- External official plugins own package/deps and are excluded from core dist; core uses registry-aware `facade-runtime` or generic contracts.

- Externalizing a bundled plugin: update package excludes, official catalogs, docs, tests, and prove core runtime paths resolve installed plugin roots before root-dep removal.

- Runtime reads canonical config only. No silent compat for old/malformed config keys. If a config change invalidates existing files, add a matching `openclaw doctor --fix` migration. Core/auth config repairs live in core doctor; plugin-owned config repairs live in that plugin's doctor contract (`legacyConfigRules` / `normalizeCompatibilityConfig`).

- OpenAI Codex is folded into `openai`. No new/live `openai-codex` provider/plugin/auth/model routes; treat them as legacy input only. Runtime/setup/auth/catalog use `openai` + `openai/*`; doctor/migrations repair stale `openai-codex/*` profiles/metadata.

- Config/env surface bar is high; `openclaw.json` and environment variables are already large. Before adding a config option or env var, first prove existing product behavior, provider selection, defaults, or doctor migration cannot solve it. Prefer removing or consolidating config/env options when touching these surfaces. Core supports only the latest config shape; `openclaw doctor --fix` migrates older shipped shapes into the current one.

- CLI setup flows are public API when external docs, installers, or integrations can copy them. Changes to `openclaw onboard`, `openclaw configure`, their documented flags, non-interactive behavior, or generated config shape are compatibility-sensitive API contract changes; prefer additive flags/aliases, deprecation windows, and backward-preserving migrations over breaking existing snippets.

- Fix shape: default to clean bounded refactor, not smallest patch. Move ownership to right boundary; delete stale abstractions, duplicate policy, dead branches, wrappers, fallback stacks.