openclaw-plugins

name

openclaw-plugins

description

OpenClaw plugin system. Use when installing, configuring, debugging, or building plugins; understanding plugin slots, capability model, plugin manifest, SDK entry points, hook system, or plugin allow/deny. Also covers the ClawHub public registry (publish, browse, install from clawhub CLI). Triggers on: plugin, plugins install, plugin slot, plugin config, extension, plugin manifest, plugin SDK, channel plugin, provider plugin, tool plugin, hook plugin, building plugins, plugin capability, plugin allow list, plugin shape, ClawHub, clawhub CLI, clawhub auth, publish skill, publish plugin, registry, browse plugins, install from ClawHub, npm install, plugin not loading, plugin conflict, disabled plugin, plugin API, openclaw plugins, policy, conformance, openshell, codex harness, codex supervisor, exec approvals, memory wiki, browser login, context engine, plugin slots.

Routing hints

You should route to this skill when the user asks about OpenClaw plugins — how to install, configure, build, or distribute plugins; plugin manifest format; plugin slots (memory, channel, provider, context-engine); per-provider plugin stubs; the Codex harness; the plugin SDK; plugin context engine; ClawHub registry. References: architecture.md, architecture-internals.md, plugin-manifest.md, plugin-slots.md, bundles.md, building-plugins.md, building-extensions.md, adding-capabilities.md, plugin-sdk.md, sdk-subpaths.md, sdk-agent-harness.md, sdk-channel-inbound.md, sdk-channel-outbound.md, codex.md, codex-harness.md, codex-harness-runtime.md, codex-harness-reference.md, codex-supervisor.md, codex-native-plugins.md, codex-computer-use.md.

OpenClaw Plugins

Plugin basics

Plugins extend OpenClaw: channels, model providers, speech, media, image/video/music generation, web fetch/search, tools, hooks. Install via openclaw plugins install @scope/plugin-name.

Exclusive slots

Slot	Default	Override key
memory	memory-core	plugins.slots.memory
contextEngine	legacy	plugins.slots.contextEngine

Swapping memory to Honcho:

plugins: {
  slots: { memory: "openclaw-honcho" },
  entries: { "openclaw-honcho": { enabled: true, config: { baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8000" } } }
}

Restart gateway after. Never set a slot to a plugin not in entries.

Allow / deny / entries

plugins: {
  allow: ["plugin-id"],       // non-bundled plugins — empty = any discovered
  deny: ["some-plugin"],      // block after allow check
  entries: {                  // per-plugin config
    "my-plugin": { enabled: true, config: {} }
  }
}

Bundled plugins (discord, minimax, browser, active-memory, brave, diffs, llm-task, lobster, memory-core) ignore allow.

Installing + verifying

openclaw plugins install @scope/plugin-name
openclaw plugins list            # verify loaded
openclaw plugins inspect <id>    # shape + capabilities

Hook system

openclaw hooks list              # all hooks
openclaw hooks enable HOOK_NAME  # enable
openclaw hooks disable HOOK_NAME

Built-in hooks: before_agent_start, before_model_resolve, before_prompt_build, session:compact:before, gateway:startup, message:received

Common errors

Error	Fix
plugin disabled (memory slot set to X)	Only one plugin per slot — check plugins.slots
Plugin not loading	Add to plugins.allow; restart gateway
Config validation fail	Check openclaw.plugin.json manifest schema
Slot set but no entry	Add plugin to plugins.entries first

References

• references/plugin-architecture.md — capability model, shapes, load pipeline
• references/plugin-manifest.md — full manifest schema
• references/building-plugins.md — first plugin tutorial
• references/sdk-overview.md — SDK import map + registration API
• references/sdk-runtime.md — runtime registration API
• references/exec-approvals.md — exec approval hooks