Building provider plugins

Package and manifest

# Step 1: Package and manifest

{
"name": "@myorg/openclaw-acme-ai",
"version": "1.0.0",
"type": "module",
"openclaw": {
  "extensions": ["./index.ts"],
  "providers": ["acme-ai"],
  "compat": {
    "pluginApi": ">=2026.3.24-beta.2",
    "minGatewayVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2"
  },
  "build": {
    "openclawVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2",
    "pluginSdkVersion": "2026.3.24-beta.2"
  }
}
}

{
"id": "acme-ai",
"name": "Acme AI",
"description": "Acme AI model provider",
"providers": ["acme-ai"],
"modelSupport": {
  "modelPrefixes": ["acme-"]
},
"providerAuthEnvVars": {
  "acme-ai": ["ACME_AI_API_KEY"]
},
"providerAuthAliases": {
  "acme-ai-coding": "acme-ai"
},
"providerAuthChoices": [
  {
    "provider": "acme-ai",
    "method": "api-key",
    "choiceId": "acme-ai-api-key",
    "choiceLabel": "Acme AI API key",
    "groupId": "acme-ai",
    "groupLabel": "Acme AI",
    "cliFlag": "--acme-ai-api-key",
    "cliOption": "--acme-ai-api-key <key>",
    "cliDescription": "Acme AI API key"
  }
],
"configSchema": {
  "type": "object",
  "additionalProperties": false
}
}

The manifest declares providerAuthEnvVars so OpenClaw can detect credentials without loading your plugin runtime. Add providerAuthAliases when a provider variant should reuse another provider id's auth. modelSupport is optional and lets OpenClaw auto-load your provider plugin from shorthand model ids like acme-large before runtime hooks exist. If you publish the provider on ClawHub, those openclaw.compat and openclaw.build fields are required in package.json.

Register the provider

A minimal provider needs an id, label, auth, and catalog:

import { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
import { createProviderApiKeyAuthMethod } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-auth";

export default definePluginEntry({
  id: "acme-ai",
  name: "Acme AI",
  description: "Acme AI model provider",
  register(api) {
    api.registerProvider({
      id: "acme-ai",
      label: "Acme AI",
      docsPath: "/providers/acme-ai",
      envVars: ["ACME_AI_API_KEY"],

      auth: [
        createProviderApiKeyAuthMethod({
          providerId: "acme-ai",
          methodId: "api-key",
          label: "Acme AI API key",
          hint: "API key from your Acme AI dashboard",
          optionKey: "acmeAiApiKey",
          flagName: "--acme-ai-api-key",
          envVar: "ACME_AI_API_KEY",
          promptMessage: "Enter your Acme AI API key",
          defaultModel: "acme-ai/acme-large",
        }),
      ],

      catalog: {
        order: "simple",
        run: async (ctx) => {
          const apiKey =
            ctx.resolveProviderApiKey("acme-ai").apiKey;
          if (!apiKey) return null;
          return {
            provider: {
              baseUrl: "https://api.acme-ai.com/v1",
              apiKey,
              api: "openai-completions",
              models: [
                {
                  id: "acme-large",
                  name: "Acme Large",
                  reasoning: true,
                  input: ["text", "image"],
                  cost: { input: 3, output: 15, cacheRead: 0.3, cacheWrite: 3.75 },
                  contextWindow: 200000,
                  maxTokens: 32768,
                },
                {
                  id: "acme-small",
                  name: "Acme Small",
                  reasoning: false,
                  input: ["text"],
                  cost: { input: 1, output: 5, cacheRead: 0.1, cacheWrite: 1.25 },
                  contextWindow: 128000,
                  maxTokens: 8192,
                },
              ],
            },
          };
        },
      },
    });
  },
});

That is a working provider. Users can now openclaw onboard --acme-ai-api-key <key> and select acme-ai/acme-large as their model.

If the upstream provider uses different control tokens than OpenClaw, add a small bidirectional text transform instead of replacing the stream path:

api.registerTextTransforms({
  input: [
    { from: /red basket/g, to: "blue basket" },
    { from: /paper ticket/g, to: "digital ticket" },
    { from: /left shelf/g, to: "right shelf" },
  ],
  output: [
    { from: /blue basket/g, to: "red basket" },
    { from: /digital ticket/g, to: "paper ticket" },
    { from: /right shelf/g, to: "left shelf" },
  ],
});

input rewrites the final system prompt and text message content before transport. output rewrites assistant text deltas and final text before OpenClaw parses its own control markers or channel delivery.

For bundled providers that only register one text provider with API-key auth plus a single catalog-backed runtime, prefer the narrower defineSingleProviderPluginEntry(...) helper:

import { defineSingleProviderPluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-entry";

export default defineSingleProviderPluginEntry({
  id: "acme-ai",
  name: "Acme AI",
  description: "Acme AI model provider",
  provider: {
    label: "Acme AI",
    docsPath: "/providers/acme-ai",
    auth: [
      {
        methodId: "api-key",
        label: "Acme AI API key",
        hint: "API key from your Acme AI dashboard",
        optionKey: "acmeAiApiKey",
        flagName: "--acme-ai-api-key",
        envVar: "ACME_AI_API_KEY",
        promptMessage: "Enter your Acme AI API key",
        defaultModel: "acme-ai/acme-large",
      },
    ],
    catalog: {
      buildProvider: () => ({
        api: "openai-completions",
        baseUrl: "https://api.acme-ai.com/v1",
        models: [{ id: "acme-large", name: "Acme Large" }],
      }),
      buildStaticProvider: () => ({
        api: "openai-completions",
        baseUrl: "https://api.acme-ai.com/v1",
        models: [{ id: "acme-large", name: "Acme Large" }],
      }),
    },
  },
});

buildProvider is the live catalog path used when OpenClaw can resolve real provider auth. It may perform provider-specific discovery. Use buildStaticProvider only for offline rows that are safe to show before auth is configured; it must not require credentials or make network requests. OpenClaw's models list --all display currently executes static catalogs only for bundled provider plugins, with an empty config, empty env, and no agent/workspace paths.

If your auth flow also needs to patch models.providers.*, aliases, and the agent default model during onboarding, use the preset helpers from openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-onboard. The narrowest helpers are createDefaultModelPresetAppliers(...), createDefaultModelsPresetAppliers(...), and createModelCatalogPresetAppliers(...).

When a provider's native endpoint supports streamed usage blocks on the normal openai-completions transport, prefer the shared catalog helpers in openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-catalog-shared instead of hardcoding provider-id checks. supportsNativeStreamingUsageCompat(...) and applyProviderNativeStreamingUsageCompat(...) detect support from the endpoint capability map, so native Moonshot/DashScope-style endpoints still opt in even when a plugin is using a custom provider id.

Add dynamic model resolution

If your provider accepts arbitrary model IDs (like a proxy or router), add resolveDynamicModel:

api.registerProvider({
  // ... id, label, auth, catalog from above

  resolveDynamicModel: (ctx) => ({
    id: ctx.modelId,
    name: ctx.modelId,
    provider: "acme-ai",
    api: "openai-completions",
    baseUrl: "https://api.acme-ai.com/v1",
    reasoning: false,
    input: ["text"],
    cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
    contextWindow: 128000,
    maxTokens: 8192,
  }),
});

If resolving requires a network call, use prepareDynamicModel for async warm-up - resolveDynamicModel runs again after it completes.

Add runtime hooks (as needed)

Most providers only need catalog + resolveDynamicModel. Add hooks incrementally as your provider requires them.

Shared helper builders now cover the most common replay/tool-compat families, so plugins usually do not need to hand-wire each hook one by one:

import { buildProviderReplayFamilyHooks } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-model-shared";
import { buildProviderStreamFamilyHooks } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-stream";
import { buildProviderToolCompatFamilyHooks } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-tools";

const GOOGLE_FAMILY_HOOKS = {
  ...buildProviderReplayFamilyHooks({ family: "google-gemini" }),
  ...buildProviderStreamFamilyHooks("google-thinking"),
  ...buildProviderToolCompatFamilyHooks("gemini"),
};

api.registerProvider({
  id: "acme-gemini-compatible",
  // ...
  ...GOOGLE_FAMILY_HOOKS,
});

Available replay families today:

Available stream families today:

prepareRuntimeAuth: async (ctx) => {
  const exchanged = await exchangeToken(ctx.apiKey);
  return {
    apiKey: exchanged.token,
    baseUrl: exchanged.baseUrl,
    expiresAt: exchanged.expiresAt,
  };
},

// wrapStreamFn returns a StreamFn derived from ctx.streamFn
wrapStreamFn: (ctx) => {
  if (!ctx.streamFn) return undefined;
  const inner = ctx.streamFn;
  return async (params) => {
    params.headers = {
      ...params.headers,
      "X-Acme-Version": "2",
    };
    return inner(params);
  };
},

resolveTransportTurnState: (ctx) => ({
  headers: {
    "x-request-id": ctx.turnId,
  },
  metadata: {
    session_id: ctx.sessionId ?? "",
    turn_id: ctx.turnId,
  },
}),
resolveWebSocketSessionPolicy: (ctx) => ({
  headers: {
    "x-session-id": ctx.sessionId ?? "",
  },
  degradeCooldownMs: 60_000,
}),

resolveUsageAuth: async (ctx) => {
  const auth = await ctx.resolveOAuthToken();
  return auth ? { token: auth.token } : null;
},
fetchUsageSnapshot: async (ctx) => {
  return await fetchAcmeUsage(ctx.token, ctx.timeoutMs);
},

Add extra capabilities (optional)

# Step 5: Add extra capabilities

A provider plugin can register speech, realtime transcription, realtime voice, media understanding, image generation, video generation, web fetch, and web search alongside text inference. OpenClaw classifies this as a hybrid-capability plugin - the recommended pattern for company plugins (one plugin per vendor). See Internals: Capability Ownership.

Register each capability inside register(api) alongside your existing api.registerProvider(...) call. Pick only the tabs you need:

import {
  assertOkOrThrowProviderError,
  postJsonRequest,
} from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-http";

api.registerSpeechProvider({
  id: "acme-ai",
  label: "Acme Speech",
  isConfigured: ({ config }) => Boolean(config.messages?.tts),
  synthesize: async (req) => {
    const { response, release } = await postJsonRequest({
      url: "https://api.example.com/v1/speech",
      headers: new Headers({ "Content-Type": "application/json" }),
      body: { text: req.text },
      timeoutMs: req.timeoutMs,
      fetchFn: fetch,
      auditContext: "acme speech",
    });
    try {
      await assertOkOrThrowProviderError(response, "Acme Speech API error");
      return {
        audioBuffer: Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer()),
        outputFormat: "mp3",
        fileExtension: ".mp3",
        voiceCompatible: false,
      };
    } finally {
      await release();
    }
  },
});

api.registerRealtimeTranscriptionProvider({
  id: "acme-ai",
  label: "Acme Realtime Transcription",
  isConfigured: () => true,
  createSession: (req) => {
    const apiKey = String(req.providerConfig.apiKey ?? "");
    return createRealtimeTranscriptionWebSocketSession({
      providerId: "acme-ai",
      callbacks: req,
      url: "wss://api.example.com/v1/realtime-transcription",
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}` },
      onMessage: (event, transport) => {
        if (event.type === "session.created") {
          transport.sendJson({ type: "session.update" });
          transport.markReady();
          return;
        }
        if (event.type === "transcript.final") {
          req.onTranscript?.(event.text);
        }
      },
      sendAudio: (audio, transport) => {
        transport.sendJson({
          type: "audio.append",
          audio: audio.toString("base64"),
        });
      },
      onClose: (transport) => {
        transport.sendJson({ type: "audio.end" });
      },
    });
  },
});

api.registerRealtimeVoiceProvider({
  id: "acme-ai",
  label: "Acme Realtime Voice",
  capabilities: {
    transports: ["gateway-relay"],
    inputAudioFormats: [{ encoding: "pcm16", sampleRateHz: 24000, channels: 1 }],
    outputAudioFormats: [{ encoding: "pcm16", sampleRateHz: 24000, channels: 1 }],
    supportsBargeIn: true,
    supportsToolCalls: true,
  },
  isConfigured: ({ providerConfig }) => Boolean(providerConfig.apiKey),
  createBridge: (req) => ({
    // Set this only if the provider accepts multiple tool responses for
    // one call, for example an immediate "working" response followed by
    // the final result.
    supportsToolResultContinuation: false,
    connect: async () => {},
    sendAudio: () => {},
    setMediaTimestamp: () => {},
    handleBargeIn: () => {},
    submitToolResult: () => {},
    acknowledgeMark: () => {},
    close: () => {},
    isConnected: () => true,
  }),
});

api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider({
  id: "acme-ai",
  capabilities: ["image", "audio"],
  describeImage: async (req) => ({ text: "A photo of..." }),
  transcribeAudio: async (req) => ({ text: "Transcript..." }),
});

api.registerImageGenerationProvider({
  id: "acme-ai",
  label: "Acme Images",
  generate: async (req) => ({ /* image result */ }),
});

api.registerVideoGenerationProvider({
  id: "acme-ai",
  label: "Acme Video",
  capabilities: {
    generate: { maxVideos: 1, maxDurationSeconds: 10, supportsResolution: true },
    imageToVideo: {
      enabled: true,
      maxVideos: 1,
      maxInputImages: 1,
      maxInputImagesByModel: { "acme/reference-to-video": 9 },
      maxDurationSeconds: 5,
    },
    videoToVideo: { enabled: false },
  },
  generateVideo: async (req) => ({ videos: [] }),
});

api.registerWebFetchProvider({
  id: "acme-ai-fetch",
  label: "Acme Fetch",
  hint: "Fetch pages through Acme's rendering backend.",
  envVars: ["ACME_FETCH_API_KEY"],
  placeholder: "acme-...",
  signupUrl: "https://acme.example.com/fetch",
  credentialPath: "plugins.entries.acme.config.webFetch.apiKey",
  getCredentialValue: (fetchConfig) => fetchConfig?.acme?.apiKey,
  setCredentialValue: (fetchConfigTarget, value) => {
    const acme = (fetchConfigTarget.acme ??= {});
    acme.apiKey = value;
  },
  createTool: () => ({
    description: "Fetch a page through Acme Fetch.",
    parameters: {},
    execute: async (args) => ({ content: [] }),
  }),
});

api.registerWebSearchProvider({
  id: "acme-ai-search",
  label: "Acme Search",
  search: async (req) => ({ content: [] }),
});

Test

# Step 6: Test

import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
// Export your provider config object from index.ts or a dedicated file
import { acmeProvider } from "./provider.js";

describe("acme-ai provider", () => {
  it("resolves dynamic models", () => {
    const model = acmeProvider.resolveDynamicModel!({
      modelId: "acme-beta-v3",
    } as any);
    expect(model.id).toBe("acme-beta-v3");
    expect(model.provider).toBe("acme-ai");
  });

  it("returns catalog when key is available", async () => {
    const result = await acmeProvider.catalog!.run({
      resolveProviderApiKey: () => ({ apiKey: "test-key" }),
    } as any);
    expect(result?.provider?.models).toHaveLength(2);
  });

  it("returns null catalog when no key", async () => {
    const result = await acmeProvider.catalog!.run({
      resolveProviderApiKey: () => ({ apiKey: undefined }),
    } as any);
    expect(result).toBeNull();
  });
});