OpenClaw

Quick Start

Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install @hydradb/openclaw

Requires OpenClaw 2026.1.29 or later. Run openclaw --version to check.

Get credentials

Create an API key from the HydraDB dashboard
Create or copy your database ID from the HydraDB dashboard

Run interactive onboarding (recommended)

# Basic onboarding
openclaw hydra onboard

# Advanced onboarding
openclaw hydra onboard --advanced

The wizard writes credentials to plugins.entries.openclaw.config inside your OpenClaw settings file.

Restart OpenClaw gateway

openclaw gateway restart

The onboarding wizard auto-detects your config path using OpenClaw’s normal resolution order. Manual path selection is usually not needed.

Config path resolution order

$OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH (if set)
$OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR/openclaw.json (if set)
$OPENCLAW_HOME/.openclaw/openclaw.json (if set)
Default path by OS:
- macOS/Linux: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
- Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.openclaw\openclaw.json

Manual Configuration

If you prefer not to use the onboarding wizard, configure credentials directly. Two required values: your API key and Tenant ID (your database ID). Environment variables (recommended for secrets):

macOS/Linux (bash or zsh)
Windows (PowerShell)

export HYDRA_OPENCLAW_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export HYDRA_OPENCLAW_TENANT_ID="your-tenant-id"

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HYDRA_OPENCLAW_API_KEY", "your-api-key", "User")
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HYDRA_OPENCLAW_TENANT_ID", "your-tenant-id", "User")

Or set them directly in your OpenClaw settings file:

macOS/Linux
Windows

~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

%USERPROFILE%\.openclaw\openclaw.json

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "openclaw": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "apiKey": "${HYDRA_OPENCLAW_API_KEY}",
          "tenantId": "${HYDRA_OPENCLAW_TENANT_ID}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

After any config change, restart the gateway so the plugin reloads:

openclaw gateway restart

Configuration Options

Key	Type	Default	Description
`subTenantId`	`string`	`"hydra-openclaw-plugin"`	Sub-tenant (collection) for data partitioning within your tenant (database)
`autoRecall`	`boolean`	`true`	Inject relevant memories before every AI turn
`autoCapture`	`boolean`	`true`	Store conversation exchanges after every AI turn
`maxRecallResults`	`number`	`10`	Max memory chunks injected into context per turn
`recallMode`	`string`	`"fast"`	`"fast"` for low latency; `"thinking"` for deeper graph-traversal recall
`graphContext`	`boolean`	`true`	Include knowledge graph relations in recalled context
`ignoreTerm`	`string`	`"hydra-ignore"`	Messages containing this string are excluded from recall and capture
`debug`	`boolean`	`false`	Verbose debug logs

How It Works

Auto-recall: before every AI turn, queries HydraDB (POST /recall/recall_preferences) for relevant memories and injects graph-enriched context: entity paths, chunk relations, and linked extra context.
Auto-capture: after every AI turn, the last user/assistant exchange is sent to HydraDB (POST /memories/add_memory) with infer: true and upsert: true. The session ID is used as source_id so HydraDB groups exchanges per session and builds the knowledge graph automatically.

Slash Commands

Command	Description
`/hydra-onboard`	Show current configuration status
`/hydra-remember <text>`	Save something to HydraDB memory
`/hydra-recall <query>`	Search memories with relevance scores
`/hydra-list`	List all stored user memories
`/hydra-delete <id>`	Delete a specific memory by its ID
`/hydra-get <source_id>`	Fetch the full content of a source

AI Tools

Tool	Description
`hydra_store`	Save the recent conversation history to HydraDB as memory
`hydra_search`	Search HydraDB memories (returns graph-enriched context)
`hydra_list_memories`	List all stored user memories (IDs and summaries)
`hydra_get_content`	Fetch full content for a specific `source_id`
`hydra_delete_memory`	Delete a memory by `memory_id` (use only on explicit request)

CLI Reference

openclaw hydra onboard             # Interactive onboarding wizard
openclaw hydra onboard --advanced  # Advanced onboarding wizard
openclaw hydra search <query>      # Search memories
openclaw hydra list                # List all user memories
openclaw hydra delete <id>         # Delete a memory
openclaw hydra get <source_id>     # Fetch source content
openclaw hydra status              # Show plugin configuration

Context Injection

Recalled context is injected inside <hydra-context> tags containing:

Entity paths: knowledge graph paths connecting entities relevant to the query
Context chunks: retrieved memory chunks with source titles, graph relations, and linked extra context

Troubleshooting

Not configured. Run openclaw hydra onboard

The plugin is enabled but credentials are missing. Run:

openclaw hydra onboard
openclaw gateway restart

CLI says a command is unknown

The gateway needs to reload plugin commands after installation or config changes:

openclaw gateway restart

Source code

openclaw-hydradb

View the source on GitHub.

Get Started

Usage

Concepts

Plugins

For Agents

Quick Start

Config path resolution order

Manual Configuration

Configuration Options

How It Works

Slash Commands

AI Tools

CLI Reference

Context Injection

Troubleshooting

Source code

openclaw-hydradb

​Quick Start

​Config path resolution order

​Manual Configuration

​Configuration Options

​How It Works

​Slash Commands

​AI Tools

​CLI Reference

​Context Injection

​Troubleshooting

​Source code

openclaw-hydradb

Quick Start

Config path resolution order

Manual Configuration

Configuration Options

How It Works

Slash Commands

AI Tools

CLI Reference

Context Injection

Troubleshooting

Source code