diff --git a/src/plugins/manifest.json5-tolerance.test.ts b/src/plugins/manifest.json5-tolerance.test.ts
index d46df8ad821b..5e3f74a62251 100644
--- a/src/plugins/manifest.json5-tolerance.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/manifest.json5-tolerance.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 import JSON5 from "json5";
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { resolveMemorySlotDecision } from "./config-state.js";
 import { loadPluginManifest } from "./manifest.js";
 import { cleanupTrackedTempDirs, makeTrackedTempDir } from "./test-helpers/fs-fixtures.js";
 
@@ -122,6 +123,100 @@ describe("loadPluginManifest JSON5 tolerance", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: "a supported memory kind",
+      rawKind: "memory",
+      expectedKind: "memory",
+    },
+    {
+      name: "a supported context-engine kind",
+      rawKind: "context-engine",
+      expectedKind: "context-engine",
+    },
+    {
+      name: "both supported kinds in declaration order",
+      rawKind: ["context-engine", "memory"],
+      expectedKind: ["context-engine", "memory"],
+    },
+    {
+      name: "duplicate memory kinds collapsed into one kind",
+      rawKind: ["memory", "memory"],
+      expectedKind: "memory",
+    },
+    {
+      name: "duplicate context-engine kinds collapsed into one kind",
+      rawKind: ["context-engine", "context-engine"],
+      expectedKind: "context-engine",
+    },
+    {
+      name: "supported kinds filtered from invalid and duplicate array entries",
+      rawKind: ["memory", "unknown-kind", 42, "memory", "context-engine", null],
+      expectedKind: ["memory", "context-engine"],
+    },
+    {
+      name: "a valid memory kind retained alongside invalid entries",
+      rawKind: ["unknown-kind", 42, "memory", null],
+      expectedKind: "memory",
+    },
+    {
+      name: "an unsupported scalar kind",
+      rawKind: "unknown-kind",
+      expectedKind: undefined,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "an array containing only unsupported kinds",
+      rawKind: ["unknown-kind", 42, null],
+      expectedKind: undefined,
+    },
+  ])("normalizes $name", ({ rawKind, expectedKind }) => {
+    const dir = makeTempDir();
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(dir, "openclaw.plugin.json"),
+      JSON.stringify({
+        id: "kind-normalization",
+        kind: rawKind,
+        configSchema: { type: "object" },
+      }),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const result = loadPluginManifest(dir, false);
+
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
+    if (result.ok) {
+      expect(result.manifest.kind).toEqual(expectedKind);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("keeps duplicate memory declarations subject to the exclusive memory slot", () => {
+    const dir = makeTempDir();
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(dir, "openclaw.plugin.json"),
+      JSON.stringify({
+        id: "duplicate-memory",
+        kind: ["memory", "memory"],
+        configSchema: { type: "object" },
+      }),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const result = loadPluginManifest(dir, false);
+
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
+    if (result.ok) {
+      expect(result.manifest.kind).toBe("memory");
+      expect(
+        resolveMemorySlotDecision({
+          id: result.manifest.id,
+          kind: result.manifest.kind,
+          slot: "memory-core",
+          selectedId: "memory-core",
+        }),
+      ).toEqual({ enabled: false, reason: 'memory slot set to "memory-core"' });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("normalizes modelSupport metadata from the manifest", () => {
     const dir = makeTempDir();
     const json5Content = `{
diff --git a/src/plugins/manifest.ts b/src/plugins/manifest.ts
index 46748dd37d63..0b8d259c3748 100644
--- a/src/plugins/manifest.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/manifest.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ const PLUGIN_MANIFEST_FILENAMES = [PLUGIN_MANIFEST_FILENAME] as const;
 const MAX_PLUGIN_MANIFEST_BYTES = 256 * 1024;
 const MAX_PLUGIN_MANIFEST_LOAD_CACHE_ENTRIES = 512;
 const CORE_RESERVED_PLUGIN_IDS = new Set(["node-mcp"]);
+const VALID_PLUGIN_KINDS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set<PluginKind>(["memory", "context-engine"]);
 
 export function isCoreReservedPluginId(id: string): boolean {
   return CORE_RESERVED_PLUGIN_IDS.has(normalizePluginPolicyId(id));
@@ -109,13 +110,18 @@ function setCachedPluginManifestLoadResult(
 }
 
 function parsePluginKind(raw: unknown): PluginKind | PluginKind[] | undefined {
-  if (typeof raw === "string") {
-    return raw as PluginKind;
+  const values = typeof raw === "string" ? [raw] : Array.isArray(raw) ? raw : [];
+  const kinds: PluginKind[] = [];
+  for (const value of values) {
+    if (typeof value !== "string" || !VALID_PLUGIN_KINDS.has(value)) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const kind = value as PluginKind;
+    if (!kinds.includes(kind)) {
+      kinds.push(kind);
+    }
   }
-  if (Array.isArray(raw) && raw.length > 0 && raw.every((k) => typeof k === "string")) {
-    return raw.length === 1 ? (raw[0] as PluginKind) : (raw as PluginKind[]);
-  }
-  return undefined;
+  return kinds.length === 0 ? undefined : kinds.length === 1 ? kinds[0] : kinds;
 }
 
 export function loadPluginManifest(