plugins

openclaw plugins

Manage Gateway plugins/extensions, hook packs, and compatible bundles.

Related:

• Plugin system: Plugins
• Bundle compatibility: Plugin bundles
• Plugin manifest + schema: Plugin manifest
• Security hardening: Security

Commands

openclaw plugins list
openclaw plugins list --enabled
openclaw plugins list --verbose
openclaw plugins list --json
openclaw plugins install <path-or-spec>
openclaw plugins inspect <id>
openclaw plugins inspect <id> --json
openclaw plugins inspect --all
openclaw plugins info <id>
openclaw plugins enable <id>
openclaw plugins disable <id>
openclaw plugins uninstall <id>
openclaw plugins doctor
openclaw plugins update <id>
openclaw plugins update --all
openclaw plugins marketplace list <marketplace>
openclaw plugins marketplace list <marketplace> --json

Bundled plugins ship with OpenClaw. Some are enabled by default (for example bundled model providers, bundled speech providers, and the bundled browser plugin); others require plugins enable.

Native OpenClaw plugins must ship openclaw.plugin.json with an inline JSON Schema (configSchema, even if empty). Compatible bundles use their own bundle manifests instead.

plugins list shows Format: openclaw or Format: bundle. Verbose list/info output also shows the bundle subtype (codex, claude, or cursor) plus detected bundle capabilities.

Install

openclaw plugins install <package>                      # ClawHub first, then npm
openclaw plugins install clawhub:<package>              # ClawHub only
openclaw plugins install <package> --force              # overwrite existing install
openclaw plugins install <package> --pin                # pin version
openclaw plugins install <package> --dangerously-force-unsafe-install
openclaw plugins install <path>                         # local path
openclaw plugins install <plugin>@<marketplace>         # marketplace
openclaw plugins install <plugin> --marketplace <name>  # marketplace (explicit)
openclaw plugins install <plugin> --marketplace https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>

Bare package names are checked against ClawHub first, then npm. Security note: treat plugin installs like running code. Prefer pinned versions.

If config is invalid, plugins install normally fails closed and tells you to run openclaw doctor --fix first. The only documented exception is a narrow bundled-plugin recovery path for plugins that explicitly opt into openclaw.install.allowInvalidConfigRecovery.

--force reuses the existing install target and overwrites an already-installed plugin or hook pack in place. Use it when you are intentionally reinstalling the same id from a new local path, archive, ClawHub package, or npm artifact.

--pin applies to npm installs 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 option for false positives in the built-in dangerous-code scanner. It allows the install to continue even when the built-in scanner reports critical findings, but it does not bypass plugin before_install hook policy blocks and does not bypass scan failures.

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

plugins install is also the install surface for hook packs that expose openclaw.hooks in package.json. Use openclaw hooks for filtered hook visibility and per-hook enablement, not package installation.

Npm specs are registry-only (package name + optional exact version or dist-tag). Git/URL/file specs and semver ranges are rejected. Dependency installs run with --ignore-scripts for safety.

Bare specs and @latest stay on the stable track. If npm resolves either of those to a prerelease, OpenClaw stops and asks you to opt in explicitly with a prerelease tag such as @beta/@rc or an exact prerelease version such as @1.2.3-beta.4.

If a bare install spec matches a bundled plugin id (for example diffs), OpenClaw installs the bundled plugin directly. To install an npm package with the same name, use an explicit scoped spec (for example @scope/diffs).

Supported archives: .zip, .tgz, .tar.gz, .tar.

Claude marketplace installs are also supported.

ClawHub installs use an explicit clawhub:<package> locator:

openclaw plugins install clawhub:openclaw-codex-app-server
openclaw plugins install clawhub:openclaw-codex-app-server@1.2.3

OpenClaw now also prefers ClawHub for bare npm-safe plugin specs. It only falls back to npm if ClawHub does not have that package or version:

openclaw plugins install openclaw-codex-app-server

OpenClaw downloads the package archive from ClawHub, checks the advertised plugin API / minimum gateway compatibility, then installs it through the normal archive path. Recorded installs keep their ClawHub source metadata for later updates.

Use plugin@marketplace shorthand when the marketplace name exists in Claude’s local registry cache at ~/.claude/plugins/known_marketplaces.json:

openclaw plugins marketplace list <marketplace-name>
openclaw plugins install <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>

Use --marketplace when you want to pass the marketplace source explicitly:

openclaw plugins install <plugin-name> --marketplace <marketplace-name>
openclaw plugins install <plugin-name> --marketplace <owner/repo>
openclaw plugins install <plugin-name> --marketplace https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>
openclaw plugins install <plugin-name> --marketplace ./my-marketplace

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 repo shorthand such as owner/repo
• a GitHub repo URL such as https://github.com/owner/repo
• a git URL

For remote marketplaces loaded from GitHub or git, plugin entries must stay inside the cloned marketplace repo. OpenClaw accepts relative path sources from that repo and rejects HTTP(S), absolute-path, git, GitHub, and other non-path plugin sources from remote manifests.

For local paths and archives, OpenClaw auto-detects:

• native OpenClaw plugins (openclaw.plugin.json)
• Codex-compatible bundles (.codex-plugin/plugin.json)
• Claude-compatible bundles (.claude-plugin/plugin.json or the default Claude component layout)
• Cursor-compatible bundles (.cursor-plugin/plugin.json)

Compatible bundles install into the normal extensions root and participate in the same list/info/enable/disable flow. Today, bundle skills, Claude command-skills, Claude settings.json defaults, Claude .lsp.json / manifest-declared lspServers defaults, Cursor command-skills, and compatible Codex hook directories are supported; other detected bundle capabilities are shown in diagnostics/info but are not yet wired into runtime execution.

List

openclaw plugins list
openclaw plugins list --enabled
openclaw plugins list --verbose
openclaw plugins list --json

Use --enabled to show only loaded plugins. Use --verbose to switch from the table view to per-plugin detail lines with source/origin/version/activation metadata. Use --json for machine-readable inventory plus registry diagnostics.

Use --link to avoid copying a local directory (adds to plugins.load.paths):

openclaw plugins install -l ./my-plugin

--force is not supported with --link because linked installs reuse the source path instead of copying over a managed install target.

Use --pin on npm installs to save the resolved exact spec (name@version) in plugins.installs while keeping the default behavior unpinned.

Uninstall

openclaw plugins uninstall <id>
openclaw plugins uninstall <id> --dry-run
openclaw plugins uninstall <id> --keep-files

uninstall removes plugin records from plugins.entries, plugins.installs, the plugin allowlist, and linked plugins.load.paths entries when applicable. For active memory plugins, the memory slot resets to memory-core.

By default, uninstall also removes the plugin install directory under the active state-dir plugin root. Use --keep-files to keep files on disk.

--keep-config is supported as a deprecated alias for --keep-files.

Update

openclaw plugins update <id-or-npm-spec>
openclaw plugins update --all
openclaw plugins update <id-or-npm-spec> --dry-run
openclaw plugins update @openclaw/voice-call@beta
openclaw plugins update openclaw-codex-app-server --dangerously-force-unsafe-install

Updates apply to tracked installs in plugins.installs and tracked hook-pack installs in hooks.internal.installs.

When you pass a plugin id, OpenClaw reuses the recorded install spec for that plugin. That means previously stored dist-tags such as @beta and exact pinned versions continue to be used on later update <id> runs.

For npm installs, you can also pass an explicit npm package spec with a dist-tag or exact version. OpenClaw resolves that package name back to the tracked plugin record, updates that installed plugin, and records the new npm spec for future id-based updates.

When a stored integrity hash exists and the fetched artifact hash changes, OpenClaw prints a warning and asks for confirmation before proceeding. Use global --yes to bypass prompts in CI/non-interactive runs.

--dangerously-force-unsafe-install is also available on plugins update as a break-glass override for built-in dangerous-code scan false positives during plugin updates. It still does not bypass plugin before_install policy blocks or scan-failure blocking, and it only applies to plugin updates, not hook-pack updates.

Inspect

openclaw plugins inspect <id>
openclaw plugins inspect <id> --json

Deep introspection for a single plugin. Shows identity, load status, source, registered capabilities, hooks, tools, commands, services, gateway methods, HTTP routes, policy flags, diagnostics, install metadata, bundle capabilities, and any detected MCP or LSP server support.

Each plugin is classified by what it actually registers at runtime:

• plain-capability — one capability type (e.g. a provider-only plugin)
• hybrid-capability — multiple capability types (e.g. text + speech + images)
• hook-only — only hooks, no capabilities or surfaces
• non-capability — tools/commands/services but no capabilities

See Plugin shapes for more on the capability model.

The --json flag outputs a machine-readable report suitable for scripting and auditing.

inspect --all renders a fleet-wide table with shape, capability kinds, compatibility notices, bundle capabilities, and hook summary columns.

info is an alias for inspect.

Doctor

openclaw plugins doctor

doctor reports plugin load errors, manifest/discovery diagnostics, and compatibility notices. When everything is clean it prints No plugin issues detected.

Marketplace

openclaw plugins marketplace list <source>
openclaw plugins marketplace list <source> --json

Marketplace list accepts a local marketplace path, a marketplace.json path, a GitHub shorthand like owner/repo, a GitHub repo URL, or a git URL. --json prints the resolved source label plus the parsed marketplace manifest and plugin entries.