openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix 2026.5.18 — hook-only plugins (e.g. tool_result_persist interceptors) load via CLI but are silently skipped by the live gateway [1 comments, 2 participants]

Summary

Hook-only plugins (registered via api.on("tool_result_persist", ...) etc., no defineToolPlugin capability registration) install and load cleanly under every CLI command but are silently skipped by the live gateway at runtime.

openclaw plugins doctor even hints at the divergence:

[memory-reranker] registered
- memory-reranker is hook-only. This remains a supported compatibility path,
  but it has not migrated to explicit capability registration yet. [info]

…but no documented mechanism (that I could find) makes the gateway actually invoke that "supported compatibility path" at startup.

Repro

~/clawd/memory-reranker/index.js:

export default {
  id: "memory-reranker",
  name: "Memory Reranker",
  description: "Reranks memory_search results",
  register(api) {
    api.on("tool_result_persist", (event, ctx) => {
      if (event.toolName !== "memory_search") return;
      // ... rerank logic
    });
    console.log("[memory-reranker] registered");
  },
};

~/clawd/memory-reranker/package.json (matched against @openclaw/brave-plugin shape):

{
  "name": "memory-reranker",
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "type": "module",
  "openclaw": {
    "extensions": ["./index.js"],
    "install": { "minHostVersion": ">=2026.5.0" },
    "compat": { "pluginApi": ">=2026.5.18" }
  }
}

Plus openclaw.plugin.json with id, name, description, configSchema.

What I tried (all set, none worked)

1. openclaw plugins install --dangerously-force-unsafe-install --link <path> → success
2. openclaw plugins enable memory-reranker → success
3. openclaw config patch setting:
   • plugins.entries.memory-reranker.enabled: true
   • plugins.allow: ["memory-reranker", "whatsapp", "brave"]
   • plugins.load.paths: ["/home/ali/clawd/memory-reranker"]
4. Symlinked /home/ali/.openclaw/extensions/memory-reranker -> <path> (mirrors whatsapp's location)
5. Created dist/index.js -> ../index.js symlink (mirrors brave/whatsapp convention)
6. Mirrored brave-plugin's full package.json openclaw block

Observations

• openclaw plugins doctor → [memory-reranker] registered ✓
• openclaw plugins inspect memory-reranker → Status: loaded, Origin: config ✓
• ~/.openclaw/plugins/installs.json has a full record for it (installRecords.memory-reranker + plugins[].pluginId = "memory-reranker")
• Live gateway boot log: [gateway] http server listening (10 plugins: brave, browser, canvas, device-pair, file-transfer, memory-core, openai, phone-control, talk-voice, whatsapp; 2.4s) — no memory-reranker
• After triggering a real memory_search via openclaw agent --agent main -m "...", journal has zero memory-reranker log lines — the register() was never invoked, so the hook was never bound

Question

What's the correct way to make a hook-only plugin (e.g., one that needs to intercept tool_result_persist for a built-in tool like memory_search) actually load in the live gateway in 2026.5.18?

Either:

• (a) A config/install path I missed → docs/example would help, OR
• (b) Hook-only plugins genuinely need migration to capability registration → if so, what's the recommended pattern for "intercept an existing built-in tool's result" without adding a new tool?

Environment

• OpenClaw: 2026.5.18 (50a2481) (fresh upgrade from 2026.4.23)
• OS: Linux 6.18.22 (Ubuntu)
• Node: v22.22.2
• Install: global npm (/usr/lib/node_modules/openclaw)

Happy to provide more logs / additional probes.