OpenClaw Internals

English

Plugin SDK

One-line summary

The Plugin SDK is a 543-line re-export aggregation layer that provides a stable public API surface for extension authors, abstracting OpenClaw's internal implementation details.

Responsibilities

Re-export 150+ types and functions as the stable plugin authoring API
Provide helpers for HTTP routes, webhooks, media payloads, OAuth, file locking
Abstract internal module boundaries so plugins don't depend on internal paths
Enable channel plugin composition and reuse across extensions

Architecture diagram

Key source files

File	Lines	Role
`src/plugin-sdk/index.ts`	543	Single entry point: all re-exports for plugin authors

Key exports (categories)

Category	Examples
Plugin contract	`ChannelPlugin`, `ChannelConfigSchema`, `OpenClawPluginApi`
Adapter types	`ChannelConfigAdapter`, `ChannelSecurityAdapter`, `ChannelOutboundAdapter`, etc.
Config types	`OpenClawConfig`, `RuntimeEnv`
Payload types	`OutboundReplyPayload`, `MediaPayload`, `AgentMediaPayload`
Gateway types	`GatewayRequestHandler`, `RespondFn`
HTTP helpers	`registerPluginHttpRoute()`, `normalizePluginHttpPath()`
Webhook helpers	`registerWebhookTarget()`, `resolveWebhookTargets()`
Media helpers	`buildAgentMediaPayload()`, `buildMediaPayload()`
Auth helpers	`buildOauthProviderAuthResult()`
Status helpers	`buildBaseAccountStatusSnapshot()`, `buildBaseChannelStatusSummary()`
Policy helpers	`resolveRuntimeGroupPolicy()`, `resolveSenderCommandAuthorization()`
File locking	`acquireFileLock()`, `withFileLock()`

How it connects to other modules

Depends on: channels/plugins/, plugins/, gateway/, config/, agents/ (re-exports from these)
Depended by: All 38 extensions in extensions/*/

Version stability guarantees — is there a semver contract for the SDK?
Which exports are considered stable vs experimental
How breaking changes in internal modules propagate to the SDK

Change frequency

index.ts: Medium — new exports added as features ship; removals are rare (backward compatibility)