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OpenClaw Adapter

context-mode plugin for the OpenClaw gateway, targeting Pi Agent sessions.

Overview

OpenClaw is the gateway/platform that manages agent sessions, extensions, and tool routing. Pi Agent is OpenClaw's coding agent — it runs within OpenClaw and provides Read, Write, Edit, and Bash tools for software development tasks.

The context-mode adapter hooks into Pi Agent sessions specifically, intercepting tool calls to route data-heavy operations through the sandbox and tracking session events for compaction recovery.

Supported Configurations

  • Pi Agent sessions with coding tools (Read/Write/Edit/Bash) — fully supported.
  • Custom agents with coding tools — may work but are untested. The adapter relies on tool names matching Pi Agent's conventions.

Installation

Quick install

npm run install:openclaw

This runs scripts/install-openclaw-plugin.sh, which handles building, extension setup, runtime registration, and gateway restart.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js must be in PATH (required for the build and registration steps)
  • OpenClaw must have been started once — the script needs openclaw.json, which OpenClaw creates on first launch
  • OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR must point to your OpenClaw state directory (default: /openclaw). Pass it as an argument: npm run install:openclaw -- /path/to/state

Manual install

For advanced users or custom setups:

bash scripts/install-openclaw-plugin.sh [OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR]

See scripts/install-openclaw-plugin.sh for details.

Troubleshooting

"openclaw.json not found" OpenClaw creates this file on first launch. Start OpenClaw once (openclaw gateway start), then re-run the install script. This is the most common issue for users who install context-mode before ever starting OpenClaw.

"OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR (/path) does not exist. Is OpenClaw installed?" The state directory doesn't exist at the expected path. If you installed OpenClaw via npm (not git clone), check where it stores state — common locations are ~/.openclaw or /openclaw. Pass the correct path: npm run install:openclaw -- /path/to/state.

Plugin installed but not loading Clear the jiti cache (rm -f /tmp/jiti/context-mode-*.cjs) and restart the gateway. If the issue persists, verify the plugin appears in openclaw plugins list.

Hook Registration

The adapter uses two different registration APIs, matching OpenClaw's internal architecture:

  • api.on() for lifecycle and tool hooks: session_start, before_tool_call, after_tool_call, before_compaction, after_compaction, before_prompt_build, before_model_resolve. These are typed event emitters with structured payloads.
  • api.registerHook() for command hooks: command:new, command:reset, command:stop. These use colon-delimited names and the generic hook registration system.

Using the wrong API (e.g., api.registerHook("before_tool_call", ...)) registers silently but the hook never fires. This distinction is critical.

Synchronous register()

OpenClaw silently discards the return value of register(). If register() is async, all hooks registered inside it are lost. The adapter uses the initPromise pattern:

register(api): void {
  const initPromise = (async () => { /* async setup */ })();
  api.on("after_tool_call", async (e) => {
    await initPromise;
    // handle event
  });
}

Session Continuity

Hook Method Status
after_tool_call api.on() Working
before_compaction api.on() Working
session_start api.on() Working
command:new api.registerHook() Working
command:reset api.registerHook() Working
command:stop api.registerHook() Working

Graceful Degradation

If compaction hooks fail to fire (e.g., on older OpenClaw versions), the adapter falls back to DB snapshot reconstruction — rebuilding session state from the events already persisted in SQLite by after_tool_call. This produces a less precise snapshot than the PreCompact path but preserves critical state (active files, tasks, errors).

Previously Known Upstream Issues

Both issues below have been resolved in upstream OpenClaw:

  • #4967 — Compaction hooks not firing. Closed as duplicate of #3728; fix merged.
  • #5513 — api.on() hooks not invoked for tool lifecycle events. Fixed in PR #9761.

Minimum Version

Required: OpenClaw >2026.1.29

This is the first release that includes the api.on() fix from PR #9761, which shipped on 2026-01-29.

What breaks on older versions: Lifecycle hooks registered via api.on() — including before_compaction, after_compaction, session_start, and tool interception hooks — may silently fail to fire.

Graceful degradation: If compaction hooks don't fire, the adapter falls back to DB snapshot reconstruction, rebuilding session state from events already persisted by after_tool_call. This produces a less precise snapshot than the PreCompact path but preserves critical state (active files, tasks, errors). The adapter will not crash on older versions, but compaction recovery quality will be reduced.

Workspace Routing

The adapter includes a workspace router (src/openclaw/workspace-router.ts) that resolves project paths from Pi Agent session metadata, ensuring session databases and routing instructions are scoped per-workspace.

Key Files

File Purpose
src/openclaw-plugin.ts Main plugin entry (sync register, initPromise pattern)
src/openclaw/workspace-router.ts Workspace path resolution for session scoping
.openclaw-plugin/ Plugin manifest (index.ts, openclaw.plugin.json, package.json)
scripts/install-openclaw-plugin.sh One-shot installer