OpenClaw Adapter

Adapter for OpenClaw — a vault-only agent that manages its own workspace internally.

Key Difference: No Workspace

Unlike Claude Code or OpenCode, OpenClaw doesn't operate in a user-visible workspace directory. It manages its own internal state. This means:

• No .mnemos.yaml in a project directory
• No hook files to install in a workspace
• Skills + hooks bundled together in one npm package
• Scheduling built into the plugin (daily @ 9am, weekly @ Sunday 3am)

Install

One-Step Install via npm

openclaw plugins install mnemos-openclaw
openclaw hooks enable mnemos
openclaw gateway restart

That's it. The plugin includes:

• All 23 skills (/observe, /consolidate, /dream, etc.)
• Lifecycle hooks (transcript capture, session start)
• Built-in maintenance scheduler

The vault is auto-initialized at ~/.mnemos/vault/ on first gateway startup.

Optional: Custom Vault Path

openclaw config set plugins.entries.mnemos.config.vaultPath ~/my-vault
openclaw gateway restart

Note (older OpenClaw versions): If you're on OpenClaw <0.9, use plugins.mnemos.config.vaultPath instead.

Alternative: Manual Install (No npm)

For users who prefer manual setup:

git clone https://github.com/adiman9/mnemos.git /tmp/mnemos
/tmp/mnemos/install.sh --vault-only ~/.mnemos/vault
cp -r /tmp/mnemos/core/skills/* ~/.openclaw/skills/
rm -rf /tmp/mnemos

Then set up manual cron jobs (see below).

Optional: Manual Cron (Override Built-in)

The plugin includes automatic scheduling. If you prefer manual control:

openclaw cron add \
  --name "mnemos-daily" \
  --cron "0 9 * * *" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "/observe && /consolidate && /dream --daily && /curiosity && /stats"

openclaw cron add \
  --name "mnemos-weekly" \
  --cron "0 3 * * 0" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "/dream --weekly && /graph health && /validate all && /rethink"

Manage jobs:

openclaw cron list              # View all scheduled jobs
openclaw cron run <job-id>      # Trigger immediately
openclaw cron edit <job-id> --enabled false  # Disable
openclaw cron remove <job-id>   # Delete

Hook Coverage

mnemos hooks into OpenClaw's lifecycle events to capture knowledge and maintain continuity.

Events

| OpenClaw Hook | Purpose | Handler | |---------------|---------|---------| | gateway:startup | Inject boot context on startup | session-start.sh | | message:received | Capture inbound user messages | Inline capture | | message:sent | Capture outbound assistant messages | Inline capture | | agent:bootstrap | Initialize session and identity | session-start.sh | | command:new | Capture transcript before session reset | session-capture.sh | | session:compact:before | Safety flush before context compaction | pre-compact.sh |

Transcript Capture Pipeline

The message:received and message:sent events fire on each message and capture to {vault}/memory/sessions/{session-id}.jsonl in standard mnemos JSONL format. This uses inline capture logic in the handler (not shell scripts) to avoid path resolution issues in managed hook installs.

The /observe skill then reads these transcripts to extract typed observations — this can run manually or via the daily openclaw cron schedule.

Verify Installation

After setup, confirm mnemos is working:

# Check plugin is loaded
openclaw plugins list
# Should show: mnemos-openclaw (0.2.0) - loaded

# Check hooks are enabled (not just installed)
openclaw hooks list --verbose
# Should show: mnemos - enabled

# Check vault is initialized
ls ~/.mnemos/vault
# Should show: self/ notes/ memory/ ops/ inbox/ templates/

# Test a hook fires
openclaw gateway restart
# Should see "[mnemos] Initialized default vault" or session-start.sh output

Troubleshooting:

| Symptom | Fix | |---------|-----| | Hooks not firing | Run openclaw hooks enable mnemos && openclaw gateway restart | | No session files created | Check openclaw hooks list --verbose shows mnemos enabled, then restart gateway | | Empty vault directory | Restart gateway — auto-initialization runs on first event | | "No vault path configured" | Set path or let it default: openclaw gateway restart | | Script not found errors | Set MNEMOS_SCRIPTS_DIR to point to the scripts directory, or use vault-only mode |

Debug mode: Set MNEMOS_DEBUG=1 in your environment to enable verbose logging from the hook handler.

Critical: After any hook install/enable/disable operation, you must restart the gateway for changes to take effect:

openclaw gateway restart

What's in the Package

The npm package bundles everything:

mnemos-openclaw/
├── index.js              # Plugin entry point (hooks + scheduler)
├── openclaw.plugin.json  # Plugin manifest
├── hooks/                # Lifecycle hook handlers
├── scripts/              # Build scripts
└── skills/               # All 23 skills (bundled automatically)
    ├── observe/SKILL.md
    ├── consolidate/SKILL.md
    ├── dream/SKILL.md
    └── ... (20 more)

Skills are declared in openclaw.plugin.json via the skills field. OpenClaw discovers them automatically — no manual copying required.

Development

To build the skills into the package before publishing:

cd adapters/openclaw
./scripts/build-skills.sh
npm publish

The prepublishOnly script runs build-skills.sh automatically.

Status

Stable. The npm install is the recommended approach. Verified for OpenClaw v0.8.0+.