Plugin SDK Migration

Plugin SDK Migration

OpenClaw has moved from a broad backwards-compatibility layer to a modern plugin architecture with focused, documented imports. If your plugin was built before the new architecture, this guide helps you migrate.

What is changing

The old plugin system provided two wide-open surfaces that let plugins import anything they needed from a single entry point:

• openclaw/plugin-sdk/compat — a single import that re-exported dozens of helpers. It was introduced to keep older hook-based plugins working while the new plugin architecture was being built.
• openclaw/extension-api — a bridge that gave plugins direct access to host-side helpers like the embedded agent runner.

Both surfaces are now deprecated. They still work at runtime, but new plugins must not use them, and existing plugins should migrate before the next major release removes them.

The backwards-compatibility layer will be removed in a future major release. Plugins that still import from these surfaces will break when that happens.

Why this changed

The old approach caused problems:

• Slow startup — importing one helper loaded dozens of unrelated modules
• Circular dependencies — broad re-exports made it easy to create import cycles
• Unclear API surface — no way to tell which exports were stable vs internal

The modern plugin SDK fixes this: each import path (openclaw/plugin-sdk/\<subpath\>) is a small, self-contained module with a clear purpose and documented contract.

How to migrate

1. Find deprecated imports

   Search your plugin for imports from either deprecated surface:

   grep -r "plugin-sdk/compat" my-plugin/
   grep -r "openclaw/extension-api" my-plugin/
   
2. Replace with focused imports

   Each export from the old surface maps to a specific modern import path:

   // Before (deprecated backwards-compatibility layer)
   import {
     createChannelReplyPipeline,
     createPluginRuntimeStore,
     resolveControlCommandGate,
   } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/compat";
   
   // After (modern focused imports)
   import { createChannelReplyPipeline } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-reply-pipeline";
   import { createPluginRuntimeStore } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/runtime-store";
   import { resolveControlCommandGate } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/command-auth";
   

   For host-side helpers, use the injected plugin runtime instead of importing directly:

   // Before (deprecated extension-api bridge)
   import { runEmbeddedPiAgent } from "openclaw/extension-api";
   const result = await runEmbeddedPiAgent({ sessionId, prompt });
   
   // After (injected runtime)
   const result = await api.runtime.agent.runEmbeddedPiAgent({ sessionId, prompt });
   

   The same pattern applies to other legacy bridge helpers:

   Old import	Modern equivalent
   resolveAgentDir	api.runtime.agent.resolveAgentDir
   resolveAgentWorkspaceDir	api.runtime.agent.resolveAgentWorkspaceDir
   resolveAgentIdentity	api.runtime.agent.resolveAgentIdentity
   resolveThinkingDefault	api.runtime.agent.resolveThinkingDefault
   resolveAgentTimeoutMs	api.runtime.agent.resolveAgentTimeoutMs
   ensureAgentWorkspace	api.runtime.agent.ensureAgentWorkspace
   session store helpers	api.runtime.agent.session.*

3. Build and test

   pnpm build
   pnpm test -- my-plugin/
   

Import path reference

Full import path table

| Import path | Purpose | Key exports | | --- | --- | --- | | plugin-sdk/plugin-entry | Canonical plugin entry helper | definePluginEntry | | plugin-sdk/core | Channel entry definitions, channel builders, base types | defineChannelPluginEntry, createChatChannelPlugin | | plugin-sdk/channel-setup | Setup wizard adapters | createOptionalChannelSetupSurface | | plugin-sdk/channel-pairing | DM pairing primitives | createChannelPairingController | | plugin-sdk/channel-reply-pipeline | Reply prefix + typing wiring | createChannelReplyPipeline | | plugin-sdk/channel-config-helpers | Config adapter factories | createHybridChannelConfigAdapter | | plugin-sdk/channel-config-schema | Config schema builders | Channel config schema types | | plugin-sdk/channel-policy | Group/DM policy resolution | resolveChannelGroupRequireMention | | plugin-sdk/channel-lifecycle | Account status tracking | createAccountStatusSink | | plugin-sdk/channel-runtime | Runtime wiring helpers | Channel runtime utilities | | plugin-sdk/channel-send-result | Send result types | Reply result types | | plugin-sdk/runtime-store | Persistent plugin storage | createPluginRuntimeStore | | plugin-sdk/allow-from | Allowlist formatting | formatAllowFromLowercase | | plugin-sdk/allowlist-resolution | Allowlist input mapping | mapAllowlistResolutionInputs | | plugin-sdk/command-auth | Command gating | resolveControlCommandGate | | plugin-sdk/secret-input | Secret input parsing | Secret input helpers | | plugin-sdk/webhook-ingress | Webhook request helpers | Webhook target utilities | | plugin-sdk/reply-payload | Message reply types | Reply payload types | | plugin-sdk/provider-onboard | Provider onboarding patches | Onboarding config helpers | | plugin-sdk/keyed-async-queue | Ordered async queue | KeyedAsyncQueue | | plugin-sdk/testing | Test utilities | Test helpers and mocks |

Use the narrowest import that matches the job. If you cannot find an export, check the source at src/plugin-sdk/ or ask in Discord.

Removal timeline

When	What happens
Now	Deprecated surfaces emit runtime warnings
Next major release	Deprecated surfaces will be removed; plugins still using them will fail

All core plugins have already been migrated. External plugins should migrate before the next major release.

Suppressing the warnings temporarily

Set these environment variables while you work on migrating:

OPENCLAW_SUPPRESS_PLUGIN_SDK_COMPAT_WARNING=1 openclaw gateway run
OPENCLAW_SUPPRESS_EXTENSION_API_WARNING=1 openclaw gateway run

This is a temporary escape hatch, not a permanent solution.

Related

• Getting Started — build your first plugin
• SDK Overview — full subpath import reference
• Channel Plugins — building channel plugins
• Provider Plugins — building provider plugins
• Plugin Internals — architecture deep dive
• Plugin Manifest — manifest schema reference

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This page is sourced from openclaw/openclaw.