OpenClaw Patterns
Architectural and design patterns used throughout the OpenClaw codebase.
Available Patterns
Markdown-as-Config
Use markdown files for configuration with embedded metadata and validation schemas.
Append-Only JSONL
Crash-safe, git-friendly, streamable persistence for sessions and cron logs using append-only JSONL files.
Ed25519 Device Authentication
Public-key cryptography for device authentication across Gateway, Control UI, and Native Apps using Ed25519 keypairs and challenge-response signing.
Cascading Configuration Resolution
5-layer cascading configuration system with runtime overrides, environment variables, agent-specific, session-level, and global defaults.
Context Overflow 3-Tier Recovery
Sophisticated error recovery pattern for handling context overflow: detection, auto-compaction, tool result truncation, and user-facing fallback.