---
summary: "How OpenClaw reviews dependency changes and packages plugin runtime dependencies"
read_when:
  - You are reviewing dependency changes or supply-chain risk
  - You are validating root or plugin npm packages before publishing
  - You want to understand bundled plugin dependencies
title: "Dependency locking"
---

OpenClaw uses `pnpm-lock.yaml` as its committed product dependency review boundary. It records the resolved dependency graph used by source checkouts and CI, so transitive changes remain visible in code review.

OpenClaw does not commit npm-format locks for product packages or publish them in package tarballs. [npm 12 removed shrinkwrap support](https://github.com/npm/cli/releases/tag/v12.0.0), including the `npm shrinkwrap` command and loading `npm-shrinkwrap.json` from package roots or dependency tarballs.

The trusted ClawHub release toolchain is a separate exception: `.github/release/clawhub-cli/package-lock.json` is a committed npm 12 project lock used by release automation. It is not shipped in an OpenClaw package.

## Published package behavior

Published OpenClaw plugin packages bundle their runtime dependency files in the tarball by default. Those bytes ship with the plugin and work the same way regardless of whether the operator uses npm, pnpm, or Bun.

Native-heavy plugins opt out of runtime dependency bundling because their dependency trees contain platform-specific or large native artifacts. Those plugins resolve dependencies at install time from exact-pinned direct dependencies. The root `openclaw` package also resolves dependencies at install time and does not bundle its full dependency tree.

Neither path publishes a lockfile:

- root and plugin tarballs contain neither `npm-shrinkwrap.json` nor `package-lock.json`;
- `pnpm-lock.yaml` remains the reviewed source dependency graph;
- npm package locks exist only transiently while OpenClaw validates package graphs or runs `npm ci` to assemble a bundled plugin.

## Validate npm dependency graphs

The npm-lock checker generates `package-lock.json` in a temporary directory, applies workspace overrides, and rejects any generated registry version absent from `pnpm-lock.yaml`. It does not write a lockfile into the checkout.

```bash
# Root and every publishable package
pnpm deps:npm-lock:check

# Only packages affected by the current changeset
pnpm deps:npm-lock:check:changed
```

## Inspect a plugin tarball

```bash
npm pack @openclaw/discord@<version> --json --pack-destination /tmp/openclaw-plugin-pack
tar -tf /tmp/openclaw-plugin-pack/openclaw-discord-<version>.tgz | grep '^package/node_modules/'
tar -tf /tmp/openclaw-plugin-pack/openclaw-discord-<version>.tgz | grep -E '^package/(npm-shrinkwrap|package-lock)\.json$' && exit 1 || true
```

The `node_modules` entries prove that the plugin carries its bundled runtime payload. The final check proves that neither npm lockfile format ships in the tarball.
