Forge OpenClaw Plugin

forge-openclaw-plugin is the OpenClaw bridge for Forge.

For normal installs, start with the single-command Forge installer:

npx forge-memory

It installs the Forge UI/runtime first, discovers OpenClaw, Hermes, and Codex in the background, lets you choose adapters from a guided checkbox flow, and keeps every selected surface pointed at the same real Forge data folder. Use the direct OpenClaw commands below only for plugin-specific debugging, source-linking, or manual recovery.

It gives OpenClaw a clear way to:

• start or reach the local Forge runtime
• open the Forge web app
• read the current operator overview
• create and update goals, projects, issues, tasks, notes, wiki pages, health records, preferences, and Psyche records
• run Forge Doctor when the local setup looks wrong

When the plugin targets localhost or 127.0.0.1, it can auto-start the bundled Forge runtime. That is why current OpenClaw installers may ask for explicit approval during install.

Open the UI

If you want the actual Forge app, not just the plugin tools, ask your OpenClaw agent:

• Open the Forge UI
• Give me the Forge UI address
• Take me to Forge

For a normal local install, the Forge UI address is usually:

http://127.0.0.1:4317/forge/

That 4317 backend URL is the stable entrypoint for normal local plugin installs.

Albert's MacBook also has a repo-local development mode used for plugin/dashboard work. The restored 6-hour Tailscale automation exposes /forge through the 4317 backend as http://127.0.0.1:4317/forge/, while that backend is started locally with FORGE_OPENCLAW_DEV=1 and proxies the Vite dev server at 127.0.0.1:3027. A correct dev-mode response contains /forge/@vite/client and /forge/src/main.tsx.

That environment flag is only for the repo-local development machine. Normal plugin installs on other machines use the packaged runtime by default and should not be forced into source-backed dev mode. The restored automation also must not expose /forge-dev or point /forge at bare http://127.0.0.1:3027.

You can also ask the agent to call the UI entry tool and return the exact current address.

If you want Forge to use a specific local data folder, set dataRoot in the plugin config. The local runtime will then store its database as forge.sqlite directly inside that folder instead of using the runtime working directory.

Default data path:

• local installs default to ~/.forge/forge.sqlite
• the user can set dataRoot to use another folder
• when dataRoot is set, Forge stores forge.sqlite directly inside that folder

If you want the data to live somewhere specific for persistence or backup reasons, set dataRoot explicitly in the plugin config and restart the gateway. When debugging storage, check the config and the live runtime path before moving or merging database files.

The Forge web app also exposes these controls in Settings -> Data. Use it to see the live data folder, move current data, adopt an existing Forge data folder, create a manual backup, enable automatic backups, and choose how many days of automatic backups Forge should keep. Automatic retention only cleans automatic backups; manual and safety backups stay in place.

What Forge looks like

Overview dashboard:

Psyche graph:

What this plugin is

Forge is a personal system for:

• human and bot users with explicit ownership
• long-term goals
• active projects
• directed strategies across projects and tasks
• first-class preferences with a comparison game and editable concept libraries
• concrete tasks
• recurring habits
• truthful live work sessions
• weekly review and XP feedback
• SQLite-backed wiki memory with spaces, backlinks, ingest, and explicit Forge links
• first-class sleep and sports records imported from the iPhone companion or generated from habits
• structured Psyche records such as values, patterns, beliefs, modes, and trigger reports

Forge project management is explicit and repeated:

• Goal -> Strategy -> Project -> Strategy -> Issue -> Task -> Subtask
• one mixed board for project | issue | task | subtask
• one compact hierarchy view with shared search and filters
• hierarchy-aware linking flows that can select or create goals, projects, issues, and parent work items
• shared executionMode + acceptanceCriteria support on issues and tasks
• direct commits to main by default

This plugin gives OpenClaw the tools it needs to work with that system. It can read current state, search records, create and update records, control live work sessions, post insights, and hand the user off to the Forge UI when the visual workflow is easier. It can also grant an explicit audited XP bonus or penalty through the dedicated reward-bonus route when the normal automatic task or habit reward flows are not the right fit. It can also add or remove tracked minutes on existing tasks or projects through a dedicated signed work-adjustment route without pretending that a live task run happened. It also understands Forge note records, which are Markdown-based, searchable, and linkable across one or many entities. It also exposes Forge's SQLite-backed wiki memory surface plus the first-class sleep and sports read models, so an agent can review recent nights, inspect workout context, update reflective metadata on health sessions, and work with wiki pages without touching raw storage. The curated plugin route surface now includes the dedicated wiki and health APIs directly, including wiki settings, page reads and writes, search, health, sync, reindex, background ingest, sleep review, sports review, and reflective updates on individual sleep or workout sessions. Notes support includes:

• note as the durable collaboration entity
• notes surfaced directly in the Forge UI, including the global /forge/notes page
• nested notes on goal, project, and task creation
• closeoutNote on live-work endpoints when the summary should become a durable linked note

Examples:

• “Save this as a project in Forge.”
• “Show me the bot-owned strategies.”
• “Open Preferences and let me start the game.”
• “What does Forge already know about my food preferences?”
• “Show me my current work in Forge.”
• “Start a real work session on this task.”
• “Map this as a behavior pattern.”
• “Open the Forge UI.”

Multi-user And Multi-agent Setup

Forge is built to support several humans and bots in one shared planning system. The key distinction is:

• ownership answers "whose record is this"
• linking answers "what does this record connect to"

That means this plugin should not flatten all work into the default operator. When a task belongs to a bot, the write should set that bot userId. When a read should compare several owners, it should pass repeated userIds.

Recommended shared setup:

1. Run one shared Forge runtime.
2. Point OpenClaw, Hermes, and the browser UI at that same runtime.
3. Use one explicit shared dataRoot when several adapters must share the same database.
4. Create the human and bot users in Settings -> Users.
5. Use userId on writes and userIds on reads.

Current sharing behavior is intentionally clear:

• users are typed as human or bot
• the runtime can list users directly
• reads are permissive when a route explicitly scopes to another user
• cross-user links are valid, so a human-owned project can reference bot-owned tasks, notes, or strategy nodes

If OpenClaw and Hermes are supposed to collaborate inside one Forge system, the important thing is not only matching origin and port. Either leave every adapter on the default ~/.forge root or set one explicit dataRoot, then verify that each live runtime has opened that database.

Strategies And Alignment Metrics

Forge strategies are first-class planning records for work that unfolds through an ordered graph instead of a flat checklist.

A strategy includes:

• target goals and projects
• free-text overview and end-state description
• optional linked entities
• a directed acyclic graph of task and project nodes

The graph can branch, but it should not loop.

Current metrics are explicit:

• project nodes use project progress directly
• task nodes map status to progress: done/completed/reviewed/integrated = 100% in_progress/active = 66% focus = 50% blocked/paused = 25% everything else = 0%
• active or next nodes are the incomplete nodes whose dependencies are already complete
• target progress comes from the linked goals or projects
• alignmentScore is round((average node progress * 0.7 + average target progress * 0.3) * 100)

This lets the user and the agent answer two concrete questions:

• What work is truly next in the plan?
• How aligned is current execution with the intended end state?

Preferences And Concept Libraries

Forge now has a dedicated Preferences workspace at /forge/preferences.

The main UX is intentionally simple:

• the landing view starts with what Forge already knows
• if the model is thin, the UI says that plainly and offers one visible Start the game action
• comparison happens in a modal with two simple cards instead of a crowded page
• Forge-native domains can pull from real Forge entities automatically
• broader taste domains can start from seeded concept libraries that the user can edit

The current seeded concept-library domains include:

• food
• activities
• places
• countries
• fashion
• people
• media
• tools

The runtime API for this surface lives under /api/v1/preferences/*. OpenClaw should still use forge_get_agent_onboarding as the live contract source when route-facing field names are uncertain, and it should prefer the UI handoff when the user wants to play the comparison game visually.

Wiki, Sleep, And Sports

Forge now exposes three more agent-relevant surfaces directly:

• the Wiki: SQLite-backed Markdown memory with explicit spaces, backlinks, search, ingest, and maintenance health checks
• Sleep: recent nights, sleep score and regularity metrics, stage averages, and linked reflective context
• Sports: workout volume, effort, types, habit-generated sessions, and linked Forge context

OpenClaw tool coverage for those areas is explicit:

• wiki reads and writes use the forge_get_wiki_*, forge_search_wiki, forge_upsert_wiki_page, forge_sync_wiki_vault, forge_reindex_wiki_embeddings, and forge_ingest_wiki_source tools
• sleep review uses forge_get_sleep_overview and record enrichment uses forge_update_sleep_session
• sports review uses forge_get_sports_overview and record enrichment uses forge_update_workout_session

The sports UI route is /forge/sports, while the backend overview route remains /api/v1/health/fitness. Sleep lives at /forge/sleep and /api/v1/health/sleep.

Advanced Install

Prefer npx forge-memory for normal installs. The direct commands in this section are for OpenClaw-specific debugging, source-linking, and recovery.

Published Package

Use this path when you want the released Forge plugin from npm:

openclaw plugins install --dangerously-force-unsafe-install forge-openclaw-plugin
openclaw plugins enable forge-openclaw-plugin
openclaw gateway restart
openclaw forge health
openclaw forge ui

Tested on OpenClaw 2026.5.4: plain openclaw plugins install forge-openclaw-plugin is blocked by the plugin scanner because Forge contains local runtime startup helpers. The documented command uses OpenClaw's explicit approval flag and installs without the old config-edit workaround.

Check what OpenClaw loaded:

openclaw plugins inspect forge-openclaw-plugin --runtime
openclaw forge health

Local Development From This Repo

Use this path when you are editing Forge and want OpenClaw to load this checkout directly:

openclaw plugins install --link --dangerously-force-unsafe-install ./openclaw-plugin
openclaw plugins enable forge-openclaw-plugin
openclaw gateway restart
openclaw plugins inspect forge-openclaw-plugin --runtime
openclaw forge health

Use --link for active local development. Omit --link when you want to test the copied package layout that a normal install receives.

If you are running the command from the monorepo root instead of the Forge repo root, use:

openclaw plugins install --link --dangerously-force-unsafe-install ./projects/forge/openclaw-plugin

Manual Fallback For Older OpenClaw Builds

Use this only if your OpenClaw installer does not support --dangerously-force-unsafe-install or still refuses to install Forge. It installs the npm package, adds the package folder to plugins.load.paths, enables the plugin, and keeps the default local Forge runtime on 127.0.0.1:4317.

npm install -g forge-openclaw-plugin
node <<'NODE'
const cp = require("node:child_process");
const fs = require("node:fs");
const path = require("node:path");

const configPath = path.join(process.env.HOME, ".openclaw", "openclaw.json");
const pluginPath = path.join(
  cp.execSync("npm root -g", { encoding: "utf8" }).trim(),
  "forge-openclaw-plugin"
);
const config = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(configPath, "utf8"));

config.plugins ??= {};
config.plugins.allow = Array.from(
  new Set([...(config.plugins.allow ?? []), "forge-openclaw-plugin"])
);
config.plugins.load ??= {};
config.plugins.load.paths = Array.from(
  new Set([...(config.plugins.load.paths ?? []), pluginPath])
);
config.plugins.entries ??= {};
config.plugins.entries["forge-openclaw-plugin"] = {
  enabled: true,
  config: {
    origin: "http://127.0.0.1",
    port: 4317,
    actorLabel: "",
    timeoutMs: 15000
  }
};

fs.writeFileSync(configPath, `${JSON.stringify(config, null, 2)}\n`);
console.log(`Configured ${pluginPath}`);
NODE
openclaw gateway restart
openclaw plugins inspect forge-openclaw-plugin --runtime
openclaw forge health

Equivalent config:

{
  plugins: {
    allow: ["forge-openclaw-plugin"],
    entries: {
      "forge-openclaw-plugin": {
        enabled: true,
        config: {
          dataRoot: "/absolute/path/to/forge-data",
          actorLabel: "",
          apiToken: ""
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

If you want to move the data folder, edit the same config entry and set:

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      "forge-openclaw-plugin": {
        config: {
          dataRoot: "/absolute/path/to/forge-data"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Recommended local behavior:

• leave actorLabel blank so Forge can inherit the trusted local operator label automatically
• leave apiToken blank for localhost and trusted Tailscale setups
• keep dataRoot aligned across OpenClaw, Hermes, Codex, and the browser runtime when they should share data
• before changing or merging data roots, back up every candidate Forge database and verify which database the live runtime is using

Doctor And Runtime Config

Forge now maintains a runtime settings mirror at <dataRoot>/forge.json. This is separate from the OpenClaw plugin config in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.

The distinction is:

• OpenClaw plugin config decides how OpenClaw reaches Forge
• forge.json inside the Forge data root decides what Forge's effective settings are

Operational behavior:

• if forge.json does not exist, Forge exports it on startup
• UI and API settings changes update both the SQLite store and forge.json
• valid values in forge.json take precedence over persisted DB values
• the file is then rewritten as a full mirrored snapshot so the runtime converges again

Diagnostic entrypoints:

openclaw forge doctor
openclaw forge doctor --json
openclaw forge doctor --fix
npm run doctor --prefix ./projects/forge

The doctor output includes explicit runtime, settings, SQLite storage, entity-link, hierarchy, reward, and gamification checks. It also returns concrete issues and proposed fixes. Fixes are never applied by a normal read; openclaw forge doctor --fix applies only Doctor-marked safe fixes.

Then restart the gateway:

openclaw gateway restart

The OpenClaw plugin id is forge-openclaw-plugin, the product name is Forge, and the CLI namespace is forge.

Recommended usage

The main mental model is intentionally small:

1. forge_get_operator_overview
2. forge_get_operator_context or forge_get_current_work for live work and board state
3. forge_get_psyche_overview, forge_get_xp_metrics, and forge_get_weekly_review for read-heavy guidance
4. forge_get_ui_entrypoint when the user should continue in the visual Forge UI
5. forge_search_entities
6. forge_create_entities or forge_update_entities
7. forge_delete_entities or forge_restore_entities when needed
8. forge_grant_reward_bonus for explicit audited manual XP changes
9. forge_adjust_work_minutes for signed minute corrections on existing tasks or projects
10. forge_log_work for completion-style retroactive work
11. forge_start_task_run, forge_heartbeat_task_run, forge_focus_task_run, forge_complete_task_run, and forge_release_task_run for real live work
12. forge_get_calendar_overview, forge_connect_calendar_provider, forge_sync_calendar_connection, forge_create_work_block_template, forge_recommend_task_timeboxes, and forge_create_task_timebox for calendar-aware execution
13. forge_post_insight for recommendations

Use the UI entrypoint sparingly. Do not open the Forge UI or a browser just to create or update normal records that the tools already cover. If an entity is only implied in the discussion, help first and offer Forge lightly near the end; only write after explicit save intent.

The batch tools are array-first:

• forge_search_entities takes searches: []
• forge_create_entities takes operations: [], and each create operation must include entityType and full data
• goal, project, and task creates can include nested notes, which Forge turns into linked note entities automatically
• goal, project, task, strategy, habit, tag, and note writes can include userId to assign ownership to a human or bot user
• scoped reads can use userId or repeated userIds query parameters when the agent needs to focus on specific humans or bots
• forge_update_entities takes operations: [], and each update operation must include entityType, id, and patch
• official habit outcomes can stay on that same shared path: patch entityType: "habit" with checkIn: { status, dateKey?, note?, description? } to record the real habit outcome without leaving batch CRUD
• forge_delete_entities and forge_restore_entities also take operations: []

Project lifecycle uses those same generic tools:

• suspend a project by patching status: "paused" with forge_update_entities
• finish a project by patching status: "completed" with forge_update_entities
• restart a project by patching status: "active" with forge_update_entities
• finishing a project auto-completes linked unfinished tasks
• delete stays soft by default unless mode: "hard" is explicit on forge_delete_entities

Scheduling rules use those same generic updates:

• patch project.schedulingRules through forge_update_entities to define project-wide calendar defaults
• patch task.schedulingRules and task.plannedDurationSeconds through forge_update_entities for task-specific overrides
• use the calendar-specific tools only for provider connections, work blocks, overview reads, slot recommendations, and explicit timeboxes

Batch several related creates together in one request when the user is asking for multiple goals, projects, or tasks at once.

The live onboarding payload is the deep contract for agents. It now includes:

• conceptModel: what the main Forge concepts mean
• psycheSubmoduleModel: what the Psyche records and reference taxonomies are for
• psycheCoachingPlaybooks: how to guide users through values work, functional analysis, behavior mapping, belief/schema intake, mode work, mode-guide sessions, and trigger reports with active listening instead of raw form prompts
• relationshipModel: how goals, projects, tasks, task runs, Psyche entities, and insights connect
• entityCatalog: exact field-level definitions for real Forge entity payloads
• entityRouteModel.specializedDomainSurfaces: the dedicated route families for Movement, Life Force, and Workbench, including when not to use generic batch CRUD
• toolInputCatalog: exact mutation and live-work input shapes with examples

That means the agent should use the real route-facing fields, for example:

• strategy uses targetGoalIds, targetProjectIds, linkedEntities, and a directed acyclic graph
• belief_entry uses statement and beliefType
• behavior_pattern uses cueContexts, shortTermPayoff, longTermCost, and preferredResponse
• mode_guide_session creates require summary and answers; results is optional candidate interpretation output
• event_type and emotion_definition are reusable report vocabularies
• trigger_report uses nested emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and consequences

Live work is not just task status:

• use forge_start_task_run to begin actual work
• use forge_release_task_run to stop without completing
• use forge_complete_task_run to finish and collect the real work reward path
• if Forge reports a calendar block and the user still wants to start, retry forge_start_task_run with an explicit overrideReason
• include closeoutNote on forge_complete_task_run, forge_release_task_run, or forge_log_work when the summary should become a durable linked note
• use forge_log_work only for completion-style retroactive work that already happened
• use forge_adjust_work_minutes when the task or project already exists and only tracked minutes need to move up or down
• do not use forge_adjust_work_minutes to fake a live session; it is for truthful retrospective minute corrections only

Calendar-aware execution tools:

• forge_get_calendar_overview reads provider state, mirrored events, work blocks, and timeboxes together
• forge_create_entities, forge_update_entities, and forge_delete_entities are the normal path for calendar_event, work_block_template, and task_timebox
• forge_connect_calendar_provider creates a Google, Apple, Exchange Online, Calendars On This Mac, or custom CalDAV connection once the mirrored calendars are chosen. Exchange Online normally relies on the interactive Settings sign-in flow first, after the local Microsoft client ID, tenant, and redirect URI are configured in Forge. The macOS-local path relies on EventKit and replaces overlapping remote account connections instead of keeping duplicate copies.
• forge_sync_calendar_connection runs provider pull/push sync for one connection
• forge_create_work_block_template creates recurring half-day, holiday, or custom work blocks
• work-block templates accept optional startsOn / endsOn date bounds and stay compact in Forge instead of expanding into one stored event per day
• omit endsOn to keep a block repeating indefinitely; use kind: "holiday" with all weekdays plus 0-1440 minutes for vacations or full-day leave
• forge_recommend_task_timeboxes suggests future slots that fit current rules
• forge_create_task_timebox confirms a selected slot into a real Forge timebox

The skill is entity-format-driven. It teaches the agent how to:

• keep the conversation natural
• make only gentle end-of-message save suggestions
• lightly suggest the Forge UI when visual review or editing would be easier
• ask only for missing fields
• capture goals, projects, tasks, values, patterns, behaviors, beliefs, and trigger reports

For local use, set the plugin origin to http://127.0.0.1 or http://localhost and the plugin will bring Forge up automatically. If you leave the default localhost setup alone and 4317 is already taken, Forge now moves to the next free local port and remembers that choice for future runs.

If you want to manage that plugin-managed local runtime cleanly, use:

openclaw forge start
openclaw forge stop
openclaw forge restart
openclaw forge status

These commands only manage the runtime when it was auto-started by the OpenClaw plugin. If Forge was started manually some other way, they tell you that instead of killing unrelated processes.

If the local runtime fails to come up, check the plugin-managed runtime log at:

~/.openclaw/logs/forge-openclaw-plugin/<host>-<port>.log

On clean installs, the plugin now also repairs missing bundled runtime dependencies on first local start before it launches Forge.

The startup error now points at that log file when the child process exits before Forge becomes healthy.

Publishing and listing

The reliable publication path for the Forge plugin is:

1. publish forge-openclaw-plugin to npm
2. verify openclaw plugins install --dangerously-force-unsafe-install forge-openclaw-plugin
3. add Forge to the OpenClaw community plugin listing with the npm package and GitHub repo

The repo now supports a tag-driven GitHub Actions release path for step 1. The normal prep flow from a clean checkout on main is:

FORGE_RELEASE_MODE=prepare ./scripts/release-forge-openclaw-plugin.sh patch

That command bumps the aligned plugin versions, runs the verification suite, commits the release, and pushes main plus a matching tag like v0.2.27. The .github/workflows/release-openclaw-plugin.yml workflow then publishes the package from that tag.

One-time npm setup for CI:

• configure npm Trusted Publishing for this GitHub repository and the release-openclaw-plugin.yml workflow
• keep using GitHub-hosted runners for the publish job, because npm Trusted Publishing does not support self-hosted runners yet

If you explicitly want the old laptop-driven publish path, run the same script without FORGE_RELEASE_MODE=prepare and it will still publish directly after pushing.

For the exact prerequisites, tags, and GitHub secret names, use docs/release/release-cheat-sheet.md.

ClawHub note:

• OpenClaw's public docs clearly position ClawHub as the skills registry.
• The community plugin listing requirements still ask for npm publication and a public GitHub repository.
• So the safe publish path for the Forge plugin itself is npm + GitHub + community listing.
• If you want Forge discoverability inside ClawHub as well, publish a companion Forge skill there separately. That is additive. It does not replace the npm plugin package.