OpenClaw Platform Reference

Structured reference for the OpenClaw assistant platform. Source repo:

~/Projects/openclaw/

. Tracking version: 2026.4.7 (refresh: 2026-04-07).

Quick Navigation

Load the relevant reference file based on the task:

Plugin & Extension System

• references/plugin-system.md

  - Plugin discovery, loading, manifest format, registration API, installation CLI, SDK exports. Read when building/debugging plugins or understanding how extensions are loaded.

Configuration

• references/configuration.md

  - Full config structure (

  OpenClawConfig

  ), config paths, file format (JSON5), env var substitution,

  $include

  directives, validation (Zod), per-plugin config, programmatic read/write. Read when modifying or generating openclaw config.

Boot & Provisioning

• references/boot-provisioning.md

  - Gateway startup sequence, BOOT.md mechanism, onboarding flows (interactive/non-interactive), plugin loading during boot, sidecar startup order, health checks. Read when designing automated provisioning or debugging startup.

Channels & Extensions

• references/channels-extensions.md

  - All built-in channels (Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage, WhatsApp, Web) + extension channels (MS Teams, Matrix, Zalo, Voice Call, Feishu). Channel plugin registration, per-channel config, Telegram specifics. Read when adding/configuring channels.

Models & Providers

• references/models-providers.md

  - Provider configuration,

  models.mode

  (merge/replace), x402 providers, model catalog structure, provider registration via plugins. Read when configuring model access or building provider plugins.

CLI Commands

• references/cli-commands.md

  - Key CLI commands for config, plugins, channels, agents, onboarding, gateway, skills. Read when scripting openclaw setup or building automation.

GitHub Context (live issues, PRs, gotchas)

• references/github-context.md

  - Open bugs, breaking changes, recent impactful PRs, plugin/config known issues, dev gotchas synthesized from GitHub. Refreshed via

  /refresh-openclaw

  . Read before starting any non-trivial openclaw work to avoid known pitfalls.

Key File Paths (repo-root relative)

src/plugins/           - Plugin loader, discovery, registry, install, types
src/plugin-sdk/        - 100+ scoped exports for plugin consumption
src/config/            - Config loading, types, validation, defaults, paths
src/gateway/           - Gateway server, boot, startup, server methods
src/commands/          - CLI commands (onboard, config, etc.)
src/cli/               - CLI wiring (plugins-cli, skills-cli, etc.)
extensions/            - Extension implementations (channels, memory, etc.)
skills/                - Built-in skill definitions
docs/                  - Documentation (Mintlify)

Config File Locations

• Main config:

  ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

  (parsed as JSON5)
• Extensions:

  ~/.openclaw/extensions/

• Skills:

  ~/.openclaw/skills/

  (managed) + workspace skills
• Agents:

  ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/

• Sessions:

  ~/.openclaw/agents/<agent-id>/sessions/

• Credentials:

  ~/.openclaw/credentials/

• Override:

  OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH

  env var

Plugin Manifest Quick Ref

{
  "id": "plugin-id",
  "name": "Display Name",
  "kind": "memory",
  "channels": ["channel-id"],
  "providers": ["provider-id"],
  "configSchema": { "type": "object" },
  "uiHints": { "field": { "label": "...", "sensitive": true } }
}

Config Structure Quick Ref

Top-level keys in

OpenClawConfig

:

meta

,

auth

,

acp

,

env

,

secrets

,

plugins

,

skills

,

models

,

agents

,

tools

,

channels

,

session

,

hooks

,

gateway

,

logging

,

browser

,

memory

,

messages

,

approvals

,

cron