March 6, 2026 • 14 min read

OpenClaw Plugins Guide: Extend Your Agent

Plugins let you add new capabilities to your OpenClaw agent without modifying core code. Learn to build, install, and share plugins.

The real power of OpenClaw comes from its plugin architecture. Instead of waiting for official features, you can build exactly what you need — or install plugins created by the community.

What Are Plugins?

Plugins are self-contained Python modules that add new tools, skills, or integrations to your agent. They live in the skills/ directory and are automatically discovered when your agent starts.

📦 Plugin Structure

skills/
├── weather/
│   ├── __init__.py      # Plugin entry point
│   ├── client.py        # API client
│   └── tools.py         # Agent tools
├── stocks/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── tools.py
└── my_custom/
    └── __init__.py

Building Your First Plugin

Let's create a simple weather plugin:

# skills/weather/__init__.py
import requests

def get_weather(city):
    """Get weather for a city"""
    url = f"https://wttr.in/{city}?format=%C+%t"
    
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, timeout=5)
        if response.status_code == 200:
            return response.text.strip()
        return "Weather service unavailable"
    except requests.Timeout:
        return "Request timed out"

# Register with agent
def setup(agent):
    agent.register_tool(
        name="weather",
        func=get_weather,
        description="Get current weather for a city"
    )

Installing Community Plugins

The community maintains plugins for hundreds of services:

Clone into skills/ directory
Install dependencies if needed
Restart your agent

# Install a community plugin
cd skills
git clone https://github.com/openclaw-plugins/spotify.git

# Install dependencies
pip install -r spotify/requirements.txt

# Restart agent
docker-compose restart

Best Practices

✅ Do'sKeep plugins focused on one purpose
Handle errors gracefully
Document required environment variables
Add timeouts to API calls

❌ Don'tsDon't hardcode API keys
Don't make synchronous calls that block
Don't modify core agent files
Don't ignore rate limits

🚀 Build Something Great

Start with a simple plugin that solves a problem you have. Share it with the community!

Browse Community Plugins →