Plugin manifest (openclaw.plugin.json)

This page is for the native OpenClaw plugin manifest only. For compatible bundle layouts, see Plugin bundles. Compatible bundle formats use different manifest files:

Codex bundle: .codex-plugin/plugin.json
Claude bundle: .claude-plugin/plugin.json or the default Claude component layout without a manifest
Cursor bundle: .cursor-plugin/plugin.json

OpenClaw auto-detects those bundle layouts too, but they are not validated against the openclaw.plugin.json schema described here. For compatible bundles, OpenClaw currently reads bundle metadata plus declared skill roots, Claude command roots, Claude bundle settings.json defaults, and supported hook packs when the layout matches OpenClaw runtime expectations. Every native OpenClaw plugin must ship a openclaw.plugin.json file in the plugin root. OpenClaw uses this manifest to validate configuration without executing plugin code. Missing or invalid manifests are treated as plugin errors and block config validation. See the full plugin system guide: Plugins. For the native capability model and current external-compatibility guidance: Capability model.

What this file does

openclaw.plugin.json is the metadata OpenClaw reads before it loads your plugin code. Use it for:

plugin identity
config validation
auth and onboarding metadata that should be available without booting plugin runtime
config UI hints

Do not use it for:

registering runtime behavior
declaring code entrypoints
npm install metadata

Those belong in your plugin code and package.json.

Minimal example

{
  "id": "voice-call",
  "configSchema": {
    "type": "object",
    "additionalProperties": false,
    "properties": {}
  }
}

Rich example

{
  "id": "openrouter",
  "name": "OpenRouter",
  "description": "OpenRouter provider plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "providers": ["openrouter"],
  "providerAuthEnvVars": {
    "openrouter": ["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"]
  },
  "providerAuthChoices": [
    {
      "provider": "openrouter",
      "method": "api-key",
      "choiceId": "openrouter-api-key",
      "choiceLabel": "OpenRouter API key",
      "groupId": "openrouter",
      "groupLabel": "OpenRouter",
      "optionKey": "openrouterApiKey",
      "cliFlag": "--openrouter-api-key",
      "cliOption": "--openrouter-api-key <key>",
      "cliDescription": "OpenRouter API key",
      "onboardingScopes": ["text-inference"]
    }
  ],
  "uiHints": {
    "apiKey": {
      "label": "API key",
      "placeholder": "sk-or-v1-...",
      "sensitive": true
    }
  },
  "configSchema": {
    "type": "object",
    "additionalProperties": false,
    "properties": {
      "apiKey": {
        "type": "string"
      }
    }
  }
}

Top-level field reference

Field	Required	Type	What it means
`id`	Yes	`string`	Canonical plugin id. This is the id used in `plugins.entries.<id>`.
`configSchema`	Yes	`object`	Inline JSON Schema for this plugin’s config.
`enabledByDefault`	No	`true`	Marks a bundled plugin as enabled by default. Omit it, or set any non-`true` value, to leave the plugin disabled by default.
`kind`	No	`"memory"` \| `"context-engine"`	Declares an exclusive plugin kind used by `plugins.slots.*`.
`channels`	No	`string[]`	Channel ids owned by this plugin. Used for discovery and config validation.
`providers`	No	`string[]`	Provider ids owned by this plugin.
`providerAuthEnvVars`	No	`Record<string, string[]>`	Cheap provider-auth env metadata that OpenClaw can inspect without loading plugin code.
`providerAuthChoices`	No	`object[]`	Cheap auth-choice metadata for onboarding pickers, preferred-provider resolution, and simple CLI flag wiring.
`skills`	No	`string[]`	Skill directories to load, relative to the plugin root.
`name`	No	`string`	Human-readable plugin name.
`description`	No	`string`	Short summary shown in plugin surfaces.
`version`	No	`string`	Informational plugin version.
`uiHints`	No	`Record<string, object>`	UI labels, placeholders, and sensitivity hints for config fields.

providerAuthChoices reference

Each providerAuthChoices entry describes one onboarding or auth choice. OpenClaw reads this before provider runtime loads.

Field	Required	Type	What it means
`provider`	Yes	`string`	Provider id this choice belongs to.
`method`	Yes	`string`	Auth method id to dispatch to.
`choiceId`	Yes	`string`	Stable auth-choice id used by onboarding and CLI flows.
`choiceLabel`	No	`string`	User-facing label. If omitted, OpenClaw falls back to `choiceId`.
`choiceHint`	No	`string`	Short helper text for the picker.
`groupId`	No	`string`	Optional group id for grouping related choices.
`groupLabel`	No	`string`	User-facing label for that group.
`groupHint`	No	`string`	Short helper text for the group.
`optionKey`	No	`string`	Internal option key for simple one-flag auth flows.
`cliFlag`	No	`string`	CLI flag name, such as `--openrouter-api-key`.
`cliOption`	No	`string`	Full CLI option shape, such as `--openrouter-api-key <key>`.
`cliDescription`	No	`string`	Description used in CLI help.
`onboardingScopes`	No	`Array<"text-inference" \| "image-generation">`	Which onboarding surfaces this choice should appear in. If omitted, it defaults to `["text-inference"]`.

uiHints reference

uiHints is a map from config field names to small rendering hints.

{
  "uiHints": {
    "apiKey": {
      "label": "API key",
      "help": "Used for OpenRouter requests",
      "placeholder": "sk-or-v1-...",
      "sensitive": true
    }
  }
}

Each field hint can include:

Field	Type	What it means
`label`	`string`	User-facing field label.
`help`	`string`	Short helper text.
`tags`	`string[]`	Optional UI tags.
`advanced`	`boolean`	Marks the field as advanced.
`sensitive`	`boolean`	Marks the field as secret or sensitive.
`placeholder`	`string`	Placeholder text for form inputs.

Manifest versus package.json

The two files serve different jobs:

File	Use it for
`openclaw.plugin.json`	Discovery, config validation, auth-choice metadata, and UI hints that must exist before plugin code runs
`package.json`	npm metadata, dependency installation, and the `openclaw` block used for entrypoints and setup or catalog metadata

If you are unsure where a piece of metadata belongs, use this rule:

if OpenClaw must know it before loading plugin code, put it in openclaw.plugin.json
if it is about packaging, entry files, or npm install behavior, put it in package.json

JSON Schema requirements

Every plugin must ship a JSON Schema, even if it accepts no config.
An empty schema is acceptable (for example, { "type": "object", "additionalProperties": false }).
Schemas are validated at config read/write time, not at runtime.

Validation behavior

Unknown channels.* keys are errors, unless the channel id is declared by a plugin manifest.
plugins.entries.<id>, plugins.allow, plugins.deny, and plugins.slots.* must reference discoverable plugin ids. Unknown ids are errors.
If a plugin is installed but has a broken or missing manifest or schema, validation fails and Doctor reports the plugin error.
If plugin config exists but the plugin is disabled, the config is kept and a warning is surfaced in Doctor + logs.

See Configuration reference for the full plugins.* schema.

Notes

The manifest is required for native OpenClaw plugins, including local filesystem loads.
Runtime still loads the plugin module separately; the manifest is only for discovery + validation.
Only documented manifest fields are read by the manifest loader. Avoid adding custom top-level keys here.
providerAuthEnvVars is the cheap metadata path for auth probes, env-marker validation, and similar provider-auth surfaces that should not boot plugin runtime just to inspect env names.
providerAuthChoices is the cheap metadata path for auth-choice pickers, --auth-choice resolution, preferred-provider mapping, and simple onboarding CLI flag registration before provider runtime loads. For runtime wizard metadata that requires provider code, see Provider runtime hooks.
Exclusive plugin kinds are selected through plugins.slots.*.
- kind: "memory" is selected by plugins.slots.memory.
- kind: "context-engine" is selected by plugins.slots.contextEngine (default: built-in legacy).
channels, providers, and skills can be omitted when a plugin does not need them.
If your plugin depends on native modules, document the build steps and any package-manager allowlist requirements (for example, pnpm allow-build-scripts
- pnpm rebuild <package>).

Overview

Plugins

Skills

Automation

Tools

Agent coordination

Plugin Manifest

Plugin manifest (openclaw.plugin.json)

What this file does

Minimal example

Rich example

Top-level field reference

providerAuthChoices reference

uiHints reference

Manifest versus package.json

JSON Schema requirements

Validation behavior

Notes

​Plugin manifest (openclaw.plugin.json)

​What this file does

​Minimal example

​Rich example

​Top-level field reference

​providerAuthChoices reference

​uiHints reference

​Manifest versus package.json

​JSON Schema requirements

​Validation behavior

​Notes

Plugin manifest (openclaw.plugin.json)

What this file does

Minimal example

Rich example

Top-level field reference

providerAuthChoices reference

uiHints reference

Manifest versus package.json

JSON Schema requirements

Validation behavior

Notes