Plugins

March 26, 2026 · View on GitHub

Plugins extend OpenClaw with new capabilities: channels, model providers, tools, skills, speech, image generation, and more. Some plugins are core (shipped with OpenClaw), others are external (published on npm by the community).

Quick start

```bash openclaw plugins list ``` ```bash # From npm openclaw plugins install @openclaw/voice-call

# From a local directory or archive
openclaw plugins install ./my-plugin
openclaw plugins install ./my-plugin.tgz
```

```bash openclaw gateway restart ```

Then configure under `plugins.entries.\<id\>.config` in your config file.

If you prefer chat-native control, enable commands.plugins: true and use:

/plugin install clawhub:@openclaw/voice-call
/plugin show voice-call
/plugin enable voice-call

The install path uses the same resolver as the CLI: local path/archive, explicit clawhub:<pkg>, or bare package spec (ClawHub first, then npm fallback).

Plugin types

OpenClaw recognizes two plugin formats:

Format	How it works	Examples
Native	`openclaw.plugin.json` + runtime module; executes in-process	Official plugins, community npm packages
Bundle	Codex/Claude/Cursor-compatible layout; mapped to OpenClaw features	`.codex-plugin/`, `.claude-plugin/`, `.cursor-plugin/`

Both show up under openclaw plugins list. See Plugin Bundles for bundle details.

If you are writing a native plugin, start with Building Plugins and the Plugin SDK Overview.

Official plugins

Installable (npm)

Plugin	Package	Docs
Matrix	`@openclaw/matrix`	Matrix
Microsoft Teams	`@openclaw/msteams`	Microsoft Teams
Nostr	`@openclaw/nostr`	Nostr
Voice Call	`@openclaw/voice-call`	Voice Call
Zalo	`@openclaw/zalo`	Zalo
Zalo Personal	`@openclaw/zalouser`	Zalo Personal

Core (shipped with OpenClaw)

`anthropic`, `byteplus`, `cloudflare-ai-gateway`, `github-copilot`, `google`, `huggingface`, `kilocode`, `kimi-coding`, `minimax`, `mistral`, `modelstudio`, `moonshot`, `nvidia`, `openai`, `opencode`, `opencode-go`, `openrouter`, `qianfan`, `synthetic`, `together`, `venice`, `vercel-ai-gateway`, `volcengine`, `xiaomi`, `zai` - `memory-core` — bundled memory search (default via `plugins.slots.memory`) - `memory-lancedb` — install-on-demand long-term memory with auto-recall/capture (set `plugins.slots.memory = "memory-lancedb"`) `elevenlabs`, `microsoft` - `browser` — bundled browser plugin for the browser tool, `openclaw browser` CLI, `browser.request` gateway method, browser runtime, and default browser control service (enabled by default; disable before replacing it) - `copilot-proxy` — VS Code Copilot Proxy bridge (disabled by default)

Looking for third-party plugins? See Community Plugins.

Configuration

{
  plugins: {
    enabled: true,
    allow: ["voice-call"],
    deny: ["untrusted-plugin"],
    load: { paths: ["~/Projects/oss/voice-call-extension"] },
    entries: {
      "voice-call": { enabled: true, config: { provider: "twilio" } },
    },
  },
}

Field	Description
`enabled`	Master toggle (default: `true`)
`allow`	Plugin allowlist (optional)
`deny`	Plugin denylist (optional; deny wins)
`load.paths`	Extra plugin files/directories
`slots`	Exclusive slot selectors (e.g. `memory`, `contextEngine`)
`entries.\<id\>`	Per-plugin toggles + config

Config changes require a gateway restart. If the Gateway is running with config watch + in-process restart enabled (the default openclaw gateway path), that restart is usually performed automatically a moment after the config write lands.

- **Disabled**: plugin exists but enablement rules turned it off. Config is preserved. - **Missing**: config references a plugin id that discovery did not find. - **Invalid**: plugin exists but its config does not match the declared schema.

Discovery and precedence

OpenClaw scans for plugins in this order (first match wins):

`plugins.load.paths` — explicit file or directory paths. `\/.openclaw/extensions/*.ts` and `\/.openclaw/extensions/*/index.ts`. `~/.openclaw/extensions/*.ts` and `~/.openclaw/extensions/*/index.ts`. Shipped with OpenClaw. Many are enabled by default (model providers, speech). Others require explicit enablement.

Enablement rules

plugins.enabled: false disables all plugins
plugins.deny always wins over allow
plugins.entries.\<id\>.enabled: false disables that plugin
Workspace-origin plugins are disabled by default (must be explicitly enabled)
Bundled plugins follow the built-in default-on set unless overridden
Exclusive slots can force-enable the selected plugin for that slot

Plugin slots (exclusive categories)

Some categories are exclusive (only one active at a time):

{
  plugins: {
    slots: {
      memory: "memory-core", // or "none" to disable
      contextEngine: "legacy", // or a plugin id
    },
  },
}

Slot	What it controls	Default
`memory`	Active memory plugin	`memory-core`
`contextEngine`	Active context engine	`legacy` (built-in)

CLI reference

openclaw plugins list                    # compact inventory
openclaw plugins inspect <id>            # deep detail
openclaw plugins inspect <id> --json     # machine-readable
openclaw plugins status                  # operational summary
openclaw plugins doctor                  # diagnostics

openclaw plugins install <package>        # install (ClawHub first, then npm)
openclaw plugins install clawhub:<pkg>   # install from ClawHub only
openclaw plugins install <path>          # install from local path
openclaw plugins install -l <path>       # link (no copy) for dev
openclaw plugins update <id>             # update one plugin
openclaw plugins update --all            # update all

openclaw plugins enable <id>
openclaw plugins disable <id>

See openclaw plugins CLI reference for full details.

Plugin API overview

Plugins export either a function or an object with register(api):

export default definePluginEntry({
  id: "my-plugin",
  name: "My Plugin",
  register(api) {
    api.registerProvider({
      /* ... */
    });
    api.registerTool({
      /* ... */
    });
    api.registerChannel({
      /* ... */
    });
  },
});

Common registration methods:

Method	What it registers
`registerProvider`	Model provider (LLM)
`registerChannel`	Chat channel
`registerTool`	Agent tool
`registerHook` / `on(...)`	Lifecycle hooks
`registerSpeechProvider`	Text-to-speech / STT
`registerMediaUnderstandingProvider`	Image/audio analysis
`registerImageGenerationProvider`	Image generation
`registerWebSearchProvider`	Web search
`registerHttpRoute`	HTTP endpoint
`registerCommand` / `registerCli`	CLI commands
`registerContextEngine`	Context engine
`registerService`	Background service

Hook guard behavior for typed lifecycle hooks:

before_tool_call: { block: true } is terminal; lower-priority handlers are skipped.
before_tool_call: { block: false } is a no-op and does not clear an earlier block.
message_sending: { cancel: true } is terminal; lower-priority handlers are skipped.
message_sending: { cancel: false } is a no-op and does not clear an earlier cancel.

For full typed hook behavior, see SDK Overview.

Building Plugins — create your own plugin
Plugin Bundles — Codex/Claude/Cursor bundle compatibility
Plugin Manifest — manifest schema
Registering Tools — add agent tools in a plugin
Plugin Internals — capability model and load pipeline
Community Plugins — third-party listings