Plugin SDK Overview

The plugin SDK is the typed contract between plugins and core. This page is the reference for what to import and what you can register.

Looking for a how-to guide?

First plugin? Start with Getting Started
Channel plugin? See Channel Plugins
Provider plugin? See Provider Plugins

Import convention

Always import from a specific subpath:

import { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
import { defineChannelPluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core";

Each subpath is a small, self-contained module. This keeps startup fast and prevents circular dependency issues. For channel-specific entry/build helpers, prefer openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-core; keep openclaw/plugin-sdk/core for the broader umbrella surface and shared helpers such as buildChannelConfigSchema. Do not add or depend on provider-named convenience seams such as openclaw/plugin-sdk/slack, openclaw/plugin-sdk/discord, openclaw/plugin-sdk/signal, openclaw/plugin-sdk/whatsapp, or channel-branded helper seams. Bundled plugins should compose generic SDK subpaths inside their own api.ts or runtime-api.ts barrels, and core should either use those plugin-local barrels or add a narrow generic SDK contract when the need is truly cross-channel. The generated export map still contains a small set of bundled-plugin helper seams such as plugin-sdk/feishu, plugin-sdk/feishu-setup, plugin-sdk/zalo, plugin-sdk/zalo-setup, and plugin-sdk/matrix*. Those subpaths exist for bundled-plugin maintenance and compatibility only; they are intentionally omitted from the common table below and are not the recommended import path for new third-party plugins.

Subpath reference

The most commonly used subpaths, grouped by purpose. The generated full list of 200+ subpaths lives in scripts/lib/plugin-sdk-entrypoints.json. Reserved bundled-plugin helper subpaths still appear in that generated list. Treat those as implementation detail/compatibility surfaces unless a doc page explicitly promotes one as public.

Plugin entry

Subpath	Key exports
`plugin-sdk/plugin-entry`	`definePluginEntry`
`plugin-sdk/core`	`defineChannelPluginEntry`, `createChatChannelPlugin`, `createChannelPluginBase`, `defineSetupPluginEntry`, `buildChannelConfigSchema`
`plugin-sdk/config-schema`	`OpenClawSchema`
`plugin-sdk/provider-entry`	`defineSingleProviderPluginEntry`

Channel subpaths

Subpath	Key exports
`plugin-sdk/channel-core`	`defineChannelPluginEntry`, `defineSetupPluginEntry`, `createChatChannelPlugin`, `createChannelPluginBase`
`plugin-sdk/config-schema`	Root `openclaw.json` Zod schema export (`OpenClawSchema`)
`plugin-sdk/channel-setup`	`createOptionalChannelSetupSurface`, `createOptionalChannelSetupAdapter`, `createOptionalChannelSetupWizard`, plus `DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID`, `createTopLevelChannelDmPolicy`, `setSetupChannelEnabled`, `splitSetupEntries`
`plugin-sdk/setup`	Shared setup wizard helpers, allowlist prompts, setup status builders
`plugin-sdk/setup-runtime`	`createPatchedAccountSetupAdapter`, `createEnvPatchedAccountSetupAdapter`, `createSetupInputPresenceValidator`, `noteChannelLookupFailure`, `noteChannelLookupSummary`, `promptResolvedAllowFrom`, `splitSetupEntries`, `createAllowlistSetupWizardProxy`, `createDelegatedSetupWizardProxy`
`plugin-sdk/setup-adapter-runtime`	`createEnvPatchedAccountSetupAdapter`
`plugin-sdk/setup-tools`	`formatCliCommand`, `detectBinary`, `extractArchive`, `resolveBrewExecutable`, `formatDocsLink`, `CONFIG_DIR`
`plugin-sdk/account-core`	Multi-account config/action-gate helpers, default-account fallback helpers
`plugin-sdk/account-id`	`DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID`, account-id normalization helpers
`plugin-sdk/account-resolution`	Account lookup + default-fallback helpers
`plugin-sdk/account-helpers`	Narrow account-list/account-action helpers
`plugin-sdk/channel-pairing`	`createChannelPairingController`
`plugin-sdk/channel-reply-pipeline`	`createChannelReplyPipeline`
`plugin-sdk/channel-config-helpers`	`createHybridChannelConfigAdapter`
`plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema`	Channel config schema types
`plugin-sdk/telegram-command-config`	Telegram custom-command normalization/validation helpers with bundled-contract fallback
`plugin-sdk/channel-policy`	`resolveChannelGroupRequireMention`
`plugin-sdk/channel-lifecycle`	`createAccountStatusSink`
`plugin-sdk/inbound-envelope`	Shared inbound route + envelope builder helpers
`plugin-sdk/inbound-reply-dispatch`	Shared inbound record-and-dispatch helpers
`plugin-sdk/messaging-targets`	Target parsing/matching helpers
`plugin-sdk/outbound-media`	Shared outbound media loading helpers
`plugin-sdk/outbound-runtime`	Outbound identity/send delegate helpers
`plugin-sdk/thread-bindings-runtime`	Thread-binding lifecycle and adapter helpers
`plugin-sdk/agent-media-payload`	Legacy agent media payload builder
`plugin-sdk/conversation-runtime`	Conversation/thread binding, pairing, and configured-binding helpers
`plugin-sdk/runtime-config-snapshot`	Runtime config snapshot helper
`plugin-sdk/runtime-group-policy`	Runtime group-policy resolution helpers
`plugin-sdk/channel-status`	Shared channel status snapshot/summary helpers
`plugin-sdk/channel-config-primitives`	Narrow channel config-schema primitives
`plugin-sdk/channel-config-writes`	Channel config-write authorization helpers
`plugin-sdk/channel-plugin-common`	Shared channel plugin prelude exports
`plugin-sdk/allowlist-config-edit`	Allowlist config edit/read helpers
`plugin-sdk/group-access`	Shared group-access decision helpers
`plugin-sdk/direct-dm`	Shared direct-DM auth/guard helpers
`plugin-sdk/interactive-runtime`	Interactive reply payload normalization/reduction helpers
`plugin-sdk/channel-inbound`	Debounce, mention matching, envelope helpers
`plugin-sdk/channel-send-result`	Reply result types
`plugin-sdk/channel-actions`	`createMessageToolButtonsSchema`, `createMessageToolCardSchema`
`plugin-sdk/channel-targets`	Target parsing/matching helpers
`plugin-sdk/channel-contract`	Channel contract types
`plugin-sdk/channel-feedback`	Feedback/reaction wiring

Provider subpaths

Subpath	Key exports
`plugin-sdk/provider-entry`	`defineSingleProviderPluginEntry`
`plugin-sdk/provider-setup`	Curated local/self-hosted provider setup helpers
`plugin-sdk/self-hosted-provider-setup`	Focused OpenAI-compatible self-hosted provider setup helpers
`plugin-sdk/cli-backend`	CLI backend defaults + watchdog constants
`plugin-sdk/provider-auth-runtime`	Runtime API-key resolution helpers for provider plugins
`plugin-sdk/provider-auth-api-key`	API-key onboarding/profile-write helpers
`plugin-sdk/provider-auth-result`	Standard OAuth auth-result builder
`plugin-sdk/provider-auth-login`	Shared interactive login helpers for provider plugins
`plugin-sdk/provider-env-vars`	Provider auth env-var lookup helpers
`plugin-sdk/provider-auth`	`createProviderApiKeyAuthMethod`, `ensureApiKeyFromOptionEnvOrPrompt`, `upsertAuthProfile`
`plugin-sdk/provider-model-shared`	`ProviderReplayFamily`, `buildProviderReplayFamilyHooks`, `normalizeModelCompat`, shared replay-policy builders, provider-endpoint helpers, and model-id normalization helpers such as `normalizeNativeXaiModelId`
`plugin-sdk/provider-catalog-shared`	`findCatalogTemplate`, `buildSingleProviderApiKeyCatalog`, `supportsNativeStreamingUsageCompat`, `applyProviderNativeStreamingUsageCompat`
`plugin-sdk/provider-http`	Generic provider HTTP/endpoint capability helpers
`plugin-sdk/provider-web-fetch`	Web-fetch provider registration/cache helpers
`plugin-sdk/provider-web-search`	Web-search provider registration/cache/config helpers
`plugin-sdk/provider-tools`	`ProviderToolCompatFamily`, `buildProviderToolCompatFamilyHooks`, Gemini schema cleanup + diagnostics, and xAI compat helpers such as `resolveXaiModelCompatPatch` / `applyXaiModelCompat`
`plugin-sdk/provider-usage`	`fetchClaudeUsage` and similar
`plugin-sdk/provider-stream`	`ProviderStreamFamily`, `buildProviderStreamFamilyHooks`, `composeProviderStreamWrappers`, stream wrapper types, and shared Anthropic/Bedrock/Google/Kilocode/Moonshot/OpenAI/OpenRouter/Z.A.I/MiniMax/Copilot wrapper helpers
`plugin-sdk/provider-onboard`	Onboarding config patch helpers
`plugin-sdk/global-singleton`	Process-local singleton/map/cache helpers

Auth and security subpaths

Subpath	Key exports
`plugin-sdk/command-auth`	`resolveControlCommandGate`, command registry helpers, sender-authorization helpers
`plugin-sdk/approval-auth-runtime`	Approver resolution and same-chat action-auth helpers
`plugin-sdk/approval-client-runtime`	Native exec approval profile/filter helpers
`plugin-sdk/approval-delivery-runtime`	Native approval capability/delivery adapters
`plugin-sdk/approval-native-runtime`	Native approval target + account-binding helpers
`plugin-sdk/approval-reply-runtime`	Exec/plugin approval reply payload helpers
`plugin-sdk/command-auth-native`	Native command auth + native session-target helpers
`plugin-sdk/command-detection`	Shared command detection helpers
`plugin-sdk/command-surface`	Command-body normalization and command-surface helpers
`plugin-sdk/allow-from`	`formatAllowFromLowercase`
`plugin-sdk/security-runtime`	Shared trust, DM gating, external-content, and secret-collection helpers
`plugin-sdk/ssrf-policy`	Host allowlist and private-network SSRF policy helpers
`plugin-sdk/ssrf-runtime`	Pinned-dispatcher, SSRF-guarded fetch, and SSRF policy helpers
`plugin-sdk/secret-input`	Secret input parsing helpers
`plugin-sdk/webhook-ingress`	Webhook request/target helpers
`plugin-sdk/webhook-request-guards`	Request body size/timeout helpers

Runtime and storage subpaths

Subpath	Key exports
`plugin-sdk/runtime`	Broad runtime/logging/backup/plugin-install helpers
`plugin-sdk/runtime-env`	Narrow runtime env, logger, timeout, retry, and backoff helpers
`plugin-sdk/runtime-store`	`createPluginRuntimeStore`
`plugin-sdk/plugin-runtime`	Shared plugin command/hook/http/interactive helpers
`plugin-sdk/hook-runtime`	Shared webhook/internal hook pipeline helpers
`plugin-sdk/lazy-runtime`	Lazy runtime import/binding helpers such as `createLazyRuntimeModule`, `createLazyRuntimeMethod`, and `createLazyRuntimeSurface`
`plugin-sdk/process-runtime`	Process exec helpers
`plugin-sdk/cli-runtime`	CLI formatting, wait, and version helpers
`plugin-sdk/gateway-runtime`	Gateway client and channel-status patch helpers
`plugin-sdk/config-runtime`	Config load/write helpers
`plugin-sdk/telegram-command-config`	Telegram command-name/description normalization and duplicate/conflict checks, even when the bundled Telegram contract surface is unavailable
`plugin-sdk/approval-runtime`	Exec/plugin approval helpers, approval-capability builders, auth/profile helpers, native routing/runtime helpers
`plugin-sdk/reply-runtime`	Shared inbound/reply runtime helpers, chunking, dispatch, heartbeat, reply planner
`plugin-sdk/reply-dispatch-runtime`	Narrow reply dispatch/finalize helpers
`plugin-sdk/reply-history`	Shared short-window reply-history helpers such as `buildHistoryContext`, `recordPendingHistoryEntry`, and `clearHistoryEntriesIfEnabled`
`plugin-sdk/reply-reference`	`createReplyReferencePlanner`
`plugin-sdk/reply-chunking`	Narrow text/markdown chunking helpers
`plugin-sdk/session-store-runtime`	Session store path + updated-at helpers
`plugin-sdk/state-paths`	State/OAuth dir path helpers
`plugin-sdk/routing`	Route/session-key/account binding helpers such as `resolveAgentRoute`, `buildAgentSessionKey`, and `resolveDefaultAgentBoundAccountId`
`plugin-sdk/status-helpers`	Shared channel/account status summary helpers, runtime-state defaults, and issue metadata helpers
`plugin-sdk/target-resolver-runtime`	Shared target resolver helpers
`plugin-sdk/string-normalization-runtime`	Slug/string normalization helpers
`plugin-sdk/request-url`	Extract string URLs from fetch/request-like inputs
`plugin-sdk/run-command`	Timed command runner with normalized stdout/stderr results
`plugin-sdk/param-readers`	Common tool/CLI param readers
`plugin-sdk/tool-send`	Extract canonical send target fields from tool args
`plugin-sdk/temp-path`	Shared temp-download path helpers
`plugin-sdk/logging-core`	Subsystem logger and redaction helpers
`plugin-sdk/markdown-table-runtime`	Markdown table mode helpers
`plugin-sdk/json-store`	Small JSON state read/write helpers
`plugin-sdk/file-lock`	Re-entrant file-lock helpers
`plugin-sdk/persistent-dedupe`	Disk-backed dedupe cache helpers
`plugin-sdk/acp-runtime`	ACP runtime/session helpers
`plugin-sdk/agent-config-primitives`	Narrow agent runtime config-schema primitives
`plugin-sdk/boolean-param`	Loose boolean param reader
`plugin-sdk/dangerous-name-runtime`	Dangerous-name matching resolution helpers
`plugin-sdk/device-bootstrap`	Device bootstrap and pairing token helpers
`plugin-sdk/extension-shared`	Shared passive-channel and status helper primitives
`plugin-sdk/models-provider-runtime`	`/models` command/provider reply helpers
`plugin-sdk/skill-commands-runtime`	Skill command listing helpers
`plugin-sdk/native-command-registry`	Native command registry/build/serialize helpers
`plugin-sdk/provider-zai-endpoint`	Z.AI endpoint detection helpers
`plugin-sdk/infra-runtime`	System event/heartbeat helpers
`plugin-sdk/collection-runtime`	Small bounded cache helpers
`plugin-sdk/diagnostic-runtime`	Diagnostic flag and event helpers
`plugin-sdk/error-runtime`	Error graph, formatting, shared error classification helpers, `isApprovalNotFoundError`
`plugin-sdk/fetch-runtime`	Wrapped fetch, proxy, and pinned lookup helpers
`plugin-sdk/host-runtime`	Hostname and SCP host normalization helpers
`plugin-sdk/retry-runtime`	Retry config and retry runner helpers
`plugin-sdk/agent-runtime`	Agent dir/identity/workspace helpers
`plugin-sdk/directory-runtime`	Config-backed directory query/dedup
`plugin-sdk/keyed-async-queue`	`KeyedAsyncQueue`

Capability and testing subpaths

Subpath	Key exports
`plugin-sdk/media-runtime`	Shared media fetch/transform/store helpers plus media payload builders
`plugin-sdk/media-understanding`	Media understanding provider types plus provider-facing image/audio helper exports
`plugin-sdk/text-runtime`	Shared text/markdown/logging helpers such as assistant-visible-text stripping, markdown render/chunking/table helpers, redaction helpers, directive-tag helpers, and safe-text utilities
`plugin-sdk/text-chunking`	Outbound text chunking helper
`plugin-sdk/speech`	Speech provider types plus provider-facing directive, registry, and validation helpers
`plugin-sdk/speech-core`	Shared speech provider types, registry, directive, and normalization helpers
`plugin-sdk/realtime-transcription`	Realtime transcription provider types and registry helpers
`plugin-sdk/realtime-voice`	Realtime voice provider types and registry helpers
`plugin-sdk/image-generation`	Image generation provider types
`plugin-sdk/image-generation-core`	Shared image-generation types, failover, auth, and registry helpers
`plugin-sdk/video-generation`	Video generation provider/request/result types
`plugin-sdk/video-generation-core`	Shared video-generation types, failover helpers, provider lookup, and model-ref parsing
`plugin-sdk/webhook-targets`	Webhook target registry and route-install helpers
`plugin-sdk/webhook-path`	Webhook path normalization helpers
`plugin-sdk/web-media`	Shared remote/local media loading helpers
`plugin-sdk/zod`	Re-exported `zod` for plugin SDK consumers
`plugin-sdk/testing`	`installCommonResolveTargetErrorCases`, `shouldAckReaction`

Memory subpaths

Subpath	Key exports
`plugin-sdk/memory-core`	Bundled memory-core helper surface for manager/config/file/CLI helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-engine-runtime`	Memory index/search runtime facade
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-engine-foundation`	Memory host foundation engine exports
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-engine-embeddings`	Memory host embedding engine exports
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-engine-qmd`	Memory host QMD engine exports
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-engine-storage`	Memory host storage engine exports
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-multimodal`	Memory host multimodal helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-query`	Memory host query helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-secret`	Memory host secret helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-status`	Memory host status helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-runtime-cli`	Memory host CLI runtime helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-runtime-core`	Memory host core runtime helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-core-host-runtime-files`	Memory host file/runtime helpers
`plugin-sdk/memory-lancedb`	Bundled memory-lancedb helper surface

Reserved bundled-helper subpaths

Family	Current subpaths	Intended use
Browser	`plugin-sdk/browser-config-support`, `plugin-sdk/browser-support`	Bundled browser plugin support helpers
Matrix	`plugin-sdk/matrix`, `plugin-sdk/matrix-helper`, `plugin-sdk/matrix-runtime-heavy`, `plugin-sdk/matrix-runtime-shared`, `plugin-sdk/matrix-runtime-surface`, `plugin-sdk/matrix-surface`, `plugin-sdk/matrix-thread-bindings`	Bundled Matrix helper/runtime surface
Line	`plugin-sdk/line`, `plugin-sdk/line-core`, `plugin-sdk/line-runtime`, `plugin-sdk/line-surface`	Bundled LINE helper/runtime surface
IRC	`plugin-sdk/irc`, `plugin-sdk/irc-surface`	Bundled IRC helper surface
Channel-specific helpers	`plugin-sdk/googlechat`, `plugin-sdk/zalouser`, `plugin-sdk/bluebubbles`, `plugin-sdk/bluebubbles-policy`, `plugin-sdk/mattermost`, `plugin-sdk/mattermost-policy`, `plugin-sdk/feishu-conversation`, `plugin-sdk/msteams`, `plugin-sdk/nextcloud-talk`, `plugin-sdk/nostr`, `plugin-sdk/tlon`, `plugin-sdk/twitch`	Bundled channel compatibility/helper seams
Auth/plugin-specific helpers	`plugin-sdk/github-copilot-login`, `plugin-sdk/github-copilot-token`, `plugin-sdk/diagnostics-otel`, `plugin-sdk/diffs`, `plugin-sdk/llm-task`, `plugin-sdk/thread-ownership`, `plugin-sdk/voice-call`	Bundled feature/plugin helper seams; `plugin-sdk/github-copilot-token` currently exports `DEFAULT_COPILOT_API_BASE_URL`, `deriveCopilotApiBaseUrlFromToken`, and `resolveCopilotApiToken`

Registration API

The register(api) callback receives an OpenClawPluginApi object with these methods:

Capability registration

Method	What it registers
`api.registerProvider(...)`	Text inference (LLM)
`api.registerCliBackend(...)`	Local CLI inference backend
`api.registerChannel(...)`	Messaging channel
`api.registerSpeechProvider(...)`	Text-to-speech / STT synthesis
`api.registerRealtimeTranscriptionProvider(...)`	Streaming realtime transcription
`api.registerRealtimeVoiceProvider(...)`	Duplex realtime voice sessions
`api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider(...)`	Image/audio/video analysis
`api.registerImageGenerationProvider(...)`	Image generation
`api.registerVideoGenerationProvider(...)`	Video generation
`api.registerWebFetchProvider(...)`	Web fetch / scrape provider
`api.registerWebSearchProvider(...)`	Web search

Tools and commands

Method	What it registers
`api.registerTool(tool, opts?)`	Agent tool (required or `{ optional: true }`)
`api.registerCommand(def)`	Custom command (bypasses the LLM)

Infrastructure

Method	What it registers
`api.registerHook(events, handler, opts?)`	Event hook
`api.registerHttpRoute(params)`	Gateway HTTP endpoint
`api.registerGatewayMethod(name, handler)`	Gateway RPC method
`api.registerCli(registrar, opts?)`	CLI subcommand
`api.registerService(service)`	Background service
`api.registerInteractiveHandler(registration)`	Interactive handler

Reserved core admin namespaces (config.*, exec.approvals.*, wizard.*, update.*) always stay operator.admin, even if a plugin tries to assign a narrower gateway method scope. Prefer plugin-specific prefixes for plugin-owned methods.

CLI registration metadata

api.registerCli(registrar, opts?) accepts two kinds of top-level metadata:

commands: explicit command roots owned by the registrar
descriptors: parse-time command descriptors used for root CLI help, routing, and lazy plugin CLI registration

If you want a plugin command to stay lazy-loaded in the normal root CLI path, provide descriptors that cover every top-level command root exposed by that registrar.

api.registerCli(
  async ({ program }) => {
    const { registerMatrixCli } = await import("./src/cli.js");
    registerMatrixCli({ program });
  },
  {
    descriptors: [
      {
        name: "matrix",
        description: "Manage Matrix accounts, verification, devices, and profile state",
        hasSubcommands: true,
      },
    ],
  },
);

Use commands by itself only when you do not need lazy root CLI registration. That eager compatibility path remains supported, but it does not install descriptor-backed placeholders for parse-time lazy loading.

CLI backend registration

api.registerCliBackend(...) lets a plugin own the default config for a local AI CLI backend such as claude-cli or codex-cli.

The backend id becomes the provider prefix in model refs like claude-cli/opus.
The backend config uses the same shape as agents.defaults.cliBackends.<id>.
User config still wins. OpenClaw merges agents.defaults.cliBackends.<id> over the plugin default before running the CLI.
Use normalizeConfig when a backend needs compatibility rewrites after merge (for example normalizing old flag shapes).

Exclusive slots

Method	What it registers
`api.registerContextEngine(id, factory)`	Context engine (one active at a time)
`api.registerMemoryPromptSection(builder)`	Memory prompt section builder
`api.registerMemoryFlushPlan(resolver)`	Memory flush plan resolver
`api.registerMemoryRuntime(runtime)`	Memory runtime adapter

Memory embedding adapters

Method	What it registers
`api.registerMemoryEmbeddingProvider(adapter)`	Memory embedding adapter for the active plugin

registerMemoryPromptSection, registerMemoryFlushPlan, and registerMemoryRuntime are exclusive to memory plugins.
registerMemoryEmbeddingProvider lets the active memory plugin register one or more embedding adapter ids (for example openai, gemini, or a custom plugin-defined id).
User config such as agents.defaults.memorySearch.provider and agents.defaults.memorySearch.fallback resolves against those registered adapter ids.

Events and lifecycle

Method	What it does
`api.on(hookName, handler, opts?)`	Typed lifecycle hook
`api.onConversationBindingResolved(handler)`	Conversation binding callback

Hook decision semantics

before_tool_call: returning { block: true } is terminal. Once any handler sets it, lower-priority handlers are skipped.
before_tool_call: returning { block: false } is treated as no decision (same as omitting block), not as an override.
before_install: returning { block: true } is terminal. Once any handler sets it, lower-priority handlers are skipped.
before_install: returning { block: false } is treated as no decision (same as omitting block), not as an override.
message_sending: returning { cancel: true } is terminal. Once any handler sets it, lower-priority handlers are skipped.
message_sending: returning { cancel: false } is treated as no decision (same as omitting cancel), not as an override.

API object fields

Field	Type	Description
`api.id`	`string`	Plugin id
`api.name`	`string`	Display name
`api.version`	`string?`	Plugin version (optional)
`api.description`	`string?`	Plugin description (optional)
`api.source`	`string`	Plugin source path
`api.rootDir`	`string?`	Plugin root directory (optional)
`api.config`	`OpenClawConfig`	Current config snapshot (active in-memory runtime snapshot when available)
`api.pluginConfig`	`Record<string, unknown>`	Plugin-specific config from `plugins.entries.<id>.config`
`api.runtime`	`PluginRuntime`	Runtime helpers
`api.logger`	`PluginLogger`	Scoped logger (`debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`)
`api.registrationMode`	`PluginRegistrationMode`	Current load mode; `"setup-runtime"` is the lightweight pre-full-entry startup/setup window
`api.resolvePath(input)`	`(string) => string`	Resolve path relative to plugin root

Internal module convention

Within your plugin, use local barrel files for internal imports:

my-plugin/
  api.ts            # Public exports for external consumers
  runtime-api.ts    # Internal-only runtime exports
  index.ts          # Plugin entry point
  setup-entry.ts    # Lightweight setup-only entry (optional)

Never import your own plugin through openclaw/plugin-sdk/<your-plugin> from production code. Route internal imports through ./api.ts or ./runtime-api.ts. The SDK path is the external contract only.

Facade-loaded bundled plugin public surfaces (api.ts, runtime-api.ts, index.ts, setup-entry.ts, and similar public entry files) now prefer the active runtime config snapshot when OpenClaw is already running. If no runtime snapshot exists yet, they fall back to the resolved config file on disk. Provider plugins can also expose a narrow plugin-local contract barrel when a helper is intentionally provider-specific and does not belong in a generic SDK subpath yet. Current bundled example: the Anthropic provider keeps its Claude stream helpers in its own public api.ts / contract-api.ts seam instead of promoting Anthropic beta-header and service_tier logic into a generic plugin-sdk/* contract. Other current bundled examples:

@openclaw/openai-provider: api.ts exports provider builders, default-model helpers, and realtime provider builders
@openclaw/openrouter-provider: api.ts exports the provider builder plus onboarding/config helpers

Extension production code should also avoid openclaw/plugin-sdk/<other-plugin> imports. If a helper is truly shared, promote it to a neutral SDK subpath such as openclaw/plugin-sdk/speech, .../provider-model-shared, or another capability-oriented surface instead of coupling two plugins together.

Entry Points — definePluginEntry and defineChannelPluginEntry options
Runtime Helpers — full api.runtime namespace reference
Setup and Config — packaging, manifests, config schemas
Testing — test utilities and lint rules
SDK Migration — migrating from deprecated surfaces
Plugin Internals — deep architecture and capability model

Overview

Plugins

Skills

Automation & Tasks

Tools

Agent coordination

Plugin SDK Overview

Plugin SDK Overview

Import convention

Subpath reference

Plugin entry

Registration API

Capability registration

Tools and commands

Infrastructure

CLI registration metadata

CLI backend registration

Exclusive slots

Memory embedding adapters

Events and lifecycle

Hook decision semantics

API object fields

Internal module convention

Overview

Plugins

Skills

Automation & Tasks

Tools

Agent coordination

​Plugin SDK Overview

​Import convention

​Subpath reference

​Plugin entry

​Registration API

​Capability registration

​Tools and commands

​Infrastructure

​CLI registration metadata

​CLI backend registration

​Exclusive slots

​Memory embedding adapters

​Events and lifecycle

​Hook decision semantics

​API object fields

​Internal module convention

​Related

Plugin SDK Overview

Import convention

Subpath reference

Plugin entry

Registration API

Capability registration

Tools and commands

Infrastructure

CLI registration metadata

CLI backend registration

Exclusive slots

Memory embedding adapters

Events and lifecycle

Hook decision semantics

API object fields

Internal module convention

Related