openclaw/docs/plugins/sdk-overview.md

title, sidebarTitle, summary, read_when

title	sidebarTitle	summary	read_when
Plugin SDK Overview	SDK Overview	Import map, registration API reference, and SDK architecture	You need to know which SDK subpath to import from You want a reference for all registration methods on OpenClawPluginApi You are looking up a specific SDK export

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](/plugins/building-plugins) - Channel plugin? See [Channel Plugins](/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins) - Provider plugin? See [Provider Plugins](/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins)

Import convention

Always import from a specific subpath:

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

Each subpath is a small, self-contained module. This keeps startup fast and prevents circular dependency issues.

Subpath reference

The most commonly used subpaths, grouped by purpose. The full list of 100+ subpaths is in scripts/lib/plugin-sdk-entrypoints.json.

Plugin entry

Subpath	Key exports
plugin-sdk/plugin-entry	definePluginEntry
plugin-sdk/core	defineChannelPluginEntry, createChatChannelPlugin, createChannelPluginBase, defineSetupPluginEntry, buildChannelConfigSchema

| Subpath | Key exports | | --- | --- | | `plugin-sdk/channel-setup` | `createOptionalChannelSetupSurface` | | `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/channel-policy` | `resolveChannelGroupRequireMention` | | `plugin-sdk/channel-lifecycle` | `createAccountStatusSink` | | `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 | | Subpath | Key exports | | --- | --- | | `plugin-sdk/cli-backend` | CLI backend defaults + watchdog constants | | `plugin-sdk/provider-auth` | `createProviderApiKeyAuthMethod`, `ensureApiKeyFromOptionEnvOrPrompt`, `upsertAuthProfile` | | `plugin-sdk/provider-models` | `normalizeModelCompat` | | `plugin-sdk/provider-catalog` | Catalog type re-exports | | `plugin-sdk/provider-usage` | `fetchClaudeUsage` and similar | | `plugin-sdk/provider-stream` | Stream wrapper types | | `plugin-sdk/provider-onboard` | Onboarding config patch helpers | | Subpath | Key exports | | --- | --- | | `plugin-sdk/command-auth` | `resolveControlCommandGate` | | `plugin-sdk/allow-from` | `formatAllowFromLowercase` | | `plugin-sdk/secret-input` | Secret input parsing helpers | | `plugin-sdk/webhook-ingress` | Webhook request/target helpers | | Subpath | Key exports | | --- | --- | | `plugin-sdk/runtime-store` | `createPluginRuntimeStore` | | `plugin-sdk/config-runtime` | Config load/write helpers | | `plugin-sdk/infra-runtime` | System event/heartbeat 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` | | Subpath | Key exports | | --- | --- | | `plugin-sdk/image-generation` | Image generation provider types | | `plugin-sdk/media-understanding` | Media understanding provider types | | `plugin-sdk/speech` | Speech provider types | | `plugin-sdk/testing` | `installCommonResolveTargetErrorCases`, `shouldAckReaction` |

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.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider(...)	Image/audio/video analysis
api.registerImageGenerationProvider(...)	Image generation
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

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

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.
• 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
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	"full", "setup-only", or "setup-runtime"
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/` from production code. Route internal imports through `./api.ts` or `./runtime-api.ts`. The SDK path is the external contract only.

Related

• 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