Building Channel Plugins

Building Channel Plugins

This guide walks through building a channel plugin that connects OpenClaw to a messaging platform. By the end you will have a working channel with DM security, pairing, reply threading, and outbound messaging.

If you have not built any OpenClaw plugin before, read Getting Started first for the basic package structure and manifest setup.

How channel plugins work

Channel plugins do not need their own send/edit/react tools. OpenClaw keeps one shared message tool in core. Your plugin owns:

• Config — account resolution and setup wizard
• Security — DM policy and allowlists
• Pairing — DM approval flow
• Session grammar — how provider-specific conversation ids map to base chats, thread ids, and parent fallbacks
• Outbound — sending text, media, and polls to the platform
• Threading — how replies are threaded

Core owns the shared message tool, prompt wiring, the outer session-key shape, generic :thread: bookkeeping, and dispatch.

If your platform stores extra scope inside conversation ids, keep that parsing in the plugin with messaging.resolveSessionConversation(...). That is the canonical hook for mapping rawId to the base conversation id, optional thread id, explicit baseConversationId, and any parentConversationCandidates. When you return parentConversationCandidates, keep them ordered from the narrowest parent to the broadest/base conversation.

Bundled plugins that need the same parsing before the channel registry boots can also expose a top-level session-key-api.ts file with a matching resolveSessionConversation(...) export. Core uses that bootstrap-safe surface only when the runtime plugin registry is not available yet.

messaging.resolveParentConversationCandidates(...) remains available as a legacy compatibility fallback when a plugin only needs parent fallbacks on top of the generic/raw id. If both hooks exist, core uses resolveSessionConversation(...).parentConversationCandidates first and only falls back to resolveParentConversationCandidates(...) when the canonical hook omits them.

Approvals and channel capabilities

Most channel plugins do not need approval-specific code.

• Core owns same-chat /approve, shared approval button payloads, and generic fallback delivery.
• Prefer one approvalCapability object on the channel plugin when the channel needs approval-specific behavior.
• approvalCapability.authorizeActorAction and approvalCapability.getActionAvailabilityState are the canonical approval-auth seam.
• Use outbound.shouldSuppressLocalPayloadPrompt or outbound.beforeDeliverPayload for channel-specific payload lifecycle behavior such as hiding duplicate local approval prompts or sending typing indicators before delivery.
• Use approvalCapability.delivery only for native approval routing or fallback suppression.
• Use approvalCapability.render only when a channel truly needs custom approval payloads instead of the shared renderer.
• If a channel can infer stable owner-like DM identities from existing config, use createResolvedApproverActionAuthAdapter from openclaw/plugin-sdk/approval-runtime to restrict same-chat /approve without adding approval-specific core logic.
• If a channel needs native approval delivery, keep channel code focused on target normalization and transport hooks. Use createChannelExecApprovalProfile, createChannelNativeOriginTargetResolver, createChannelApproverDmTargetResolver, createApproverRestrictedNativeApprovalCapability, and createChannelNativeApprovalRuntime from openclaw/plugin-sdk/approval-runtime so core owns request filtering, routing, dedupe, expiry, and gateway subscription.
• Native approval channels must route both accountId and approvalKind through those helpers. accountId keeps multi-account approval policy scoped to the right bot account, and approvalKind keeps exec vs plugin approval behavior available to the channel without hardcoded branches in core.
• Preserve the delivered approval id kind end-to-end. Native clients should not guess or rewrite exec vs plugin approval routing from channel-local state.
• Different approval kinds can intentionally expose different native surfaces. Current bundled examples:
  • Slack keeps native approval routing available for both exec and plugin ids.
  • Matrix keeps native DM/channel routing for exec approvals only and leaves plugin approvals on the shared same-chat /approve path.
• createApproverRestrictedNativeApprovalAdapter still exists as a compatibility wrapper, but new code should prefer the capability builder and expose approvalCapability on the plugin.

For hot channel entrypoints, prefer the narrower runtime subpaths when you only need one part of that family:

• openclaw/plugin-sdk/approval-auth-runtime
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/approval-client-runtime
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/approval-delivery-runtime
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/approval-native-runtime
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/approval-reply-runtime

Likewise, prefer openclaw/plugin-sdk/setup-runtime, openclaw/plugin-sdk/setup-adapter-runtime, openclaw/plugin-sdk/reply-runtime, openclaw/plugin-sdk/reply-dispatch-runtime, openclaw/plugin-sdk/reply-reference, and openclaw/plugin-sdk/reply-chunking when you do not need the broader umbrella surface.

For setup specifically:

• openclaw/plugin-sdk/setup-runtime covers the runtime-safe setup helpers: import-safe setup patch adapters (createPatchedAccountSetupAdapter, createEnvPatchedAccountSetupAdapter, createSetupInputPresenceValidator), lookup-note output, promptResolvedAllowFrom, splitSetupEntries, and the delegated setup-proxy builders
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/setup-adapter-runtime is the narrow env-aware adapter seam for createEnvPatchedAccountSetupAdapter
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-setup covers the optional-install setup builders plus a few setup-safe primitives: createOptionalChannelSetupSurface, createOptionalChannelSetupAdapter, createOptionalChannelSetupWizard, DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID, createTopLevelChannelDmPolicy, setSetupChannelEnabled, and splitSetupEntries
• use the broader openclaw/plugin-sdk/setup seam only when you also need the heavier shared setup/config helpers such as moveSingleAccountChannelSectionToDefaultAccount(...)

If your channel only wants to advertise “install this plugin first” in setup surfaces, prefer createOptionalChannelSetupSurface(...). The generated adapter/wizard fail closed on config writes and finalization, and they reuse the same install-required message across validation, finalize, and docs-link copy.

For other hot channel paths, prefer the narrow helpers over broader legacy surfaces:

• openclaw/plugin-sdk/account-core, openclaw/plugin-sdk/account-id, openclaw/plugin-sdk/account-resolution, and openclaw/plugin-sdk/account-helpers for multi-account config and default-account fallback
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/inbound-envelope and openclaw/plugin-sdk/inbound-reply-dispatch for inbound route/envelope and record-and-dispatch wiring
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/messaging-targets for target parsing/matching
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/outbound-media and openclaw/plugin-sdk/outbound-runtime for media loading plus outbound identity/send delegates
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/thread-bindings-runtime for thread-binding lifecycle and adapter registration
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/agent-media-payload only when a legacy agent/media payload field layout is still required
• openclaw/plugin-sdk/telegram-command-config for Telegram custom-command normalization, duplicate/conflict validation, and a fallback-stable command config contract

Auth-only channels can usually stop at the default path: core handles approvals and the plugin just exposes outbound/auth capabilities. Native approval channels such as Matrix, Slack, Telegram, and custom chat transports should use the shared native helpers instead of rolling their own approval lifecycle.

Walkthrough

2. Package and manifest

   Create the standard plugin files. The channel field in package.json is what makes this a channel plugin. For the full package-metadata surface, see Plugin Setup and Config:

   package.json

   {
     "name": "@myorg/openclaw-acme-chat",
     "version": "1.0.0",
     "type": "module",
     "openclaw": {
       "extensions": ["./index.ts"],
       "setupEntry": "./setup-entry.ts",
       "channel": {
         "id": "acme-chat",
         "label": "Acme Chat",
         "blurb": "Connect OpenClaw to Acme Chat."
       }
     }
   }
   
3. Build the channel plugin object

   The ChannelPlugin interface has many optional adapter surfaces. Start with the minimum — id and setup — and add adapters as you need them.

   Create src/channel.ts:

   src/channel.ts

   import {
     createChatChannelPlugin,
     createChannelPluginBase,
   } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core";
   import type { OpenClawConfig } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core";
   import { acmeChatApi } from "./client.js"; // your platform API client
   
   type ResolvedAccount = {
     accountId: string | null;
     token: string;
     allowFrom: string[];
     dmPolicy: string | undefined;
   };
   
   function resolveAccount(
     cfg: OpenClawConfig,
     accountId?: string | null,
   ): ResolvedAccount {
     const section = (cfg.channels as Record<string, any>)?.["acme-chat"];
     const token = section?.token;
     if (!token) throw new Error("acme-chat: token is required");
     return {
       accountId: accountId ?? null,
       token,
       allowFrom: section?.allowFrom ?? [],
       dmPolicy: section?.dmSecurity,
     };
   }
   
   export const acmeChatPlugin = createChatChannelPlugin<ResolvedAccount>({
     base: createChannelPluginBase({
       id: "acme-chat",
       setup: {
         resolveAccount,
         inspectAccount(cfg, accountId) {
           const section =
             (cfg.channels as Record<string, any>)?.["acme-chat"];
           return {
             enabled: Boolean(section?.token),
             configured: Boolean(section?.token),
             tokenStatus: section?.token ? "available" : "missing",
           };
         },
       },
     }),
   
     // DM security: who can message the bot
     security: {
       dm: {
         channelKey: "acme-chat",
         resolvePolicy: (account) => account.dmPolicy,
         resolveAllowFrom: (account) => account.allowFrom,
         defaultPolicy: "allowlist",
       },
     },
   
     // Pairing: approval flow for new DM contacts
     pairing: {
       text: {
         idLabel: "Acme Chat username",
         message: "Send this code to verify your identity:",
         notify: async ({ target, code }) => {
           await acmeChatApi.sendDm(target, `Pairing code: ${code}`);
         },
       },
     },
   
     // Threading: how replies are delivered
     threading: { topLevelReplyToMode: "reply" },
   
     // Outbound: send messages to the platform
     outbound: {
       attachedResults: {
         sendText: async (params) => {
           const result = await acmeChatApi.sendMessage(
             params.to,
             params.text,
           );
           return { messageId: result.id };
         },
       },
       base: {
         sendMedia: async (params) => {
           await acmeChatApi.sendFile(params.to, params.filePath);
         },
       },
     },
   });
   

   What createChatChannelPlugin does for you

   Instead of implementing low-level adapter interfaces manually, you pass declarative options and the builder composes them:

   Option	What it wires
   security.dm	Scoped DM security resolver from config fields
   pairing.text	Text-based DM pairing flow with code exchange
   threading	Reply-to-mode resolver (fixed, account-scoped, or custom)
   outbound.attachedResults	Send functions that return result metadata (message IDs)

   You can also pass raw adapter objects instead of the declarative options if you need full control.

4. Wire the entry point

   Create index.ts:

   index.ts

   import { defineChannelPluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core";
   import { acmeChatPlugin } from "./src/channel.js";
   
   export default defineChannelPluginEntry({
     id: "acme-chat",
     name: "Acme Chat",
     description: "Acme Chat channel plugin",
     plugin: acmeChatPlugin,
     registerCliMetadata(api) {
       api.registerCli(
         ({ program }) => {
           program
             .command("acme-chat")
             .description("Acme Chat management");
         },
         {
           descriptors: [
             {
               name: "acme-chat",
               description: "Acme Chat management",
               hasSubcommands: false,
             },
           ],
         },
       );
     },
     registerFull(api) {
       api.registerGatewayMethod(/* ... */);
     },
   });
   

   Put channel-owned CLI descriptors in registerCliMetadata(...) so OpenClaw can show them in root help without activating the full channel runtime, while normal full loads still pick up the same descriptors for real command registration. Keep registerFull(...) for runtime-only work. If registerFull(...) registers gateway RPC methods, use a plugin-specific prefix. Core admin namespaces (config.*, exec.approvals.*, wizard.*, update.*) stay reserved and always resolve to operator.admin. defineChannelPluginEntry handles the registration-mode split automatically. See Entry Points for all options.

5. Add a setup entry

   Create setup-entry.ts for lightweight loading during onboarding:

   setup-entry.ts

   import { defineSetupPluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core";
   import { acmeChatPlugin } from "./src/channel.js";
   
   export default defineSetupPluginEntry(acmeChatPlugin);
   

   OpenClaw loads this instead of the full entry when the channel is disabled or unconfigured. It avoids pulling in heavy runtime code during setup flows. See Setup and Config for details.

6. Handle inbound messages

   Your plugin needs to receive messages from the platform and forward them to OpenClaw. The typical pattern is a webhook that verifies the request and dispatches it through your channel’s inbound handler:

   registerFull(api) {
     api.registerHttpRoute({
       path: "/acme-chat/webhook",
       auth: "plugin", // plugin-managed auth (verify signatures yourself)
       handler: async (req, res) => {
         const event = parseWebhookPayload(req);
   
         // Your inbound handler dispatches the message to OpenClaw.
         // The exact wiring depends on your platform SDK —
         // see a real example in the bundled Microsoft Teams or Google Chat plugin package.
         await handleAcmeChatInbound(api, event);
   
         res.statusCode = 200;
         res.end("ok");
         return true;
       },
     });
   }
   

   Inbound message handling is channel-specific. Each channel plugin owns its own inbound pipeline. Look at bundled channel plugins (for example the Microsoft Teams or Google Chat plugin package) for real patterns.

8. Test

   Write colocated tests in src/channel.test.ts:

   src/channel.test.ts

   import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
   import { acmeChatPlugin } from "./channel.js";
   
   describe("acme-chat plugin", () => {
     it("resolves account from config", () => {
       const cfg = {
         channels: {
           "acme-chat": { token: "test-token", allowFrom: ["user1"] },
         },
       } as any;
       const account = acmeChatPlugin.setup!.resolveAccount(cfg, undefined);
       expect(account.token).toBe("test-token");
     });
   
     it("inspects account without materializing secrets", () => {
       const cfg = {
         channels: { "acme-chat": { token: "test-token" } },
       } as any;
       const result = acmeChatPlugin.setup!.inspectAccount!(cfg, undefined);
       expect(result.configured).toBe(true);
       expect(result.tokenStatus).toBe("available");
     });
   
     it("reports missing config", () => {
       const cfg = { channels: {} } as any;
       const result = acmeChatPlugin.setup!.inspectAccount!(cfg, undefined);
       expect(result.configured).toBe(false);
     });
   });
   

   pnpm test -- <bundled-plugin-root>/acme-chat/
   

   For shared test helpers, see Testing.

File structure

<bundled-plugin-root>/acme-chat/
├── package.json              # openclaw.channel metadata
├── openclaw.plugin.json      # Manifest with config schema
├── index.ts                  # defineChannelPluginEntry
├── setup-entry.ts            # defineSetupPluginEntry
├── api.ts                    # Public exports (optional)
├── runtime-api.ts            # Internal runtime exports (optional)
└── src/
    ├── channel.ts            # ChannelPlugin via createChatChannelPlugin
    ├── channel.test.ts       # Tests
    ├── client.ts             # Platform API client
    └── runtime.ts            # Runtime store (if needed)

Advanced topics

Threading options

Fixed, account-scoped, or custom reply modes

Message tool integration

describeMessageTool and action discovery

Target resolution

inferTargetChatType, looksLikeId, resolveTarget

Runtime helpers

TTS, STT, media, subagent via api.runtime

Next steps

• Provider Plugins — if your plugin also provides models
• SDK Overview — full subpath import reference
• SDK Testing — test utilities and contract tests
• Plugin Manifest — full manifest schema