fleet-memory/hindsight-docs/versioned_docs/version-0.4/sdks/integrations/openclaw.md

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OpenClaw

Local, long term memory for OpenClaw agents using Hindsight.

This plugin integrates hindsight-embed, a standalone daemon that bundles Hindsight's memory engine (API + PostgreSQL) into a single command. Everything runs locally on your machine, reuses the LLM you're already paying for, and costs nothing extra.

Quick Start

Step 1: Set up LLM for memory extraction

Choose one provider and set its API key:

# Option A: OpenAI (uses gpt-4o-mini for memory extraction)
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key"

# Option B: Anthropic (uses claude-3-5-haiku for memory extraction)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key"

# Option C: Gemini (uses gemini-2.5-flash for memory extraction)
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-key"

# Option D: Groq (uses openai/gpt-oss-20b for memory extraction)
export GROQ_API_KEY="your-key"

Step 2: Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install @vectorize-io/hindsight-openclaw

Step 3: Start OpenClaw

openclaw gateway

The plugin will automatically:

• Start a local Hindsight daemon (port 8888)
• Capture conversations after each turn
• Inject relevant memories before agent responses

Important: The LLM you configure above is only for memory extraction (background processing). Your main OpenClaw agent can use any model you configure separately.

How It Works

Auto-Capture: Every conversation is automatically stored after each turn. Facts, entities, and relationships are extracted in the background.

Auto-Recall: Before each agent response, relevant memories are automatically injected into the context (up to 1024 tokens). The agent uses past context without needing to call tools.

Traditional memory systems give agents a search_memory tool - but models don't use it consistently. Auto-recall solves this by injecting memories automatically before every turn.

Configuration

Plugin Settings

Optional settings in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "hindsight-openclaw": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "daemonIdleTimeout": 0,
          "embedVersion": "latest"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Options:

• daemonIdleTimeout - Seconds before daemon shuts down from inactivity (default: 0 = never)
• embedVersion - hindsight-embed version (default: "latest")
• bankMission - Custom context for the memory bank (optional)

LLM Configuration

The plugin auto-detects your LLM provider from these environment variables:

Provider	Env Var	Default Model
OpenAI	OPENAI_API_KEY	gpt-4o-mini
Anthropic	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	claude-3-5-haiku-20241022
Gemini	GEMINI_API_KEY	gemini-2.5-flash
Groq	GROQ_API_KEY	openai/gpt-oss-20b

Override with explicit config:

export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_PROVIDER=openai
export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_MODEL=gpt-4o-mini
export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_API_KEY=sk-your-key

# Optional: custom base URL (OpenRouter, Azure, vLLM, etc.)
export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1

Example: Free OpenRouter model

export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_PROVIDER=openai
export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_MODEL=xiaomi/mimo-v2-flash  # FREE!
export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-your-openrouter-key
export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1

External API (Advanced)

To use an existing Hindsight API server instead of the local daemon:

export HINDSIGHT_EMBED_API_URL=http://your-server:8000
export HINDSIGHT_EMBED_API_TOKEN=your-api-token  # Optional, if API requires auth

openclaw gateway

Useful for shared memory across multiple OpenClaw instances or production deployments.

Inspecting Memories

Check Configuration

View the daemon config that was written by the plugin:

cat ~/.hindsight/embed

This shows the LLM provider, model, and other settings the daemon is using.

Check Daemon Status

# Check if daemon is running
uvx hindsight-embed@latest daemon status

# View daemon logs
tail -f ~/.hindsight/daemon.log

Query Memories

# Search memories
uvx hindsight-embed@latest memory recall openclaw "user preferences"

# View recent memories
uvx hindsight-embed@latest memory list openclaw --limit 10

# Open web UI
uvx hindsight-embed@latest ui

Troubleshooting

Plugin not loading

openclaw plugins list | grep hindsight
# Should show: ✓ enabled │ Hindsight Memory │ ...

# Reinstall if needed
openclaw plugins install @vectorize-io/hindsight-openclaw

Daemon not starting

# Check daemon status
uvx hindsight-embed@latest daemon status

# View logs for errors
tail -f ~/.hindsight/daemon.log

# Check configuration
cat ~/.hindsight/embed

No API key error

Make sure you've set one of the provider API keys:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key"
# or
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key"

# Verify it's set
echo $OPENAI_API_KEY

Verify it's working

Check gateway logs for memory operations:

tail -f /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-*.log | grep Hindsight

# Should see on startup:
# [Hindsight] ✓ Using provider: openai, model: gpt-4o-mini

# Should see after conversations:
# [Hindsight] Retained X messages for session ...
# [Hindsight] Auto-recall: Injecting X memories