Onboarding: OpenClaw

Add persistent memory to your OpenClaw agent. Zero code changes. Your agent remembers every conversation and uses past experience to improve future responses.

Best path: OpenClaw Plugin (Recommended) Time: 1 minute Reliability: ~95% (fully automatic)

Option A: Setup Wizard (Recommended)

Step 1: Get an API key

Step 2: Run the setup wizard

npx @hippocortex/setup

One command does everything: checks your OpenClaw version, installs the plugin, configures your API key, enables the Context Engine, and restarts the gateway.

Step 3: Done

Your agent now has infinite memory. The Context Engine keeps only recent messages in context and retrieves relevant older history from Hippocortex automatically. Sessions never overflow.

To check for plugin updates later:

npx @hippocortex/setup --check

Option B: Manual Configuration

If you prefer to configure manually, add the plugin to your openclaw.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "hippocortex": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "apiKey": "hx_live_...",
          "baseUrl": "https://api.hippocortex.dev",
          "capture": true,
          "retrieval": true,
          "contextEngine": {
            "enabled": true,
            "maxRecentMessages": 50,
            "retrievalBudget": 4000
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart:

openclaw gateway restart

Package: @hippocortex/hippocortex@3.2.1

Verify

Check dashboard.hippocortex.dev to see captured conversations. After a few sessions, your agent will start referencing past interactions in its responses.

What happens behind the scenes

Before each prompt: The plugin calls synthesize() to find relevant past context (semantic search, graph retrieval, collective brain, behavioral context) and adds it to the system prompt.
After each response: The plugin calls capture() to record the conversation turn.
Every 10 captures: The auto-compile pipeline extracts knowledge artifacts.
Vault: Automatically detects and encrypts secrets in captured events.
Context Engine: Manages infinite sessions by trimming old messages and retrieving them from memory when needed.
On API failure: The built-in circuit breaker skips memory operations silently. Your agent keeps working.