openclaw/docs/plugins/compatibility.md

summary, title, read_when

summary	title	read_when
Plugin compatibility contracts, deprecation metadata, and migration expectations	Plugin compatibility	You maintain an OpenClaw plugin You see a plugin compatibility warning You are planning a plugin SDK or manifest migration

OpenClaw keeps older plugin contracts wired through named compatibility adapters before removing them. This protects existing bundled and external plugins while the SDK, manifest, setup, config, and agent runtime contracts evolve.

Compatibility registry

Plugin compatibility contracts are tracked in the core registry at src/plugins/compat/registry.ts. Each record has:

• a stable compatibility code
• status: active, deprecated, removal-pending, or removed
• owner: sdk, config, setup, channel, provider, plugin-execution, agent-runtime, or core
• introduction and deprecation dates when applicable
• an exact removeAfter date or named removalGate once the owning maintainer approves it; a record with neither remains ineligible for removal
• replacement guidance
• docs, diagnostics, and tests that cover the old and new behavior

The registry is the source for maintainer planning and future plugin inspector checks. If a plugin-facing behavior changes, add or update the compatibility record in the same change that adds the adapter.

Doctor repair and migration compatibility is tracked separately at src/commands/doctor/shared/deprecation-compat.ts. Those records cover old config shapes, install-ledger layouts, and repair shims that may need to stay available after the runtime compatibility path is removed.

Every doctor compatibility record declares introduced and removeAfter. The pnpm check:doctor-deprecation-registry guard fails when a record is still deprecated on or after removeAfter; maintainers must either remove it after supported-upgrade proof or move it to removal-pending with a documented blocker. removal-pending records do not fail the date guard, but remain in the explicit review queue until their upgrade conditions are met.

Release sweeps should check both registries. Do not delete a doctor migration just because the matching runtime or config compatibility record expired; first verify there is no supported upgrade path that still needs the repair. Revalidate each replacement annotation during release planning too, since plugin ownership and config footprint can change as providers and channels move out of core.

Deprecation policy

OpenClaw should not remove a documented plugin contract in the same release that introduces its replacement. Migration sequence:

1. Add the new contract.
2. Keep the old behavior wired through a named compatibility adapter.
3. Emit diagnostics or warnings when plugin authors can act.
4. Document the replacement and timeline.
5. Test both old and new paths.
6. Wait through the announced migration window.
7. Remove only with explicit breaking-release approval.

Deprecated records must include a warning start date, replacement, docs link, and either a final removal date no more than three months after the warning starts or an explicit version boundary such as next-plugin-sdk-major. Do not add a deprecated compatibility path with an open-ended removal window unless maintainers explicitly decide it is permanent compatibility and mark it active instead.

Current compatibility areas

The July 2026 sweep removed the expired root SDK, manifest, provider, runtime, registry-flag, and plugin-owned web-config aliases. Doctor migrations remain separately tracked so supported upgrade paths can still repair old config.

The remaining dated compatibility areas are:

• the September SDK subpath window listed in the migration guide
• the beta.5 session-store bridge
• the shipped agent-harness SDK aliases, whose removal is pending a new externally documented migration decision
• the October 2026 SDK annotation families listed below

Active, undated registry records cover supported behavior rather than removal debt, including activation hints, plugin capture, bundled plugin enablement, and the generated channel-config fallback.

The annotation-only compatibility audit added these dated records. Their removeAfter date is an earliest review date, not permission to remove a surface while its stated reader or migration condition remains unmet.

Compatibility code	Removal condition	removeAfter
plugin-sdk-channel-setup-input-fields	Repeat the published-plugin artifact sweep and remove only fields with no reader.	2026-10-01
plugin-sdk-broad-runtime-barrels	Move bundled and indexed external consumers to focused SDK subpaths.	2026-10-01
plugin-sdk-provider-owned-helper-shims	Move each deprecated provider helper to its provider-local API and prove no published reader remains.	2026-10-01
message-presentation-legacy-bridges	Move reply producers and official channel packages to MessagePresentation.	2026-10-01
plugin-sdk-focused-compat-aliases	Prove every enumerated alias has no bundled or published reader.	2026-10-01
agent-harness-terminal-result-aliases	Move harnesses to terminal and visibleReplies, then prove the legacy result fields are unread.	2026-10-01
official-plugin-export-aliases	Move users of Google Meet testing, channel presentation, and Discord timeout exports to canonical APIs.	2026-10-01
memory-host-compatibility-aliases	Use canonical memory tables and prepared runtime config everywhere.	2026-10-01
plugin-runtime-api-compat-aliases	Move flat plugin registration/runtime calls to their namespaced or focused replacements.	2026-10-01
plugin-provider-manifest-compat-aliases	Move kind/setup/catalog ownership to manifests and model-catalog registration.	2026-10-01
deprecated-session-store-beta5-api	End the v2026.7.x whole-store upgrade window, including package-root aliases.	2026-10-12

pnpm plugins:boundary-report reports removal-pending records separately from deprecated records. A due removal-pending record remains blocked until its reported migration condition is satisfied and its reader references are cleared; the existing --fail-on-eligible-compat gate continues to apply only to dated deprecated records. Reader references are surface-token matches for triage; use the published-artifact sweep before authorizing removal.

Channel prompt-context identifier aliases

New channel plugins should use MsgContext.ChannelPromptContext, MsgContext.ChannelStructuredContext, ChannelStructuredContextEntry, and SupplementalContextFacts.channelStructuredContext. The older UntrustedContext, UntrustedStructuredContext, UntrustedStructuredContextEntry, and supplemental untrustedContext names remain as deprecated SDK aliases until 2026-09-08 (registry record sdk-untrusted-context-identifier-aliases). Inbound finalization folds those deprecated fields into the channel-named fields and removes the old keys from runtime context.

The security runtime similarly exports buildChannelMetadata; the deprecated buildUntrustedChannelMetadata alias remains available on the same schedule.

WhatsApp inbound callback retirement

The August 2026 WhatsApp callback compatibility window is closed. Runtime callbacks now accept only WebInboundCallbackMessage: nested event, payload, quote, group, and platform contexts plus the required public admission envelope. Flat callback fields and top-level admission aliases are no longer accepted.

payload.channelStructuredContext is extracted from inbound provider payloads. Plugins should inspect label, source, and type before treating its payload as authoritative.

Plugin inspector package

The plugin inspector should live outside the core OpenClaw repo as a separate package/repository backed by the versioned compatibility and manifest contracts. The day-one CLI should be:

openclaw-plugin-inspector ./my-plugin

It should emit manifest/schema validation, the contract compatibility version being checked, install/source metadata checks, cold-path import checks, and deprecation/compatibility warnings. Use --json for stable machine-readable output in CI annotations. OpenClaw core should expose contracts and fixtures the inspector can consume, but should not publish the inspector binary from the main openclaw package.

Maintainer acceptance lane

Use Crabbox-backed Blacksmith Testbox for the installable-package acceptance lane when validating the external inspector against OpenClaw plugin packages. Run it from a clean OpenClaw checkout after the package is built:

pnpm crabbox:run -- --provider blacksmith-testbox --timing-json --shell -- "pnpm install && pnpm build && npm exec --yes @openclaw/plugin-inspector@0.1.0 -- ./extensions/telegram --json"
pnpm crabbox:run -- --provider blacksmith-testbox --timing-json --shell -- "npm exec --yes @openclaw/plugin-inspector@0.1.0 -- ./extensions/discord --json"
pnpm crabbox:run -- --provider blacksmith-testbox --timing-json --shell -- "npm exec --yes @openclaw/plugin-inspector@0.1.0 -- <clawhub-plugin-dir> --json"

Keep this lane opt-in for maintainers, since it installs an external npm package and may inspect plugin packages cloned outside the repo. The local repo guards cover the SDK export map, compatibility registry metadata, deprecated SDK-import burn-down, and bundled extension import boundaries; Testbox inspector proof covers the package as external plugin authors consume it.

Release notes

Release notes should include upcoming plugin deprecations with target dates and links to migration docs, before a compatibility path moves to removal-pending or removed.