types.ts
• core runner/runtime helper in src/<capability>/runtime.ts
• plugin API registration surface in src/plugins/types.ts
• plugin registry wiring in src/plugins/registry.ts
• plugin runtime exposure in src/plugins/runtime/* when feature/channel plugins need to consume it
• capture/test helpers in src/test-utils/plugin-registration.ts
• ownership/contract assertions in src/plugins/contracts/registry.ts
• operator/plugin docs in docs/

If one of those surfaces is missing, that is usually a sign the capability is not fully integrated yet.

Capability template

Minimal pattern:

// core contract
export type VideoGenerationProviderPlugin = {
  id: string;
  label: string;
  generateVideo: (req: VideoGenerationRequest) => Promise<VideoGenerationResult>;
};

// plugin API
api.registerVideoGenerationProvider({
  id: "openai",
  label: "OpenAI",
  async generateVideo(req) {
    return await generateOpenAiVideo(req);
  },
});

// shared runtime helper for feature/channel plugins
const clip = await api.runtime.videoGeneration.generate({
  prompt: "Show the robot walking through the lab.",
  cfg,
});

Contract test pattern:

expect(findVideoGenerationProviderIdsForPlugin("openai")).toEqual(["openai"]);

That keeps the rule simple:

• core owns the capability contract + orchestration
• vendor plugins own vendor implementations
• feature/channel plugins consume runtime helpers
• contract tests keep ownership explicit