A comprehensive framework for building, managing, and deploying custom plugins to extend the capabilities of OpenClaw AI agents.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install openclaw-plugin-dev
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install openclaw-plugin-dev using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is OpenClaw Plugin Development?
OpenClaw Plugin Development is the essential toolkit for developers looking to extend the core functionality of their AI agents. By leveraging a robust hook-based architecture, this skill allows you to intercept internal events, manage session lifecycles, and implement custom logic directly into the agent workflow. Whether you are building observability tools, custom loggers, or complex integrations, these Openclaw Skills provide the necessary scaffolding to create reliable and scalable extensions.
The framework emphasizes developer experience by providing standardized patterns for configuration management and request-response correlation. By using the built-in API, developers can easily tap into LLM inputs and outputs, ensuring that custom plugins can respond to or modify data in real-time without compromising the stability of the underlying OpenClaw environment.
OpenClaw Plugin Development Use Cases
- Creating custom observability tools to monitor LLM costs and token usage.
- Implementing audit logs for enterprise compliance by capturing all agent interactions.
- Developing session management hooks to initialize or clean up external resources during agent starts and ends.
- Building custom request filters or response processors to sanitize AI-generated content.
How OpenClaw Plugin Development Works
- The plugin manifest (openclaw.plugin.json) is read by the gateway to identify the entry point and metadata.
- The register function is invoked, passing the OpenClawPluginApi which provides access to configurations and event listeners.
- Developers register specific hooks such as llm_input or agent_start to subscribe to internal system events.
- When an event occurs, the associated handler is executed, often using a runId to maintain state across asynchronous operations.
- Custom logic, such as appending to a JSONL log or updating an external database, is performed within the handler context.
OpenClaw Plugin Development Setup
To begin developing with these Openclaw Skills, set up your plugin directory within the standard extensions path:
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/extensions/my-custom-plugin
cd ~/.openclaw/extensions/my-custom-plugin
touch openclaw.plugin.json index.ts
Enable your plugin by adding it to your openclaw.json configuration file:
{
"plugins": {
"entries": {
"my-custom-plugin": {
"enabled": true,
"config": {}
}
}
}
}
OpenClaw Plugin Development Data Schema & Taxonomy
The development environment utilizes a structured file system and event-driven data model:
| Component | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Manifest | JSON | Defines plugin ID, version, and entry point. |
| Hook Events | Object | Contains runId, prompt data, or usage metrics. |
| Logs | JSONL | Recommended format for sequential event recording, split by date. |
| Config | Object | Merged object containing default settings and user overrides. |
OpenClaw Plugin Development Advanced Features
- Request-Response Correlation: Utilizing runId to accurately pair LLM prompts with their corresponding completions even in high-concurrency environments.
- Priority-based Hooking: Assigning execution order to handlers when multiple plugins are subscribed to the same event.
- Interruption Handling: Design patterns to prevent resource leaks when sessions terminate unexpectedly via gateway restarts or user overrides.
- Native Logging Integration: Access to system-level loggers for consistent debugging via the OpenClaw gateway logs.
SKILL.md
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