Building CLI backend plugins

CLI backend plugins let OpenClaw call a local AI CLI as a text inference backend. The backend appears as a provider prefix in model refs:

acme-cli/acme-large

Use a CLI backend when the upstream integration is already exposed as a local command, when the CLI owns local login state, or as a fallback when API providers are unavailable.

If the upstream service exposes a normal HTTP model API, write a provider plugin instead. If the upstream runtime owns complete agent sessions, tool events, compaction, or background task state, use an agent harness.

What the plugin owns

A CLI backend plugin has three contracts:

Contract	File	Purpose
Package entry	package.json	Points OpenClaw at the plugin runtime module
Manifest ownership	openclaw.plugin.json	Declares the backend id before runtime loads
Runtime registration	index.ts	Calls api.registerCliBackend(...) with command defaults

The manifest is discovery metadata: it does not execute the CLI or register runtime behavior. Runtime behavior starts when the plugin entry calls api.registerCliBackend(...).

Minimal backend plugin

1. Create package metadata

   package.json

   {
     "name": "@acme/openclaw-acme-cli",
     "version": "1.0.0",
     "type": "module",
     "openclaw": {
       "extensions": ["./index.ts"],
       "compat": {
         "pluginApi": ">=2026.3.24-beta.2",
         "minGatewayVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2"
       },
       "build": {
         "openclawVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2",
         "pluginSdkVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2"
       }
     },
     "dependencies": {
       "openclaw": "^2026.3.24"
     },
     "devDependencies": {
       "typescript": "^5.9.0"
     }
   }
   

   Published packages must ship built JavaScript runtime files. If your source entry is ./src/index.ts, add openclaw.runtimeExtensions pointing at the built JavaScript peer. See Entry points.

2. Declare backend ownership

   openclaw.plugin.json

   {
     "id": "acme-cli",
     "name": "Acme CLI",
     "description": "Run Acme's local AI CLI through OpenClaw",
     "cliBackends": ["acme-cli"],
     "setup": {
       "cliBackends": ["acme-cli"],
       "requiresRuntime": false
     },
     "activation": {
       "onStartup": false
     },
     "configSchema": {
       "type": "object",
       "additionalProperties": false
     }
   }
   

   cliBackends is the runtime ownership list; it lets OpenClaw auto-load the plugin when model selection or agentRuntime.id mentions acme-cli.

   setup.cliBackends is the descriptor-first setup surface. Add it when model discovery, onboarding, or status should recognize the backend without loading plugin runtime. Use requiresRuntime: false only when those static descriptors are enough for setup.

3. Register the backend

   index.ts

   import { definePluginEntry, type OpenClawPluginApi } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
   
   function buildAcmeCliBackend(): Parameters<OpenClawPluginApi["registerCliBackend"]>[0] {
     return {
       id: "acme-cli",
       liveTest: {
         defaultModelRef: "acme-cli/acme-large",
         defaultImageProbe: false,
         defaultMcpProbe: false,
         docker: {
           npmPackage: "@acme/acme-cli",
           binaryName: "acme",
         },
       },
       config: {
         command: "acme",
         args: ["chat", "--output-format", "stream-json", "--prompt", "{prompt}"],
         resumeArgs: [
           "chat",
           "--resume",
           "{sessionId}",
           "--output-format",
           "stream-json",
           "--prompt",
           "{prompt}",
         ],
         output: "jsonl",
         resumeOutput: "jsonl",
         jsonlDialect: "gemini-stream-json",
         input: "arg",
         modelArg: "--model",
         modelAliases: {
           large: "acme-large-2026",
           fast: "acme-fast-2026",
         },
         sessionArgs: ["--session", "{sessionId}"],
         sessionMode: "existing",
         sessionIdFields: ["session_id", "conversation_id"],
         systemPromptFileArg: "--system-file",
         systemPromptWhen: "first",
         imageArg: "--image",
         imageMode: "repeat",
         imagePathScope: "workspace",
         serialize: true,
       },
     };
   }
   
   export default definePluginEntry({
     id: "acme-cli",
     name: "Acme CLI",
     description: "Run Acme's local AI CLI through OpenClaw",
     register(api) {
       api.registerCliBackend(buildAcmeCliBackend());
     },
   });
   

   The backend id must match the manifest cliBackends entry. The registered adapter is authoritative plugin code; OpenClaw config selects the backend but does not rewrite its command contract.

Config shape

CliBackendConfig describes how OpenClaw should launch and parse the CLI. The worked example above intentionally exercises the same command, resume, JSONL, model-alias, session, and image fields as the bundled google-gemini-cli adapter:

Field	Use
command	Binary name or absolute command path
args	Base argv for fresh runs
resumeArgs	Alternate argv for resumed sessions; supports {sessionId}
output / resumeOutput	Parser: json, jsonl, or text
jsonlDialect	JSONL event dialect: claude-stream-json or gemini-stream-json
liveSession	Long-lived CLI process mode (claude-stdio)
input	Prompt transport: arg or stdin
maxPromptArgChars	Max prompt length for arg mode before falling back to stdin
env / clearEnv	Extra env vars to inject, or names to strip before launch
modelArg	Flag used before the model id
modelAliases	Map OpenClaw model ids to CLI-native ids
sessionArgs	How to pass a session id using {sessionId}
sessionMode	always, existing, or none
sessionIdFields	JSON fields OpenClaw reads from CLI output
systemPromptArg / systemPromptFileArg	System prompt transport
systemPromptFileConfigArg / systemPromptFileConfigKey	Config-override transport for a system prompt file (for example -c)
systemPromptMode	append or replace
systemPromptWhen	first, always, or never
imageArg / imageMode	Image path flag and how to pass multiple images (repeat or list)
imagePathScope	Where staged image files live before handoff: temp or workspace
serialize	Keep same-backend runs ordered
reseedFromRawTranscriptWhenUncompacted	Opt in to bounded raw-transcript reseed before compaction for safe session resets
freshSessionRecovery	Fresh recovery policy after a recoverable resumed-session failure
reliability.watchdog	No-output timeout tuning, separate for fresh vs resumed runs

claude-stream-json is more than a parser choice: it declares that the backend’s result records carry Claude Code’s terminal semantics, including terminal_reason. A reply-less result whose terminal_reason is hook_stopped, stop_hook_prevented, aborted_tools, aborted_streaming, budget_exhausted, or max_turns is a recorded turn stop: OpenClaw reports that reason to the user and does not replay the turn on a fallback model, because the backend’s tool actions may already have run.

Omit reliability.watchdog to inherit the standard profiles, including the longer resumed-run budget for cron and explicit timeouts. Set it only when a backend intentionally needs its own watchdog policy.

freshSessionRecovery is a backend-owned compatibility contract:

• Leave it undefined or set it to "replace-binding" to preserve the legacy clear-and-reseed behavior. OpenClaw clears the persisted binding and retries with a fresh session when the failure is eligible for recovery.
• Set it to "invalidated-only" to suppress fresh replacement unless the canonical invalidation predicate proves the old session is dead. Currently, only session_expired does so.

Choose the value from the CLI or SDK session contract, not from a provider id or broad error class. The bundled Anthropic backend uses "invalidated-only"; its native session contract does not treat non-expiration failures as proof that the conversation can no longer resume.

Prefer the smallest static config that matches the CLI. Add plugin callbacks only for behavior that really belongs to the backend.

Advanced backend hooks

CliBackendPlugin can also define:

Hook	Use
normalizeConfig(config, context)	Normalize the registered static adapter with runtime context
resolveExecutionArgs(ctx)	Add request-scoped flags such as thinking effort or side-question isolation
prepareExecution(ctx)	Create temporary auth, config, or environment bridges before launch
transformSystemPrompt(ctx)	Apply a final CLI-specific system prompt transform
textTransforms	Bidirectional prompt/output replacements
defaultAuthProfileId	Prefer a specific OpenClaw auth profile
authEpochMode	Decide how auth changes invalidate stored CLI sessions
nativeToolMode	Declare whether native tools are absent, always on, or host-selectable
toolAvailabilityEnforcement	Declare whether exact tool caps are enforced in argv or execution staging
projectNativeToolAuthority	Map the observed native tool list to canonical capabilities for cron caps
sideQuestionToolMode	Declare disabled native tools for /btw side questions
bundleMcp / bundleMcpMode	Opt into OpenClaw’s loopback MCP tool bridge
ownsNativeCompaction	Backend owns its own automatic compaction - OpenClaw defers
manualCompaction	Atomic command, transport, and positive-acknowledgement contract
subscriptionAuthDispatch	Opted-in embedded runs on subscription credentials execute via this backend
runtimeArtifact	Bound a script launcher to its complete bundled package tree

Keep these hooks provider-owned. Do not add CLI-specific branches to core when a backend hook can express the behavior.

prepareExecution(ctx) receives ctx.contextTokenBudget, the effective token limit selected for the run. Backends that own native compaction can map that budget into their CLI-specific launch contract. It also receives the optional effective ctx.thinkingLevel: off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh, adaptive, or max. Use that field when the selected level must be applied through launch environment or staged configuration; the same field is available to resolveExecutionArgs(ctx) for native CLI flags.

prepareExecution(ctx) may also return an optional execute transport when a backend owns the installed CLI’s protocol or SDK integration. The transport receives the exact prepared command, arguments, optional argv0, environment, prompt, session, and tool availability; it yields the backend’s existing structured stream records. Preserve the prepared command, argv0, and interpreter or script prefix in args when constructing the CLI invocation. argv0 preserves the invocation name of a PATH shim. Optional promptContext.prependContext and promptContext.appendContext are private prompt-build additions, separate from the ordinary prompt. Transport them through the native runtime’s private context mechanism; never record them as operator-authored input. OpenClaw’s policy and observation hooks still receive the complete logical prompt. Native tool actions must use the provided, run-bound requestToolPermission callback rather than creating independent approval authority. OpenClaw retains cancellation, watchdogs, session policy, and MCP grant ownership. Paired-node execution and manual compaction continue through the existing host-managed process path.

runtimeArtifact is plugin-owned. It is consulted only when a live inference turn mints or revalidates verified setup authority; normal CLI runs do not require it. A backend without this declaration cannot mint verified CLI setup authority. A bundled-package-tree declaration names the exact package.json owner and requires the package entrypoint to be the command. OpenClaw hashes the bounded complete installed package tree, including nested dependencies, and fails closed for redirecting symlinks, launchers outside the declared package, required external dependency declarations, oversized trees, and unknown scripts. Declare this only when that tree contains the complete inference implementation; optional tool integrations do not make an external implementation graph safe.

If the same backend also ships a self-contained native executable, list its canonical basenames in nativeExecutableNames. Other native commands remain unverified.

ctx.executionMode is "agent" for normal turns and "side-question" for ephemeral /btw calls. Use it when the CLI needs different one-shot flags, such as disabling native tools, session persistence, or resume behavior for BTW. If a backend normally has nativeToolMode: "always-on" but its side-question argv reliably disables those tools, also set sideQuestionToolMode: "disabled"; otherwise OpenClaw fails closed when BTW requires a no-tools CLI run.

Set nativeToolMode: "selectable" only when the backend can disable every backend-native tool for an individual run. Restricted runs receive a canonical contract: ctx.toolAvailability.native is the exact backend-native list and ctx.toolAvailability.openClaw is the exact list of OpenClaw tool names. The host independently limits the generated MCP configuration and grant to that OpenClaw list; plugins must not translate it in core or add transport prefixes.

Declare how the backend enforces that contract:

• toolAvailabilityEnforcement: "execution-args" requires resolveExecutionArgs. The hook must replace conflicting tool flags, disable customization surfaces that can execute outside the selected tools, and return enforcing argv for both fresh and resumed runs.
• toolAvailabilityEnforcement: "prepare-execution" requires prepareExecution. The hook must stage an exact per-run policy and return toolAvailabilityEnforced: true; missing acknowledgement fails closed and OpenClaw cleans up the staged resources before launch.

Runtime caps such as cron toolsAllow are normalized and group-expanded by OpenClaw before this contract is built. Native tools are disabled, and a backend without a complete declared enforcement path fails before execution.

A backend whose native tools are model-callable may declare projectNativeToolAuthority(nativeTools) so that automations created from its sessions keep the creator’s native capabilities. For Claude stream-JSON, the input is the parent turn’s system/init.tools list, intersected with toolAvailability.native when a host selection exists. Managed native settings can remove tools after CLI argument selection, so defaults are never inferred. Each turn starts with pending authority: MCP discovery remains available, but tool calls reject visibly until initialization supplies the list. Warm turns cannot borrow a previous turn’s snapshot. Return only canonical names from the core vocabulary (read, write, edit, apply_patch, exec, process, web_search, web_fetch), each derived from a native tool the host enforces through this contract. Core validates the result before updating the active loopback grant and again at final creator-cap capture; any other name fails the turn. Updating the snapshot invalidates earlier cached tool projections. Project only equivalent capabilities: Claude’s Glob locates paths and NotebookEdit edits notebook cells, so neither grants general read or edit. The native list contains tool names, not permission-rule patterns. Codex native code mode projects read and exec after OpenClaw explicitly requests the shell and rejects managed requirements or legacy managed settings that disable it. The effective setting and its source are checked at each preflight; a user-local shell disable is overridden for native mode, while a managed denial rejects before capture. It never infers write, edit, apply_patch, or process. The pinned Codex registry has no shell-disabled models; a custom model that disables its shell remains an unobservable exception because Codex does not expose that model capability.

Previously saved empty automation caps remain restricted. Recreate the job or explicitly edit its tools from a fresh authorized creator turn; an old empty cap cannot safely be distinguished from an intentional denial.

parseJsonlEvent: provider-specific JSONL streams

Set parseJsonlEvent when a backend emits line-delimited JSON that does not match the built-in Claude, Codex, or Gemini dialects. The hook receives one raw line plus the resolved backend id and config, and returns one normalized event, multiple events, or null to let the built-in parser try the line.

Supported events are incremental assistant text, incremental thinking, native tool start/result display, session ids, and terminal results. Terminal results may include final text, usage, an error, and a successor session id. Session ids reported by either event shape participate in resumed-session and fork persistence.

Lifecycle events are intentionally separate from this return union so existing plugins can continue to match it exhaustively. Use parseJsonlLifecycleEvent for backend-owned lifecycle records instead.

Tool events describe work the backend already performed. OpenClaw renders and summarizes them, but does not treat them as host tool execution, trusted diagnostics, loopback correlation, or message-delivery evidence.

parseJsonlLifecycleEvent: provider-native lifecycle records

Set parseJsonlLifecycleEvent when a backend emits JSONL records for lifecycle state that is independent of assistant text, tools, sessions, and terminal results. The hook receives the same line and context as parseJsonlEvent and is tried first. Returning a lifecycle event consumes that line; returning null lets the source-compatible parseJsonlEvent hook or built-in parser handle it.

The current lifecycle contract supports native compaction start and end records. An end record includes completed so channels can distinguish successful and incomplete compaction without inferring an outcome from later messages.

ownsNativeCompaction: opting out of OpenClaw compaction

If your backend runs an agent that compacts its own transcript, set ownsNativeCompaction: true so OpenClaw’s safeguard summarizer never runs against its sessions - automatic CLI compaction defers to the backend and the turn proceeds. claude-cli declares it because Claude Code compacts internally with no harness endpoint. It also declares manualCompaction, so an explicit OpenClaw /compact resumes the bound Claude Code session and invokes its native /compact command without recording a conversation turn. Native-harness sessions such as Codex keep routing to their harness compaction endpoint instead.

Only declare it when all of the following hold, or a deferred over-budget session can stay over budget or go stale (OpenClaw no longer rescues it):

• the backend reliably compacts or bounds its own transcript as it nears its window;
• it persists a resumable session so the compacted state survives turns (for example --resume / --session-id);
• it is not a native-harness compaction session - matching agentHarnessId sessions route to the harness endpoint instead.

If the backend supports an in-place manual command, declare it alongside the ownership flag:

manualCompaction: {
  buildPrompt: (instructions) =>
    instructions ? `/compact ${instructions}` : "/compact",
  input: "arg",
  validateOutput: (rawOutput) =>
    rawOutput.includes('"type":"compaction_complete"')
      ? { ok: true }
      : { ok: false, reason: "CLI did not confirm compaction." },
},

The builder receives optional /compact instructions. The validator receives the bounded raw process output and must require a backend-owned positive acknowledgement; a zero exit alone is not proof of compaction. Do not declare this capability for a command that creates a separate session or requires an ordinary model turn.

MCP tool bridge

CLI backends do not receive OpenClaw tools by default. If the CLI can consume an MCP configuration, opt in explicitly:

return {
  id: "acme-cli",
  bundleMcp: true,
  bundleMcpMode: "codex-config-overrides",
  config: {
    command: "acme",
    args: ["chat", "--json"],
    output: "json",
  },
};

Supported bridge modes:

Mode	Use
claude-config-file	CLIs that accept an MCP config file
codex-config-overrides	CLIs that accept config overrides on argv
gemini-system-settings	CLIs that read MCP settings from their system settings directory

Only enable the bridge when the CLI can actually consume it. If the CLI has its own built-in tool layer that cannot be disabled, set nativeToolMode: "always-on" so OpenClaw can fail closed when a caller requires no native tools. If it can disable every native tool per run, use "selectable" with the resolveExecutionArgs contract above.

Selecting the backend

Users select a standalone backend through its model-ref prefix. A backend that declares a canonical modelProvider can instead be selected through that provider model’s agentRuntime.id. Adapter mechanics remain in the plugin:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: {
        primary: "openai/gpt-5.6-sol",
        fallbacks: ["acme-cli/large"],
      },
    },
  },
}

Put credentials in OpenClaw auth profiles or plugin-owned config. Ensure the registered command is on the gateway service’s PATH; deployments that need a different path or argv should change or wrap the plugin registration.

Verification

For bundled plugins, add a focused test around the builder and setup registration, then run the plugin’s targeted test lane:

pnpm test extensions/acme-cli

For local or installed plugins, verify discovery and one real model run:

openclaw plugins inspect acme-cli --runtime --json
openclaw agent --message "reply exactly: backend ok" --model acme-cli/acme-large

If the backend supports images or MCP, add a live smoke that proves those paths with the real CLI. Do not rely on static inspection for prompt, image, MCP, or session-resume behavior.

Checklist

package.json has openclaw.extensions and built runtime entries for published packages

openclaw.plugin.json declares cliBackends and intentional activation.onStartup

setup.cliBackends is present when setup/model discovery should see the backend cold

api.registerCliBackend(...) uses the same backend id as the manifest

The backend model prefix or model-scoped agentRuntime.id selects the registration

Session, system prompt, image, and output parser settings match the real CLI contract

Targeted tests and at least one live CLI smoke prove the backend path

Related

• CLI backends - runtime selection and behavior
• Building plugins - package and manifest basics
• Plugin SDK overview - registration API reference
• Plugin manifest - cliBackends and setup descriptors
• Agent harness - full external agent runtimes