openclaw/docs/plugins/sdk-overview.md

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Import map, registration API reference, and SDK architecture	Plugin SDK overview	Plugin SDK overview	You need to know which SDK subpath to import from You want a reference for all registration methods on OpenClawPluginApi You are looking up a specific SDK export

The plugin SDK is the typed contract between plugins and core. This page is the reference for what to import and what you can register.

This page is for plugin authors using `openclaw/plugin-sdk/*` inside OpenClaw. For external apps, scripts, dashboards, CI jobs, and IDE extensions that want to run agents through the Gateway, use the [OpenClaw App SDK](/concepts/openclaw-sdk) and the `@openclaw/sdk` package instead. Looking for a how-to guide instead? Start with [Building plugins](/plugins/building-plugins), use [Channel plugins](/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins) for channel plugins, [Provider plugins](/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins) for provider plugins, [CLI backend plugins](/plugins/cli-backend-plugins) for local AI CLI backends, and [Plugin hooks](/plugins/hooks) for tool or lifecycle hook plugins.

Import convention

Always import from a specific subpath:

import { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
import { defineChannelPluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core";

Each subpath is a small, self-contained module. This keeps startup fast and prevents circular dependency issues. For channel-specific entry/build helpers, prefer openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core; keep openclaw/plugin-sdk/core for the broader umbrella surface and shared helpers such as buildChannelConfigSchema.

For channel config, publish the channel-owned JSON Schema through openclaw.plugin.json#channelConfigs. The plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema subpath is for shared schema primitives and the generic builder. OpenClaw's bundled plugins use plugin-sdk/bundled-channel-config-schema for retained bundled-channel schemas. Deprecated compatibility exports remain on plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema-legacy; neither bundled schema subpath is a pattern for new plugins.

Do not import provider- or channel-branded convenience seams (for example `openclaw/plugin-sdk/slack`, `.../discord`, `.../signal`, `.../whatsapp`). Bundled plugins compose generic SDK subpaths inside their own `api.ts` / `runtime-api.ts` barrels; core consumers should either use those plugin-local barrels or add a narrow generic SDK contract when a need is truly cross-channel.

A small set of bundled-plugin helper seams still appear in the generated export map when they have tracked owner usage. They exist for bundled-plugin maintenance only and are not recommended import paths for new third-party plugins.

openclaw/plugin-sdk/discord and openclaw/plugin-sdk/telegram-account are also kept as deprecated compatibility facades for tracked owner usage. Do not copy those import paths into new plugins; use injected runtime helpers and generic channel SDK subpaths instead.

Subpath reference

The plugin SDK is exposed as a set of narrow subpaths grouped by area (plugin entry, channel, provider, auth, runtime, capability, memory, and reserved bundled-plugin helpers). For the full catalog — grouped and linked — see Plugin SDK subpaths.

The compiler entrypoint inventory lives in scripts/lib/plugin-sdk-entrypoints.json; package exports are generated from the public subset after subtracting repo-local test/internal subpaths listed in scripts/lib/plugin-sdk-private-local-only-subpaths.json. Run pnpm plugin-sdk:surface to audit the public export count. Deprecated public subpaths that are old enough and unused by bundled extension production code are tracked in scripts/lib/plugin-sdk-deprecated-public-subpaths.json; broad deprecated re-export barrels are tracked in scripts/lib/plugin-sdk-deprecated-barrel-subpaths.json.

Registration API

The register(api) callback receives an OpenClawPluginApi object with these methods:

Capability registration

Method	What it registers
api.registerProvider(...)	Text inference (LLM)
api.registerAgentHarness(...)	Experimental low-level agent executor
api.registerCliBackend(...)	Local CLI inference backend
api.registerChannel(...)	Messaging channel
api.registerEmbeddingProvider(...)	Reusable vector embedding provider
api.registerSpeechProvider(...)	Text-to-speech / STT synthesis
api.registerRealtimeTranscriptionProvider(...)	Streaming realtime transcription
api.registerRealtimeVoiceProvider(...)	Duplex realtime voice sessions
api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider(...)	Image/audio/video analysis
api.registerImageGenerationProvider(...)	Image generation
api.registerMusicGenerationProvider(...)	Music generation
api.registerVideoGenerationProvider(...)	Video generation
api.registerWebFetchProvider(...)	Web fetch / scrape provider
api.registerWebSearchProvider(...)	Web search

Embedding providers registered with api.registerEmbeddingProvider(...) must also be listed in contracts.embeddingProviders in the plugin manifest. This is the generic embedding surface for reusable vector generation. Memory search can consume this generic provider surface. The older api.registerMemoryEmbeddingProvider(...) and contracts.memoryEmbeddingProviders seam is deprecated compatibility while existing memory-specific providers migrate.

Tools and commands

Use defineToolPlugin for simple tool-only plugins with fixed tool names. Use api.registerTool(...) directly for mixed plugins or fully dynamic tool registration.

Method	What it registers
api.registerTool(tool, opts?)	Agent tool (required or { optional: true })
api.registerCommand(def)	Custom command (bypasses the LLM)

Plugin commands can set agentPromptGuidance when the agent needs a short, command-owned routing hint. Keep that text about the command itself; do not add provider- or plugin-specific policy to core prompt builders.

Guidance entries may be legacy strings, which apply to every prompt surface, or structured entries:

agentPromptGuidance: [
  "Global command hint.",
  { text: "Only show this in the main OpenClaw prompt.", surfaces: ["openclaw_main"] },
];

Structured surfaces may include openclaw_main, codex_app_server, cli_backend, acp_backend, or subagent. pi_main remains a deprecated alias for openclaw_main. Omit surfaces for intentional all-surface guidance. Do not pass an empty surfaces array; it is rejected so accidental scope loss does not become global prompt text.

Native Codex app-server developer instructions are stricter than other prompt surfaces: only guidance explicitly scoped to codex_app_server is promoted into that higher-priority lane. Legacy string guidance and unscoped structured guidance remain available to non-Codex prompt surfaces for compatibility.

Infrastructure

Method	What it registers
api.registerHook(events, handler, opts?)	Event hook
api.registerHttpRoute(params)	Gateway HTTP endpoint
api.registerGatewayMethod(name, handler)	Gateway RPC method
api.registerGatewayDiscoveryService(service)	Local Gateway discovery advertiser
api.registerCli(registrar, opts?)	CLI subcommand
api.registerNodeCliFeature(registrar, opts?)	Node feature CLI under openclaw nodes
api.registerService(service)	Background service
api.registerInteractiveHandler(registration)	Interactive handler
api.registerAgentToolResultMiddleware(...)	Runtime tool-result middleware
api.registerMemoryPromptSupplement(builder)	Additive memory-adjacent prompt section
api.registerMemoryCorpusSupplement(adapter)	Additive memory search/read corpus

Host hooks for workflow plugins

Host hooks are the SDK seams for plugins that need to participate in the host lifecycle rather than only adding a provider, channel, or tool. They are generic contracts; Plan Mode can use them, but so can approval workflows, workspace policy gates, background monitors, setup wizards, and UI companion plugins.

Method	Contract it owns
api.session.state.registerSessionExtension(...)	Plugin-owned, JSON-compatible session state projected through Gateway sessions
api.session.workflow.enqueueNextTurnInjection(...)	Durable exactly-once context injected into the next agent turn for one session
api.registerTrustedToolPolicy(...)	Bundled/trusted pre-plugin tool policy that can block or rewrite tool params
api.registerToolMetadata(...)	Tool catalog display metadata without changing the tool implementation
api.registerCommand(...)	Scoped plugin commands; command results can set continueAgent: true; Discord native commands support descriptionLocalizations
api.session.controls.registerControlUiDescriptor(...)	Control UI contribution descriptors for session, tool, run, or settings surfaces
api.lifecycle.registerRuntimeLifecycle(...)	Cleanup callbacks for plugin-owned runtime resources on reset/delete/reload paths
api.agent.events.registerAgentEventSubscription(...)	Sanitized event subscriptions for workflow state and monitors
api.runContext.setRunContext(...) / getRunContext(...) / clearRunContext(...)	Per-run plugin scratch state cleared on terminal run lifecycle
api.session.workflow.registerSessionSchedulerJob(...)	Cleanup metadata for plugin-owned scheduler jobs; does not schedule work or create task records
api.session.workflow.sendSessionAttachment(...)	Bundled-only host-mediated file attachment delivery to the active direct-outbound session route
api.session.workflow.scheduleSessionTurn(...) / unscheduleSessionTurnsByTag(...)	Bundled-only Cron-backed scheduled session turns plus tag-based cleanup
api.session.controls.registerSessionAction(...)	Typed session actions clients can dispatch through the Gateway

Use the grouped namespaces for new plugin code:

• api.session.state.registerSessionExtension(...)
• api.session.workflow.enqueueNextTurnInjection(...)
• api.session.workflow.registerSessionSchedulerJob(...)
• api.session.workflow.sendSessionAttachment(...)
• api.session.workflow.scheduleSessionTurn(...)
• api.session.workflow.unscheduleSessionTurnsByTag(...)
• api.session.controls.registerSessionAction(...)
• api.session.controls.registerControlUiDescriptor(...)
• api.agent.events.registerAgentEventSubscription(...)
• api.agent.events.emitAgentEvent(...)
• api.runContext.setRunContext(...) / getRunContext(...) / clearRunContext(...)
• api.lifecycle.registerRuntimeLifecycle(...)

The equivalent flat methods remain available as deprecated compatibility aliases for existing plugins. Do not add new plugin code that calls api.registerSessionExtension, api.enqueueNextTurnInjection, api.registerControlUiDescriptor, api.registerRuntimeLifecycle, api.registerAgentEventSubscription, api.emitAgentEvent, api.setRunContext, api.getRunContext, api.clearRunContext, api.registerSessionSchedulerJob, api.registerSessionAction, api.sendSessionAttachment, api.scheduleSessionTurn, or api.unscheduleSessionTurnsByTag directly.

scheduleSessionTurn(...) is a session-scoped convenience over the Gateway Cron scheduler. Cron owns timing and creates the background task record when the turn runs; the Plugin SDK only constrains the target session, plugin-owned naming, and cleanup. Use api.runtime.tasks.managedFlows inside the scheduled turn when the work itself needs durable multi-step Task Flow state.

The contracts intentionally split authority:

• External plugins can own session extensions, UI descriptors, commands, tool metadata, next-turn injections, and normal hooks.
• Trusted tool policies run before ordinary before_tool_call hooks and are bundled-only because they participate in host safety policy.
• Reserved command ownership is bundled-only. External plugins should use their own command names or aliases.
• allowPromptInjection=false disables prompt-mutating hooks including agent_turn_prepare, before_prompt_build, heartbeat_prompt_contribution, prompt fields from legacy before_agent_start, and enqueueNextTurnInjection.

Examples of non-Plan consumers:

Plugin archetype	Hooks used
Approval workflow	Session extension, command continuation, next-turn injection, UI descriptor
Budget/workspace policy gate	Trusted tool policy, tool metadata, session projection
Background lifecycle monitor	Runtime lifecycle cleanup, agent event subscription, session scheduler ownership/cleanup, heartbeat prompt contribution, UI descriptor
Setup or onboarding wizard	Session extension, scoped commands, Control UI descriptor

Reserved core admin namespaces (`config.*`, `exec.approvals.*`, `wizard.*`, `update.*`) always stay `operator.admin`, even if a plugin tries to assign a narrower gateway method scope. Prefer plugin-specific prefixes for plugin-owned methods. Bundled plugins can use `api.registerAgentToolResultMiddleware(...)` when they need to rewrite a tool result after execution and before the runtime feeds that result back into the model. This is the trusted runtime-neutral seam for async output reducers such as tokenjuice.

Bundled plugins must declare contracts.agentToolResultMiddleware for each targeted runtime, for example ["openclaw", "codex"]. External plugins cannot register this middleware; keep normal OpenClaw plugin hooks for work that does not need pre-model tool-result timing. The old embedded-runner-only extension factory registration path has been removed.

Gateway discovery registration

api.registerGatewayDiscoveryService(...) lets a plugin advertise the active Gateway on a local discovery transport such as mDNS/Bonjour. OpenClaw calls the service during Gateway startup when local discovery is enabled, passes the current Gateway ports and non-secret TXT hint data, and calls the returned stop handler during Gateway shutdown.

api.registerGatewayDiscoveryService({
  id: "my-discovery",
  async advertise(ctx) {
    const handle = await startMyAdvertiser({
      gatewayPort: ctx.gatewayPort,
      tls: ctx.gatewayTlsEnabled,
      displayName: ctx.machineDisplayName,
    });
    return { stop: () => handle.stop() };
  },
});

Gateway discovery plugins must not treat advertised TXT values as secrets or authentication. Discovery is a routing hint; Gateway auth and TLS pinning still own trust.

CLI registration metadata

api.registerCli(registrar, opts?) accepts two kinds of command metadata:

• commands: explicit command names owned by the registrar
• descriptors: parse-time command descriptors used for CLI help, routing, and lazy plugin CLI registration
• parentPath: optional parent command path for nested command groups, such as ["nodes"]

For paired-node features, prefer api.registerNodeCliFeature(registrar, opts?). It is a small wrapper around api.registerCli(..., { parentPath: ["nodes"] }) and makes commands such as openclaw nodes canvas explicit plugin-owned node features.

If you want a plugin command to stay lazy-loaded in the normal root CLI path, provide descriptors that cover every top-level command root exposed by that registrar.

api.registerCli(
  async ({ program }) => {
    const { registerMatrixCli } = await import("./src/cli.js");
    registerMatrixCli({ program });
  },
  {
    descriptors: [
      {
        name: "matrix",
        description: "Manage Matrix accounts, verification, devices, and profile state",
        hasSubcommands: true,
      },
    ],
  },
);

Nested commands receive the resolved parent command as program:

api.registerCli(
  async ({ program }) => {
    const { registerNodesCanvasCommands } = await import("./src/cli.js");
    registerNodesCanvasCommands(program);
  },
  {
    parentPath: ["nodes"],
    descriptors: [
      {
        name: "canvas",
        description: "Capture or render canvas content from a paired node",
        hasSubcommands: true,
      },
    ],
  },
);

Use commands by itself only when you do not need lazy root CLI registration. That eager compatibility path remains supported, but it does not install descriptor-backed placeholders for parse-time lazy loading.

CLI backend registration

api.registerCliBackend(...) lets a plugin own the default config for a local AI CLI backend such as claude-cli or my-cli.

• The backend id becomes the provider prefix in model refs like my-cli/gpt-5.
• The backend config uses the same shape as agents.defaults.cliBackends.<id>.
• User config still wins. OpenClaw merges agents.defaults.cliBackends.<id> over the plugin default before running the CLI.
• Use normalizeConfig when a backend needs compatibility rewrites after merge (for example normalizing old flag shapes).
• Use resolveExecutionArgs for request-scoped argv rewrites that belong to the CLI dialect, such as mapping OpenClaw thinking levels to a native effort flag.

For an end-to-end authoring guide, see CLI backend plugins.

Exclusive slots

Method	What it registers
api.registerContextEngine(id, factory)	Context engine (one active at a time). The assemble() callback receives availableTools and citationsMode so the engine can tailor prompt additions.
api.registerMemoryCapability(capability)	Unified memory capability
api.registerMemoryPromptSection(builder)	Memory prompt section builder
api.registerMemoryFlushPlan(resolver)	Memory flush plan resolver
api.registerMemoryRuntime(runtime)	Memory runtime adapter

Deprecated memory embedding adapters

Method	What it registers
api.registerMemoryEmbeddingProvider(adapter)	Memory embedding adapter for the active plugin

• registerMemoryCapability is the preferred exclusive memory-plugin API.
• registerMemoryCapability may also expose publicArtifacts.listArtifacts(...) so companion plugins can consume exported memory artifacts through openclaw/plugin-sdk/memory-host-core instead of reaching into a specific memory plugin's private layout.
• registerMemoryPromptSection, registerMemoryFlushPlan, and registerMemoryRuntime are legacy-compatible exclusive memory-plugin APIs.
• MemoryFlushPlan.model can pin the flush turn to an exact provider/model reference, such as ollama/qwen3:8b, without inheriting the active fallback chain.
• registerMemoryEmbeddingProvider is deprecated. New embedding providers should use api.registerEmbeddingProvider(...) and contracts.embeddingProviders.
• Existing memory-specific providers continue to work during the migration window, but plugin inspection reports this as compatibility debt for non-bundled plugins.

Events and lifecycle

Method	What it does
api.on(hookName, handler, opts?)	Typed lifecycle hook
api.onConversationBindingResolved(handler)	Conversation binding callback

See Plugin hooks for examples, common hook names, and guard semantics.

Hook decision semantics

• before_tool_call: returning { block: true } is terminal. Once any handler sets it, lower-priority handlers are skipped.
• before_tool_call: returning { block: false } is treated as no decision (same as omitting block), not as an override.
• before_install: returning { block: true } is terminal. Once any handler sets it, lower-priority handlers are skipped.
• before_install: returning { block: false } is treated as no decision (same as omitting block), not as an override.
• reply_dispatch: returning { handled: true, ... } is terminal. Once any handler claims dispatch, lower-priority handlers and the default model dispatch path are skipped.
• message_sending: returning { cancel: true } is terminal. Once any handler sets it, lower-priority handlers are skipped.
• message_sending: returning { cancel: false } is treated as no decision (same as omitting cancel), not as an override.
• message_received: use the typed threadId field when you need inbound thread/topic routing. Keep metadata for channel-specific extras.
• message_sending: use typed replyToId / threadId routing fields before falling back to channel-specific metadata.
• gateway_start: use ctx.config, ctx.workspaceDir, and ctx.getCron?.() for gateway-owned startup state instead of relying on internal gateway:startup hooks.
• cron_changed: observe gateway-owned cron lifecycle changes. Use event.job?.state?.nextRunAtMs and ctx.getCron?.() when syncing external wake schedulers, and keep OpenClaw as the source of truth for due checks and execution.

API object fields

Field	Type	Description
api.id	string	Plugin id
api.name	string	Display name
api.version	string?	Plugin version (optional)
api.description	string?	Plugin description (optional)
api.source	string	Plugin source path
api.rootDir	string?	Plugin root directory (optional)
api.config	OpenClawConfig	Current config snapshot (active in-memory runtime snapshot when available)
api.pluginConfig	Record<string, unknown>	Plugin-specific config from plugins.entries.<id>.config
api.runtime	PluginRuntime	Runtime helpers
api.logger	PluginLogger	Scoped logger (debug, info, warn, error)
api.registrationMode	PluginRegistrationMode	Current load mode; "setup-runtime" is the lightweight pre-full-entry startup/setup window
api.resolvePath(input)	(string) => string	Resolve path relative to plugin root

Internal module convention

Within your plugin, use local barrel files for internal imports:

my-plugin/
  api.ts            # Public exports for external consumers
  runtime-api.ts    # Internal-only runtime exports
  index.ts          # Plugin entry point
  setup-entry.ts    # Lightweight setup-only entry (optional)

Never import your own plugin through `openclaw/plugin-sdk/` from production code. Route internal imports through `./api.ts` or `./runtime-api.ts`. The SDK path is the external contract only.

Facade-loaded bundled plugin public surfaces (api.ts, runtime-api.ts, index.ts, setup-entry.ts, and similar public entry files) prefer the active runtime config snapshot when OpenClaw is already running. If no runtime snapshot exists yet, they fall back to the resolved config file on disk. Packaged bundled plugin facades should be loaded through OpenClaw's plugin facade loaders; direct imports from dist/extensions/... bypass the manifest and runtime sidecar checks that packaged installs use for plugin-owned code.

Provider plugins can expose a narrow plugin-local contract barrel when a helper is intentionally provider-specific and does not belong in a generic SDK subpath yet. Bundled examples:

• Anthropic: public api.ts / contract-api.ts seam for Claude beta-header and service_tier stream helpers.
• @openclaw/openai-provider: api.ts exports provider builders, default-model helpers, and realtime provider builders.
• @openclaw/openrouter-provider: api.ts exports the provider builder plus onboarding/config helpers.

Extension production code should also avoid `openclaw/plugin-sdk/` imports. If a helper is truly shared, promote it to a neutral SDK subpath such as `openclaw/plugin-sdk/speech`, `.../provider-model-shared`, or another capability-oriented surface instead of coupling two plugins together.

Related

`definePluginEntry` and `defineChannelPluginEntry` options. Full `api.runtime` namespace reference. Packaging, manifests, and config schemas. Test utilities and lint rules. Migrating from deprecated surfaces. Deep architecture and capability model.