Voice Channel Plugin for OpenClaw

A proper OpenClaw channel plugin for voice calls, providing native session continuity, unified conversation history, and standard security features.

Status

Phase 1: In Development — Scaffolding complete, implementation in progress.

See Issue #19 for acceptance criteria.

Why a Channel Plugin?

The previous approach used a standalone tool (nia-voice-call). This works but has limitations:

| Feature | Tool Approach | Channel Approach | |---------|---------------|------------------| | Session continuity | ❌ Separate context | ✅ Same session as Telegram | | Conversation history | ❌ Fragmented | ✅ Unified thread | | Security features | ❌ Custom implementation | ✅ Native allowlists, DM policies | | Configuration | ❌ Plugin config | ✅ channels.voice in openclaw.yaml |

Architecture

channel-plugin/
├── openclaw.plugin.json    # Plugin manifest
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts            # Plugin entry point
│   ├── meta.ts             # Channel metadata
│   ├── types.ts            # Type definitions
│   └── adapters/
│       ├── config.ts       # Configuration adapter
│       ├── outbound.ts     # Send messages (text → TTS → call)
│       ├── status.ts       # Health monitoring
│       ├── gateway.ts      # Start/stop voice service
│       └── inbound.ts      # Handle incoming calls (Phase 2)
└── package.json

Configuration

Add to your ~/.openclaw/openclaw.yaml:

channels:
  voice:
    enabled: true
    twilioAccountSid: ACxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    twilioAuthToken: your_auth_token
    twilioPhoneNumber: "+14402915517"
    openaiApiKey: sk-...  # For Realtime API
    webhookUrl: https://api.niavoice.org
    allowFrom:
      - "+1234567890"  # Allowed callers
    dmPolicy: allowlist  # or 'open' or 'pairing'

Development

# Install dependencies
cd channel-plugin
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Watch mode
npm run dev

# Test
npm test

Installation

Link the plugin to OpenClaw extensions:

ln -s $(pwd)/channel-plugin ~/.openclaw/extensions/voice-channel

Restart OpenClaw gateway to load the plugin.

Roadmap

• [x] Phase 1: Plugin scaffold, config adapter, basic outbound
• [ ] Phase 2: Inbound call handling, session integration
• [ ] Phase 3: Allowlists, directory integration, call history

Related

• OpenClaw Plugin Docs
• Signal Channel — Reference implementation
• Existing Voice Tool — Legacy tool being replaced