Implementation:Openclaw Openclaw PluginsConfig SkillsConfig Types

PluginsConfig and SkillsConfig Types

PluginsConfig and SkillsConfig are the top-level TypeScript configuration types that govern the two extension systems in OpenClaw. PluginsConfig controls plugin loading, allowlisting, denylisting, per-plugin entries, install tracking, slot assignments, and additional load paths. SkillsConfig controls bundled skill allowlisting, extra scan directories, watcher behavior, install preferences, and per-skill entries.

Principle:Openclaw_Openclaw_Extension_Type_Identification

Source Location

Type	File	Lines
PluginsConfig	src/config/types.plugins.ts	1-37
SkillsConfig	src/config/types.skills.ts	1-32

Repository: github.com/openclaw/openclaw

PluginsConfig

Type Definition

export type PluginEntryConfig = {
  enabled?: boolean;
  config?: Record<string, unknown>;
};

export type PluginSlotsConfig = {
  /** Select which plugin owns the memory slot ("none" disables memory plugins). */
  memory?: string;
};

export type PluginsLoadConfig = {
  /** Additional plugin/extension paths to load. */
  paths?: string[];
};

export type PluginInstallRecord = {
  source: "npm" | "archive" | "path";
  spec?: string;
  sourcePath?: string;
  installPath?: string;
  version?: string;
  installedAt?: string;
};

export type PluginsConfig = {
  /** Enable or disable plugin loading. */
  enabled?: boolean;
  /** Optional plugin allowlist (plugin ids). */
  allow?: string[];
  /** Optional plugin denylist (plugin ids). */
  deny?: string[];
  load?: PluginsLoadConfig;
  slots?: PluginSlotsConfig;
  entries?: Record<string, PluginEntryConfig>;
  installs?: Record<string, PluginInstallRecord>;
};

Field Reference

Field	Type	Description
enabled	boolean?	Master switch. When false, no plugins are loaded at all.
allow	string[]?	If present, only plugins whose id appears in this list are eligible for loading.
deny	string[]?	Plugins whose id appears in this list are unconditionally blocked.
load.paths	string[]?	Additional filesystem paths to scan for plugin directories or files.
slots.memory	string?	Id of the plugin that owns the memory slot. Set to "none" to disable all memory plugins.
entries	Record<string, PluginEntryConfig>?	Per-plugin configuration keyed by plugin id. Each entry can enable/disable the plugin and provide arbitrary config values.
installs	Record<string, PluginInstallRecord>?	Tracks how each plugin was installed (source type, spec, path, version, timestamp).

PluginInstallRecord

The PluginInstallRecord type captures provenance for installed plugins:

Field	Type	Description
source	"archive" | "path"	How the plugin was installed.
spec	string?	The npm spec or archive path used during install.
sourcePath	string?	Original source path for path-based installs.
installPath	string?	Resolved installation directory.
version	string?	Plugin version at install time.
installedAt	string?	ISO timestamp of when the install occurred.

SkillsConfig

Type Definition

export type SkillConfig = {
  enabled?: boolean;
  apiKey?: string;
  env?: Record<string, string>;
  config?: Record<string, unknown>;
};

export type SkillsLoadConfig = {
  /**
   * Additional skill folders to scan (lowest precedence).
   * Each directory should contain skill subfolders with SKILL.md.
   */
  extraDirs?: string[];
  /** Watch skill folders for changes and refresh the skills snapshot. */
  watch?: boolean;
  /** Debounce for the skills watcher (ms). */
  watchDebounceMs?: number;
};

export type SkillsInstallConfig = {
  preferBrew?: boolean;
  nodeManager?: "npm" | "pnpm" | "yarn" | "bun";
};

export type SkillsConfig = {
  /** Optional bundled-skill allowlist (only affects bundled skills). */
  allowBundled?: string[];
  load?: SkillsLoadConfig;
  install?: SkillsInstallConfig;
  entries?: Record<string, SkillConfig>;
};

Field Reference

Field	Type	Description
allowBundled	string[]?	When set, only bundled skills whose name or key appears in this list are loaded. Non-bundled skills are unaffected.
load.extraDirs	string[]?	Additional directories to scan for skill folders. These have the lowest precedence in the merge order.
load.watch	boolean?	When true, the system watches skill directories for changes and refreshes the snapshot.
load.watchDebounceMs	number?	Debounce interval in milliseconds for the watcher.
install.preferBrew	boolean?	Prefer Homebrew for installing skill dependencies on macOS.
install.nodeManager	"pnpm" | "yarn" | "bun"	Preferred Node.js package manager for skill dependency installation.
entries	Record<string, SkillConfig>?	Per-skill configuration keyed by skill name or skill key.

SkillConfig (per-skill entry)

Field	Type	Description
enabled	boolean?	Explicitly enable or disable this skill.
apiKey	string?	API key for skills that require authentication. Satisfies the primaryEnv requirement.
env	Record<string, string>?	Environment variable overrides for eligibility checks.
config	Record<string, unknown>?	Arbitrary configuration values passed to the skill.

Design Rationale

The configuration types are deliberately kept as flat, optional-field records:

1. All fields are optional. Unconfigured extensions use sensible defaults (enabled, no filtering).
2. Allow and deny lists are complementary. The deny list takes priority: a plugin on the deny list is blocked even if it appears on the allow list.
3. Per-entry config is generic. Both PluginEntryConfig.config and SkillConfig.config use Record<string, unknown> so that individual extensions can define their own schema without changing the core types.
4. Install records are separate from enable state. The installs map tracks provenance; the entries map tracks runtime configuration. A plugin can be installed but disabled.

Usage Context

These types flow into the rest of the extension system:

• PluginsConfig is consumed by normalizePluginsConfig() in src/plugins/config-state.ts and drives the plugin discovery, loading, and enable/disable logic in src/plugins/loader.ts.
• SkillsConfig is consumed by loadSkillEntries() in src/agents/skills/workspace.ts and drives skill directory scanning, frontmatter parsing, and eligibility filtering.