> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs2.openclaw.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Removed surfaces and replacements

What the July 2026 sweep removed, plus the per-API replacement mappings for removed surfaces and later-window deprecations. Part of the [Plugin SDK migration](https://docs2.openclaw.ai/plugins/sdk-migration.md) guide.

## Removed compatibility surfaces

The July 2026 sweep removed the root SDK and compat barrels, the extension API
bridge, the expired SDK subpath aliases, unused SDK subpaths, and typed-public
access to bundled-only SDK modules. Private-local build mappings remain for
repository owners, and production-private JavaScript exports support official
plugin runtimes. Neither provides typed third-party SDK access.

### Process-global API-provider publication

`registerApiProvider(...)` and `unregisterApiProviders(...)` were removed from
`openclaw/plugin-sdk/llm`. They published API transports into process-global
state, which lifecycle-owned model runtimes then had to copy into each prepared
registry.

Provider plugins should register text-inference providers through
`api.registerProvider(...)`. Host-owned code and tests that construct an
`ApiRegistry` should register directly on that registry so provider ownership
and teardown stay scoped to the prepared runtime.

### Deactivate hook alias

The `api.on("deactivate", handler)` compatibility alias was removed. Register
the same shutdown cleanup with `gateway_stop`:

```typescript theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
// Before
api.on("deactivate", async (event, ctx) => {
  await stopPluginService(ctx);
});

// After
api.on("gateway_stop", async (event, ctx) => {
  await stopPluginService(ctx);
});
```

### Private testing barrel

`openclaw/plugin-sdk/testing` was repo-local and excluded from shipped package
artifacts, so it was removed before its 2026-07-28 `removeAfter` date. Repository
tests use focused subpaths such as `plugin-sdk/plugin-test-runtime`,
`plugin-sdk/channel-test-helpers`, `plugin-sdk/channel-target-testing`,
`plugin-sdk/test-env`, and `plugin-sdk/test-fixtures`.

### Credential prompt builder

`buildCredentialSafetyPrompt` remains available from
`openclaw/plugin-sdk/agent-harness-runtime`. It now returns only private login-code
handoff guidance plus the terminal setup route when neither control tool is
available. Pass an options object with `controlToolsAvailable` set from the
callable `openclaw` and `gateway` tools.

The legacy string argument is deprecated from 2026-09-09 and remains supported
through 2026-11-30. It is accepted and ignored: availability is unknown, so the
helper returns only the private handoff line. Replace strings with
`{ controlToolsAvailable }`; the string form is eligible for removal starting
2026-12-01. The helper itself is not deprecated.

## Migration reference

These mappings cover both removed July 2026 surfaces and later-window active
deprecations. A mapping is migration guidance, not evidence that the old
surface remains available; consult the compatibility registry and removal
timeline for current status.

> **command-auth help builders -> command-status**
>
> **Old (`openclaw/plugin-sdk/command-auth`)**: `buildCommandsMessage`,
> `buildCommandsMessagePaginated`, `buildHelpMessage`.
>
> **New (`openclaw/plugin-sdk/command-status`)**: same signatures, imported
> from the narrower subpath. The `command-auth` compatibility re-exports
> have been removed.
>
> ```typescript theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
> // Before
> import { buildHelpMessage } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/command-auth";
>
> // After
> import { buildHelpMessage } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/command-status";
> ```

> **Mention gating helpers -> resolveInboundMentionDecision**
>
> **Old**: `resolveMentionGating(params)` and
> `resolveMentionGatingWithBypass(params)` from
> `openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-inbound` or
> `openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-mention-gating`.
>
> **New**: `resolveInboundMentionDecision({ facts, policy })` - one decision
> object instead of two split call shapes.
>
> Adopted across Discord, iMessage, Matrix, MS Teams, QQBot, Signal,
> Telegram, WhatsApp, and Zalo. Slack's own `app_mention` event model does
> not use this helper.

> **Channel runtime shim and channel actions helpers**
>
> `openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-runtime` has been removed. Use
> `openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-runtime-context` for registering runtime
> objects.
>
> The native message schema helpers in `openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-actions`
> were removed alongside raw "actions" channel exports. Expose capabilities
> through the semantic `presentation` surface instead - channel plugins
> declare what they render (cards, buttons, selects) rather than which raw
> action names they accept.

> **Web search provider tool() helper -> createTool() on the plugin**
>
> **Old**: `tool()` factory from `openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-web-search`.
>
> **New**: implement `createTool(...)` directly on the provider plugin.
> OpenClaw no longer needs the SDK helper to register the tool wrapper.

> **Plaintext channel envelopes -> BodyForAgent**
>
> **Old**: `api.runtime.channel.reply.formatInboundEnvelope(...)` (and the
> `channelEnvelope` field on inbound message objects) to build a flat
> plaintext prompt envelope from inbound channel messages.
>
> **New**: `BodyForAgent` plus structured user-context blocks. Channel
> plugins attach routing metadata (thread, topic, reply-to, reactions) as
> typed fields instead of concatenating them into a prompt string. The
> `formatAgentEnvelope(...)` helper is still supported for synthesized
> assistant-facing envelopes, but inbound plaintext envelopes are on the way
> out.
>
> Affected areas: `inbound_claim`, `message_received`, and any custom
> channel plugin that post-processed the old envelope text.

> **subagent\_spawning hook -> core thread binding**
>
> **Old**: `api.on("subagent_spawning", handler)` returning
> `threadBindingReady` or `deliveryOrigin`.
>
> **New**: let core prepare `thread: true` subagent bindings through the
> channel session-binding adapter. Use `api.on("subagent_spawned", handler)`
> only for post-launch observation.
>
> ```typescript theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
> // Before
> api.on("subagent_spawning", async () => ({
>   status: "ok",
>   threadBindingReady: true,
>   deliveryOrigin: { channel: "discord", to: "channel:123", threadId: "456" },
> }));
>
> // After
> api.on("subagent_spawned", async (event) => {
>   await observeSubagentLaunch(event);
> });
> ```
>
> The `subagent_spawning` hook and its event/result types were removed in
> August 2026 after thread binding moved to the core session-binding path.

> **Provider discovery types -> provider catalog types**
>
> Four discovery type aliases are now thin wrappers over the catalog-era
> types:
>
> | Old alias | New type |
> | - | - |
> | `ProviderDiscoveryOrder` | `ProviderCatalogOrder` |
> | `ProviderDiscoveryContext` | `ProviderCatalogContext` |
> | `ProviderDiscoveryResult` | `ProviderCatalogResult` |
> | `ProviderPluginDiscovery` | `ProviderPluginCatalog` |
>
> The aliases and legacy `ProviderCapabilities` static bag have been
> removed. Provider plugins
> should use explicit provider hooks such as `buildReplayPolicy`,
> `normalizeToolSchemas`, and `wrapStreamFn` rather than a static object.

> **Thinking policy hooks -> resolveThinkingProfile**
>
> **Old** (three separate hooks on `ProviderThinkingPolicy`):
> `isBinaryThinking(ctx)`, `supportsXHighThinking(ctx)`, and
> `resolveDefaultThinkingLevel(ctx)`.
>
> **New**: a single `resolveThinkingProfile(ctx)` that returns a
> `ProviderThinkingProfile` with the canonical `id`, optional `label`, and a
> ranked level list. OpenClaw downgrades stale stored values by profile rank
> automatically.
>
> The context includes `provider`, `modelId`, optional merged `reasoning`,
> and optional merged model `compat` facts. Provider plugins can use those
> catalog facts to expose a model-specific profile only when the configured
> request contract supports it.
>
> Implement one hook instead of three. The legacy hooks have been removed.

> **External auth providers -> contracts.externalAuthProviders**
>
> **Old**: implementing external auth hooks without declaring the provider
> in the plugin manifest.
>
> **New**: declare `contracts.externalAuthProviders` in the plugin manifest
> **and** implement `resolveExternalAuthProfiles(...)`.
>
> ```json theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
> {
>   "contracts": {
>     "externalAuthProviders": ["anthropic", "openai"]
>   }
> }
> ```

> **Provider env-var lookup -> setup.providers\[].envVars**
>
> **Old** manifest field: `providerAuthEnvVars: { anthropic: ["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] }`.
>
> **New**: mirror the same env-var lookup into `setup.providers[].envVars`
> on the manifest. This consolidates setup/status env metadata in one place
> and avoids booting the plugin runtime just to answer env-var lookups.
>
> `providerAuthEnvVars` is no longer accepted.

> **Memory plugin registration -> registerMemoryCapability**
>
> **Old**: three separate calls - `api.registerMemoryPromptSection(...)`,
> `api.registerMemoryFlushPlan(...)`, `api.registerMemoryRuntime(...)`.
>
> **New**: one call on the memory-state API -
> `registerMemoryCapability(pluginId, { promptBuilder, flushPlanResolver, runtime })`.
>
> Same slots, single registration call. Additive prompt and corpus helpers
> (`registerMemoryPromptSupplement`, `registerMemoryCorpusSupplement`) are
> not affected.

> **Memory embedding provider API**
>
> **Old**: `api.registerMemoryEmbeddingProvider(...)` plus
> `contracts.memoryEmbeddingProviders`.
>
> **New**: `api.registerEmbeddingProvider(...)` plus
> `contracts.embeddingProviders`.
>
> The generic embedding provider contract is reusable outside memory and is
> the supported path for every provider. The memory-specific registration API
> and manifest contract were removed after the **2026-08-21** migration
> deadline.

> **Raw channel send results -> OutboundDeliveryResult**
>
> **Old**: return `{ ok, messageId, error }` through
> `ChannelSendRawResult` and normalize it with
> `createRawChannelSendResultAdapter(...)`.
>
> **New**: return `OutboundDeliveryResult` fields and attach the channel with
> `createAttachedChannelResultAdapter(...)`. Failed sends should throw instead
> of returning an error string. Put the platform destination in
> `target: { kind: "chat" | "channel" | "room" | "conversation", id }`;
> the old parallel `chatId`, `channelId`, `roomId`, and `conversationId`
> result fields are no longer accepted. The raw result type remains available
> until the next plugin-SDK major release.

> **Subagent session messages types renamed**
>
> Two legacy type aliases still exported from `src/plugins/runtime/types.ts`:
>
> | Old | New |
> | - | - |
> | `SubagentReadSessionParams` | `SubagentGetSessionMessagesParams` |
> | `SubagentReadSessionResult` | `SubagentGetSessionMessagesResult` |
>
> The runtime method `readSession` is deprecated in favor of
> `getSessionMessages`. Same signature; the old method calls through to the
> new one.

> **Removed session and transcript file APIs**
>
> The SQLite session/transcript flip removes or deprecates plugin-facing APIs
> that exposed active `sessions.json` stores, JSONL transcript paths, or lists
> of session files. Runtime plugins should use session identity and SDK runtime
> helpers instead of resolving or mutating active files.
>
> | Migrating surface | Replacement |
> | - | - |
> | Deprecated `loadSessionStore(...)`, `updateSessionStore(...)`, and `resolveSessionStoreEntry(...)`, including package-root `loadSessionStore(...)` | `getSessionEntry(...)`, `listSessionEntries(...)`, and row-level session mutations. |
> | Deprecated `resolveSessionFilePath(...)` | Session identity (`sessionKey`, `sessionId`, and SDK runtime target helpers) plus Gateway methods that operate on the current session. |
> | Deprecated package-root `saveSessionStore(...)` and removed SDK file-store writes | Gateway-owned session runtime APIs; plugin code should request or mutate session state through documented runtime/context helpers instead of writing the active store file. |
> | Removed `resolveSessionTranscriptPathInDir(...)` and `resolveAndPersistSessionFile(...)` | Session identity and Gateway methods that operate on the current session. |
> | `readLatestAssistantTextFromSessionTranscript(...)` | Identity-backed transcript readers exposed by the current runtime context, or Gateway history/session methods when the plugin is outside the transcript owner path. |
> | `SessionTranscriptUpdate.sessionFile` | `SessionTranscriptUpdate.target` with `agentId`, `sessionKey`, and `sessionId`. |
> | Memory sync inputs such as `sessionFiles` | Identity-backed transcript/session sources provided by the host; do not crawl active JSONL files for live sessions. |
> | Runtime options named `transcriptPath` or `sessionFile` for active sessions | `sessionTarget`/runtime target objects that carry storage-neutral session identity. |
>
> Legacy JSONL transcript files remain valid as import, archive, export, and
> support artifacts. They are no longer the steady-state runtime contract for
> active sessions.
>
> Official plugins released with `v2026.7.1-beta.5` imported the four
> deprecated helpers above. `openclaw/plugin-sdk/session-store-runtime` keeps
> that exact bridge through 2026-10-12; new plugins must use the replacements.
> `resolveStorePath(...)` remains a supported SDK helper and is not part of
> this deprecation.
>
> `openclaw plugins inspect --all --runtime` reports non-bundled plugins whose
> load errors or diagnostics still reference these removed file APIs. The
> `@openclaw/plugin-inspector` advisory sweep must use version `0.3.17` or
> newer so external package scans also flag whole-store session helpers,
> session file-path helpers, legacy transcript file targets, and low-level
> transcript helpers before release.

> **Agent harness attempt params -> V2 host-capability contract**
>
> New or updated harness plugins should implement `AgentHarnessV2` and use
> `AgentHarnessAttemptParamsV2`, `EmbeddedRunAttemptParamsV2`, or
> `AgentHarnessSideQuestionParamsV2`. The V2 parameter types require
> `hostCapabilities`, matching what core supplies at the selected-harness
> boundary. A plugin that adopts these V2 contracts must declare
> `openclaw.compat.pluginApi: ">=2026.8.1"` (or a newer floor) in its package
> manifest so an older host rejects the plugin before loading it.
>
> Existing plugins may continue implementing `AgentHarness` and constructing
> the legacy `AgentHarnessAttemptParams`, `EmbeddedRunAttemptParams`, or
> `AgentHarnessSideQuestionParams` types without that field through
> 2026-10-12. Those contracts keep the capability optional only for source
> compatibility; they do not create a capability-free runtime path. Migrate
> by changing the imported type name and binding tool or native-action surfaces through
> `params.hostCapabilities`.

> **runtime.tasks.flow -> runtime.tasks.managedFlows**
>
> **Old**: `runtime.tasks.flow` (singular) returned a live task-flow
> accessor.
>
> **New**: `runtime.tasks.managedFlows` keeps the managed TaskFlow mutation
> runtime for plugins that create, update, cancel, or run child tasks from a
> flow. Use `runtime.tasks.flows` when the plugin only needs DTO-based
> reads.
>
> ```typescript theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
> // Before
> const flow = api.runtime.tasks.flow.fromToolContext(ctx);
> // After
> const flow = api.runtime.tasks.managedFlows.fromToolContext(ctx);
> ```
>
> The legacy aliases were removed in July 2026.

> **Embedded extension factories -> agent tool-result middleware**
>
> Covered in [How to migrate](https://docs2.openclaw.ai/plugins/sdk-migration/how-to-migrate.md#how-to-migrate). Included here for
> completeness: the removed embedded-runner-only
> `api.registerEmbeddedExtensionFactory(...)` path is replaced by
> `api.registerAgentToolResultMiddleware(...)` with an explicit runtime list
> in `contracts.agentToolResultMiddleware`.

> **OpenClawSchemaType alias -> OpenClawConfig**
>
> The `OpenClawSchemaType` root-SDK alias was removed. Use the canonical
> `OpenClawConfig` name.
>
> ```typescript theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
> // Before
> import type { OpenClawSchemaType } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk";
> // After
> import type { OpenClawConfig } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/config-contracts";
> ```

> [!NOTE]
>
> Extension-level deprecations (inside bundled channel/provider plugins under
> `extensions/`) are tracked inside their own `api.ts` and `runtime-api.ts`
> barrels. They do not affect third-party plugin contracts and are not listed
> here. If you consume a bundled plugin's local barrel directly, read the
> deprecation comments in that barrel before upgrading.