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Experimental Claw packages

A Claw is a versioned package that describes one complete OpenClaw agent and the reusable resources it needs. ClawHub stores and scans the package; OpenClaw owns local preview, consent, apply, update, and removal. Claw publication is experimental. The ClawHub deployment must set CLAWHUB_EXPERIMENTAL_CLAWS=1; otherwise the server rejects publication. This registry gate is independent from OpenClaw’s OPENCLAW_EXPERIMENTAL_CLAWS=1 consumer gate. Hosting does not enable local preview or installation, and enabling the OpenClaw CLI does not enable ClawHub publication or hosted discovery.

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Package shape

A publishable Claw is a normal package directory with a package.json that points to its manifest:
CLAW.md starts with the grouped Claw manifest as YAML frontmatter. A non-empty Markdown body is the portable agent prompt; OpenClaw applies its exact UTF-8 contents as the managed SOUL.md for the new agent.
JSON manifests remain compatible. Set openclaw.claw to a package-relative JSON file such as openclaw.claw.json; JSON has no Markdown body, so declare workspace.bootstrapFiles.SOUL.md explicitly when it needs the equivalent prompt. Do not combine a non-empty CLAW.md body with an explicit workspace file whose portable destination is SOUL.md. ClawHub rejects that ambiguous dual source. Headings and task lists in the body are prompt text, not package-time commands. Every workspace.*.source must name a file in the same package. Assets such as schemas, templates, examples, and images are portable ordinary workspace files; place them under paths such as assets/, schemas/, or templates/ and declare them in workspace.files. Package names and versions must match package.json, dependency versions must be exact, and MCP environment values must remain unresolved ${ENV_VAR} references.

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Bootstrap and harness profiles

An optional package-root BOOTSTRAP.md contains first-run instructions. It is seeded once by a supporting harness and remains separate from the reusable portable prompt in the CLAW.md body. Do not declare root BOOTSTRAP.md as a workspace destination; that path is reserved for the package-root file. ClawHub includes bootstrap presence, but never its contents, in the bounded catalog summary. Harness-specific tuning uses conventional package paths:
The profiles/ namespace is reserved for these lowercase, single-file .yml paths. Each profile is a JSON-compatible YAML mapping. ClawHub validates the common shape and validates profiles/openclaw.yml against the shipped OpenClaw v1 consumer contract, including registered built-in tool profiles and bounded tool grants; it does not interpret foreign profiles. A harness discovers only its own profile and ignores the others when applying the package. The exact published artifact and its digest still cover every profile, bootstrap instruction, and asset. The retired metadata.openclaw.config pointer is rejected. Move that file to profiles/openclaw.yml and remove the metadata entry. OpenClaw-native extension packages belong in profiles/openclaw.yml, while portable MCP servers remain in CLAW.md:
Extension ids and package references must be unique, and versions must be exact. Other harnesses may bind the same application needs using their own native profile model; the portable manifest does not impose a capability-name registry.

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Validate, build, and publish

Validate the source project and build its deterministic artifact with OpenClaw:
Preview that exact artifact without uploading it, then publish it through the existing authenticated package flow:
The CLI detects family: claw when package.json contains openclaw.claw, so --family claw is optional for a well-formed package. Experimental Claw publication accepts only an already-built npm-pack .tgz, not a source directory or GitHub checkout. The CLI sends the local artifact SHA-256 with the request; ClawHub verifies it against the uploaded bytes before publication and returns the same digest through pending and final responses. Publication rejects:
  • a missing, invalid, or escaping openclaw.claw path;
  • a source folder instead of a built .tgz;
  • package identity or version mismatches;
  • a missing or mismatched expected artifact SHA-256;
  • malformed CLAW.md frontmatter or manifest fields;
  • a non-empty CLAW.md body combined with an explicit SOUL.md destination;
  • missing workspace source files or portable path collisions;
  • invalid package-root bootstrap instructions or conventional harness profiles;
  • the retired metadata.openclaw.config pointer;
  • floating skill/plugin versions and resolved MCP credentials.
Accepted packages continue through ClawHub’s existing ownership, moderation, static scanning, release, and artifact storage pipeline. The stored release retains the exact artifact plus a non-sensitive summary for later search and detail surfaces; downloads return those same bytes and digest, and ClawHub does not duplicate the full manifest into Convex storage.

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Discover published Claws

Enabled deployments expose Claws through the existing package API:
List and search results use the normal package summary fields. Package and version detail responses may also include clawManifestSummary, which reports the agent identity, portable resource counts, harness-profile count, OpenClaw-profile count, and native extension count without exposing the full manifest or profile contents. When CLAWHUB_EXPERIMENTAL_CLAWS is disabled, explicit family=claw filters are rejected, unscoped list and search results omit Claws, and named Claw reads return not found. Full manifests remain in exact artifacts and are never projected through public release responses.

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Consume the experimental feed

Enabled deployments publish eligible official Claws as a separate hosted feed:
This uses a dedicated experimental Claw feed contract rather than extending the stable plugin/skill catalog feed v1 schema. Each entry provides the exact package version, artifact SHA-256, publisher trust, and clawManifestSummary. Consumers resolve and verify that artifact, unpack it as a normal Claw package directory, and pass the directory to OpenClaw for local inspection or claws add --dry-run. ClawHub does not bypass OpenClaw’s preview or consent boundary. The route returns 404 while CLAWHUB_EXPERIMENTAL_CLAWS is disabled and is not advertised in the registry discovery document until the experimental gate is removed. Run the repeatable registry-to-OpenClaw proof against an OpenClaw Claws checkout with:
The proof serves a deterministic hosted feed and package artifact, verifies the feed and downloaded digests, extracts the package, and invokes the actual OpenClaw source CLI with claws add --dry-run --json in an isolated state directory.