openclaw/docs/tools/plugin.md

summary	read_when	title	sidebarTitle
Install, configure, and manage OpenClaw plugins	Installing or configuring plugins Understanding plugin discovery and load rules Working with Codex/Claude-compatible plugin bundles	Plugins	Install and Configure

Plugins extend OpenClaw with new capabilities: channels, model providers, agent harnesses, tools, skills, speech, realtime transcription, realtime voice, media-understanding, image generation, video generation, web fetch, web search, and more. Some plugins are core (shipped with OpenClaw), others are external (published on npm by the community).

Quick start

```bash openclaw plugins list ``` ```bash # From npm openclaw plugins install @openclaw/voice-call

# From a local directory or archive
openclaw plugins install ./my-plugin
openclaw plugins install ./my-plugin.tgz
```

```bash openclaw gateway restart ```

Then configure under `plugins.entries.\<id\>.config` in your config file.

If you prefer chat-native control, enable commands.plugins: true and use:

/plugin install clawhub:@openclaw/voice-call
/plugin show voice-call
/plugin enable voice-call

The install path uses the same resolver as the CLI: local path/archive, explicit clawhub:<pkg>, explicit npm:<pkg>, or bare package spec (ClawHub first, then npm fallback).

If config is invalid, install normally fails closed and points you at openclaw doctor --fix. The only recovery exception is a narrow bundled-plugin reinstall path for plugins that opt into openclaw.install.allowInvalidConfigRecovery. During Gateway startup, invalid config for one plugin is isolated to that plugin: startup logs the plugins.entries.<id>.config issue, skips that plugin during load, and keeps other plugins and channels online. Run openclaw doctor --fix to quarantine the bad plugin config by disabling that plugin entry and removing its invalid config payload; the normal config backup keeps the previous values. When a channel config references a plugin that is no longer discoverable but the same stale plugin id remains in plugin config or install records, Gateway startup logs warnings and skips that channel instead of blocking every other channel. Run openclaw doctor --fix to remove the stale channel/plugin entries; unknown channel keys without stale-plugin evidence still fail validation so typos stay visible. If plugins.enabled: false is set, stale plugin references are treated as inert: Gateway startup skips plugin discovery/load work and openclaw doctor preserves the disabled plugin config instead of auto-removing it. Re-enable plugins before running doctor cleanup if you want stale plugin ids removed.

Packaged OpenClaw installs do not eagerly install every bundled plugin's runtime dependency tree. When a bundled OpenClaw-owned plugin is active from plugin config, legacy channel config, or a default-enabled manifest, startup repairs only that plugin's declared runtime dependencies before importing it. Persisted channel auth state alone does not activate a bundled channel for Gateway startup runtime-dependency repair. Explicit disablement still wins: plugins.entries.<id>.enabled: false, plugins.deny, plugins.enabled: false, and channels.<id>.enabled: false prevent automatic bundled runtime-dependency repair for that plugin/channel. A non-empty plugins.allow also bounds default-enabled bundled runtime-dependency repair; explicit bundled channel enablement (channels.<id>.enabled: true) can still repair that channel's plugin dependencies. External plugins and custom load paths must still be installed through openclaw plugins install.

Plugin types

OpenClaw recognizes two plugin formats:

Format	How it works	Examples
Native	openclaw.plugin.json + runtime module; executes in-process	Official plugins, community npm packages
Bundle	Codex/Claude/Cursor-compatible layout; mapped to OpenClaw features	.codex-plugin/, .claude-plugin/, .cursor-plugin/

Both show up under openclaw plugins list. See Plugin Bundles for bundle details.

If you are writing a native plugin, start with Building Plugins and the Plugin SDK Overview.

Package entrypoints

Native plugin npm packages must declare openclaw.extensions in package.json. Each entry must stay inside the package directory and resolve to a readable runtime file, or to a TypeScript source file with an inferred built JavaScript peer such as src/index.ts to dist/index.js.

Use openclaw.runtimeExtensions when published runtime files do not live at the same paths as the source entries. When present, runtimeExtensions must contain exactly one entry for every extensions entry. Mismatched lists fail install and plugin discovery rather than silently falling back to source paths.

{
  "name": "@acme/openclaw-plugin",
  "openclaw": {
    "extensions": ["./src/index.ts"],
    "runtimeExtensions": ["./dist/index.js"]
  }
}

Official plugins

Installable (npm)

Plugin	Package	Docs
Matrix	@openclaw/matrix	Matrix
Microsoft Teams	@openclaw/msteams	Microsoft Teams
Nostr	@openclaw/nostr	Nostr
Voice Call	@openclaw/voice-call	Voice Call
Zalo	@openclaw/zalo	Zalo
Zalo Personal	@openclaw/zalouser	Zalo Personal

Core (shipped with OpenClaw)

`anthropic`, `byteplus`, `cloudflare-ai-gateway`, `github-copilot`, `google`, `huggingface`, `kilocode`, `kimi-coding`, `minimax`, `mistral`, `qwen`, `moonshot`, `nvidia`, `openai`, `opencode`, `opencode-go`, `openrouter`, `qianfan`, `synthetic`, `together`, `venice`, `vercel-ai-gateway`, `volcengine`, `xiaomi`, `zai` - `memory-core` — bundled memory search (default via `plugins.slots.memory`) - `memory-lancedb` — install-on-demand long-term memory with auto-recall/capture (set `plugins.slots.memory = "memory-lancedb"`)

See [Memory LanceDB](/plugins/memory-lancedb) for OpenAI-compatible
embedding setup, Ollama examples, recall limits, and troubleshooting.

`elevenlabs`, `microsoft` - `browser` — bundled browser plugin for the browser tool, `openclaw browser` CLI, `browser.request` gateway method, browser runtime, and default browser control service (enabled by default; disable before replacing it) - `copilot-proxy` — VS Code Copilot Proxy bridge (disabled by default)

Looking for third-party plugins? See Community Plugins.

Configuration

{
  plugins: {
    enabled: true,
    allow: ["voice-call"],
    deny: ["untrusted-plugin"],
    load: { paths: ["~/Projects/oss/voice-call-plugin"] },
    entries: {
      "voice-call": { enabled: true, config: { provider: "twilio" } },
    },
  },
}

Field	Description
enabled	Master toggle (default: true)
allow	Plugin allowlist (optional)
deny	Plugin denylist (optional; deny wins)
load.paths	Extra plugin files/directories
slots	Exclusive slot selectors (e.g. memory, contextEngine)
entries.\<id\>	Per-plugin toggles + config

Config changes require a gateway restart. If the Gateway is running with config watch + in-process restart enabled (the default openclaw gateway path), that restart is usually performed automatically a moment after the config write lands. There is no supported hot-reload path for native plugin runtime code or lifecycle hooks; restart the Gateway process that is serving the live channel before expecting updated register(api) code, api.on(...) hooks, tools, services, or provider/runtime hooks to run.

openclaw plugins list is a local plugin registry/config snapshot. An enabled plugin there means the persisted registry and current config allow the plugin to participate. It does not prove that an already-running remote Gateway child has restarted into the same plugin code. On VPS/container setups with wrapper processes, send restarts to the actual openclaw gateway run process, or use openclaw gateway restart against the running Gateway.

- **Disabled**: plugin exists but enablement rules turned it off. Config is preserved. - **Missing**: config references a plugin id that discovery did not find. - **Invalid**: plugin exists but its config does not match the declared schema. Gateway startup skips only that plugin; `openclaw doctor --fix` can quarantine the invalid entry by disabling it and removing its config payload.

Discovery and precedence

OpenClaw scans for plugins in this order (first match wins):

`plugins.load.paths` — explicit file or directory paths. Paths that point back at OpenClaw's own packaged bundled plugin directories are ignored; run `openclaw doctor --fix` to remove those stale aliases. `\/.openclaw//*.ts` and `\/.openclaw//*/index.ts`. `~/.openclaw//*.ts` and `~/.openclaw//*/index.ts`. Shipped with OpenClaw. Many are enabled by default (model providers, speech). Others require explicit enablement.

Packaged installs and Docker images normally resolve bundled plugins from the compiled dist/extensions tree. If a bundled plugin source directory is bind-mounted over the matching packaged source path, for example /app/extensions/synology-chat, OpenClaw treats that mounted source directory as a bundled source overlay and discovers it before the packaged /app/dist/extensions/synology-chat bundle. This keeps maintainer container loops working without switching every bundled plugin back to TypeScript source. Set OPENCLAW_DISABLE_BUNDLED_SOURCE_OVERLAYS=1 to force packaged dist bundles even when source overlay mounts are present.

Enablement rules

• plugins.enabled: false disables all plugins and skips plugin discovery/load work
• plugins.deny always wins over allow
• plugins.entries.\<id\>.enabled: false disables that plugin
• Workspace-origin plugins are disabled by default (must be explicitly enabled)
• Bundled plugins follow the built-in default-on set unless overridden
• Exclusive slots can force-enable the selected plugin for that slot
• Some bundled opt-in plugins are enabled automatically when config names a plugin-owned surface, such as a provider model ref, channel config, or harness runtime
• Stale plugin config is preserved while plugins.enabled: false is active; re-enable plugins before running doctor cleanup if you want stale ids removed
• OpenAI-family Codex routes keep separate plugin boundaries: openai-codex/* belongs to the OpenAI plugin, while the bundled Codex app-server plugin is selected by agentRuntime.id: "codex" or legacy codex/* model refs

Troubleshooting runtime hooks

If a plugin appears in plugins list but register(api) side effects or hooks do not run in live chat traffic, check these first:

• Run openclaw gateway status --deep --require-rpc and confirm the active Gateway URL, profile, config path, and process are the ones you are editing.
• Restart the live Gateway after plugin install/config/code changes. In wrapper containers, PID 1 may only be a supervisor; restart or signal the child openclaw gateway run process.
• Use openclaw plugins inspect <id> --json to confirm hook registrations and diagnostics. Non-bundled conversation hooks such as llm_input, llm_output, before_agent_finalize, and agent_end need plugins.entries.<id>.hooks.allowConversationAccess=true.
• For model switching, prefer before_model_resolve. It runs before model resolution for agent turns; llm_output only runs after a model attempt produces assistant output.
• For proof of the effective session model, use openclaw sessions or the Gateway session/status surfaces and, when debugging provider payloads, start the Gateway with --raw-stream --raw-stream-path <path>.

Duplicate channel or tool ownership

Symptoms:

• channel already registered: <channel-id> (<plugin-id>)
• channel setup already registered: <channel-id> (<plugin-id>)
• plugin tool name conflict (<plugin-id>): <tool-name>

These mean more than one enabled plugin is trying to own the same channel, setup flow, or tool name. The most common cause is an external channel plugin installed beside a bundled plugin that now provides the same channel id.

Debug steps:

• Run openclaw plugins list --enabled --verbose to see every enabled plugin and origin.
• Run openclaw plugins inspect <id> --json for each suspected plugin and compare channels, channelConfigs, tools, and diagnostics.
• Run openclaw plugins registry --refresh after installing or removing plugin packages so persisted metadata reflects the current install.
• Restart the Gateway after install, registry, or config changes.

Fix options:

• If one plugin intentionally replaces another for the same channel id, the preferred plugin should declare channelConfigs.<channel-id>.preferOver with the lower-priority plugin id. See /plugins/manifest#replacing-another-channel-plugin.
• If the duplicate is accidental, disable one side with plugins.entries.<plugin-id>.enabled: false or remove the stale plugin install.
• If you explicitly enabled both plugins, OpenClaw keeps that request and reports the conflict. Pick one owner for the channel or rename plugin-owned tools so the runtime surface is unambiguous.

Plugin slots (exclusive categories)

Some categories are exclusive (only one active at a time):

{
  plugins: {
    slots: {
      memory: "memory-core", // or "none" to disable
      contextEngine: "legacy", // or a plugin id
    },
  },
}

Slot	What it controls	Default
memory	Active memory plugin	memory-core
contextEngine	Active context engine	legacy (built-in)

CLI reference

openclaw plugins list                       # compact inventory
openclaw plugins list --enabled            # only enabled plugins
openclaw plugins list --verbose            # per-plugin detail lines
openclaw plugins list --json               # machine-readable inventory
openclaw plugins inspect <id>              # deep detail
openclaw plugins inspect <id> --json       # machine-readable
openclaw plugins inspect --all             # fleet-wide table
openclaw plugins info <id>                 # inspect alias
openclaw plugins doctor                    # diagnostics
openclaw plugins registry                  # inspect persisted registry state
openclaw plugins registry --refresh        # rebuild persisted registry
openclaw doctor --fix                      # repair plugin registry state

openclaw plugins install <package>         # install (ClawHub first, then npm)
openclaw plugins install clawhub:<pkg>     # install from ClawHub only
openclaw plugins install npm:<pkg>         # install from npm only
openclaw plugins install <spec> --force    # overwrite existing install
openclaw plugins install <path>            # install from local path
openclaw plugins install -l <path>         # link (no copy) for dev
openclaw plugins install <plugin> --marketplace <source>
openclaw plugins install <plugin> --marketplace https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>
openclaw plugins install <spec> --pin      # record exact resolved npm spec
openclaw plugins install <spec> --dangerously-force-unsafe-install
openclaw plugins update <id-or-npm-spec> # update one plugin
openclaw plugins update <id-or-npm-spec> --dangerously-force-unsafe-install
openclaw plugins update --all            # update all
openclaw plugins uninstall <id>          # remove config and plugin index records
openclaw plugins uninstall <id> --keep-files
openclaw plugins marketplace list <source>
openclaw plugins marketplace list <source> --json

openclaw plugins enable <id>
openclaw plugins disable <id>

Bundled plugins ship with OpenClaw. Many are enabled by default (for example bundled model providers, bundled speech providers, and the bundled browser plugin). Other bundled plugins still need openclaw plugins enable <id>.

--force overwrites an existing installed plugin or hook pack in place. Use openclaw plugins update <id-or-npm-spec> for routine upgrades of tracked npm plugins. It is not supported with --link, which reuses the source path instead of copying over a managed install target.

When plugins.allow is already set, openclaw plugins install adds the installed plugin id to that allowlist before enabling it. If the same plugin id is present in plugins.deny, install removes that stale deny entry so the explicit install is immediately loadable after restart.

OpenClaw keeps a persisted local plugin registry as the cold read model for plugin inventory, contribution ownership, and startup planning. Install, update, uninstall, enable, and disable flows refresh that registry after changing plugin state. The same plugins/installs.json file keeps durable install metadata in top-level installRecords and rebuildable manifest metadata in plugins. If the registry is missing, stale, or invalid, openclaw plugins registry --refresh rebuilds its manifest view from install records, config policy, and manifest/package metadata without loading plugin runtime modules. openclaw plugins update <id-or-npm-spec> applies to tracked installs. Passing an npm package spec with a dist-tag or exact version resolves the package name back to the tracked plugin record and records the new spec for future updates. Passing the package name without a version moves an exact pinned install back to the registry's default release line. If the installed npm plugin already matches the resolved version and recorded artifact identity, OpenClaw skips the update without downloading, reinstalling, or rewriting config.

--pin is npm-only. It is not supported with --marketplace, because marketplace installs persist marketplace source metadata instead of an npm spec.

--dangerously-force-unsafe-install is a break-glass override for false positives from the built-in dangerous-code scanner. It allows plugin installs and plugin updates to continue past built-in critical findings, but it still does not bypass plugin before_install policy blocks or scan-failure blocking. Install scans ignore common test files and directories such as tests/, __tests__/, *.test.*, and *.spec.* to avoid blocking packaged test mocks; declared plugin runtime entrypoints are still scanned even if they use one of those names.

This CLI flag applies to plugin install/update flows only. Gateway-backed skill dependency installs use the matching dangerouslyForceUnsafeInstall request override instead, while openclaw skills install remains the separate ClawHub skill download/install flow.

Compatible bundles participate in the same plugin list/inspect/enable/disable flow. Current runtime support includes bundle skills, Claude command-skills, Claude settings.json defaults, Claude .lsp.json and manifest-declared lspServers defaults, Cursor command-skills, and compatible Codex hook directories.

openclaw plugins inspect <id> also reports detected bundle capabilities plus supported or unsupported MCP and LSP server entries for bundle-backed plugins.

Marketplace sources can be a Claude known-marketplace name from ~/.claude/plugins/known_marketplaces.json, a local marketplace root or marketplace.json path, a GitHub shorthand like owner/repo, a GitHub repo URL, or a git URL. For remote marketplaces, plugin entries must stay inside the cloned marketplace repo and use relative path sources only.

See openclaw plugins CLI reference for full details.

Plugin API overview

Native plugins export an entry object that exposes register(api). Older plugins may still use activate(api) as a legacy alias, but new plugins should use register.

export default definePluginEntry({
  id: "my-plugin",
  name: "My Plugin",
  register(api) {
    api.registerProvider({
      /* ... */
    });
    api.registerTool({
      /* ... */
    });
    api.registerChannel({
      /* ... */
    });
  },
});

OpenClaw loads the entry object and calls register(api) during plugin activation. The loader still falls back to activate(api) for older plugins, but bundled plugins and new external plugins should treat register as the public contract.

api.registrationMode tells a plugin why its entry is being loaded:

Mode	Meaning
full	Runtime activation. Register tools, hooks, services, commands, routes, and other live side effects.
discovery	Read-only capability discovery. Register providers and metadata; trusted plugin entry code may load, but skip live side effects.
setup-only	Channel setup metadata loading through a lightweight setup entry.
setup-runtime	Channel setup loading that also needs the runtime entry.
cli-metadata	CLI command metadata collection only.

Plugin entries that open sockets, databases, background workers, or long-lived clients should guard those side effects with api.registrationMode === "full". Discovery loads are cached separately from activating loads and do not replace the running Gateway registry. Discovery is non-activating, not import-free: OpenClaw may evaluate the trusted plugin entry or channel plugin module to build the snapshot. Keep module top levels lightweight and side-effect-free, and move network clients, subprocesses, listeners, credential reads, and service startup behind full-runtime paths.

Common registration methods:

Method	What it registers
registerProvider	Model provider (LLM)
registerChannel	Chat channel
registerTool	Agent tool
registerHook / on(...)	Lifecycle hooks
registerSpeechProvider	Text-to-speech / STT
registerRealtimeTranscriptionProvider	Streaming STT
registerRealtimeVoiceProvider	Duplex realtime voice
registerMediaUnderstandingProvider	Image/audio analysis
registerImageGenerationProvider	Image generation
registerMusicGenerationProvider	Music generation
registerVideoGenerationProvider	Video generation
registerWebFetchProvider	Web fetch / scrape provider
registerWebSearchProvider	Web search
registerHttpRoute	HTTP endpoint
registerCommand / registerCli	CLI commands
registerContextEngine	Context engine
registerService	Background service

Hook guard behavior for typed lifecycle hooks:

• before_tool_call: { block: true } is terminal; lower-priority handlers are skipped.
• before_tool_call: { block: false } is a no-op and does not clear an earlier block.
• before_install: { block: true } is terminal; lower-priority handlers are skipped.
• before_install: { block: false } is a no-op and does not clear an earlier block.
• message_sending: { cancel: true } is terminal; lower-priority handlers are skipped.
• message_sending: { cancel: false } is a no-op and does not clear an earlier cancel.

Native Codex app-server runs bridge Codex-native tool events back into this hook surface. Plugins can block native Codex tools through before_tool_call, observe results through after_tool_call, and participate in Codex PermissionRequest approvals. The bridge does not rewrite Codex-native tool arguments yet. The exact Codex runtime support boundary lives in the Codex harness v1 support contract.

For full typed hook behavior, see SDK overview.

Related

• Building plugins — create your own plugin
• Plugin bundles — Codex/Claude/Cursor bundle compatibility
• Plugin manifest — manifest schema
• Registering tools — add agent tools in a plugin
• Plugin internals — capability model and load pipeline
• Community plugins — third-party listings