What You Will Build
By the end of this tutorial, your OpenClaw agent will have MemoryLake-powered persistent memory. This means: typed memories (Background, Factual, Event, Conversation, Reflection, Skill), temporal indexing for time-aware retrieval, automatic conflict detection when you provide contradictory information, full memory provenance and versioning, and cross-device sync via Memory Passport.
The integration uses OpenClaw's native plugin system — the memorylake-openclaw plugin. No separate servers, no MCP configuration, no npm installs. Just one plugin install command, one config edit, and one gateway restart. The entire process takes under 60 seconds.
This tutorial assumes you are already using OpenClaw and want to upgrade its memory capabilities. If you are new to OpenClaw, install it first from the official repository, then return here.
Prerequisites
You need two things: OpenClaw installed and running (any version from January 2026 or later with the plugin system), and a MemoryLake account with an API key and project ID. Sign up at app.memorylake.ai — the free tier is sufficient for individual use.
The plugin integrates directly with OpenClaw's gateway architecture. Your conversations continue to be processed locally by your OpenClaw instance; the plugin sends extracted memories to MemoryLake's encrypted storage for typed indexing, conflict detection, and cross-device sync.
Step 1: Check Existing Plugins
First, check if the memorylake-openclaw plugin is already installed. Open your terminal and run: openclaw plugins list. This shows all installed plugins with their status (enabled/disabled). If memorylake-openclaw already appears in the list, you can skip to Step 4 to update the configuration — or re-run the install command in Step 2 to update to the latest version.
If the plugin is not listed, proceed to Step 2. If you see other memory plugins (like mem0-openclaw or a custom memory plugin), note them — you will want to disable them in Step 4 to avoid conflicts between memory systems.
Step 2: Install the Plugin
Install the memorylake-openclaw plugin using OpenClaw's built-in plugin manager. Run: openclaw plugins install memorylake-openclaw. The plugin manager downloads the latest version, verifies its integrity, and registers it with your OpenClaw instance. The installation typically completes in a few seconds.
If you already have the plugin installed and want to update it, run the same command — it will replace the existing version with the latest release. The plugin manager handles versioning automatically.
Step 3: Get Your MemoryLake Credentials
You need two credentials from your MemoryLake account: an API key and a project ID. Log in to app.memorylake.ai and navigate to Settings → API Keys. Click "Create New Key" and give it a descriptive name (e.g., "OpenClaw Plugin"). Copy the API key — it starts with "sk-" and is a long alphanumeric string.
Next, find your project ID. Navigate to your project dashboard — the project ID is displayed in the URL or in Project Settings. It looks like "proj-" followed by a UUID (e.g., "proj-911cbe142bba4911a0d697171ab48419"). You will need both the API key and project ID in the next step.
Step 4: Configure the Plugin
This is the most important step — and the one where careful attention matters. You need to edit OpenClaw's configuration file at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json to add the memorylake-openclaw plugin entry. Before making any changes, create a backup: cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak. This gives you a safe rollback point if anything goes wrong.
Open ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and find the plugins.entries section. Add (or update) the memorylake-openclaw entry with your credentials. The entry should look like this: "memorylake-openclaw": { "enabled": true, "config": { "apiKey": "sk-your-api-key-here", "projectId": "proj-your-project-id-here" } }. Merge this into the existing plugins.entries object — do not replace the entire file. Keep all other existing entries (telegram, whatsapp, slack, etc.) untouched.
If another memory plugin is already configured, set its "enabled" field to false rather than deleting it. This preserves the configuration in case you want to switch back later. After editing, verify the file is valid JSON by running: jq . ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. If jq reports an error, restore the backup with: cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and try again.
Step 5: Restart the Gateway
With the plugin installed and configured, restart the OpenClaw gateway to load the new configuration: openclaw gateway restart. The gateway picks up the updated openclaw.json on restart, initializes the memorylake-openclaw plugin, and establishes a connection to the MemoryLake API.
After restart, confirm the plugin is loaded by running: openclaw plugins list. The memorylake-openclaw entry should show as "enabled" with a "connected" status. You can also check the gateway logs for a confirmation message indicating that the MemoryLake connection was established successfully.
Verify It Works
Start a conversation with your OpenClaw agent and share a distinctive piece of information: "I strongly prefer functional programming over OOP. I always use TypeScript strict mode. My current project uses Deno, not Node." Then close the conversation entirely — not just a new message, but close the session.
Open a new session and ask: "What do you know about my coding preferences?" OpenClaw should recall all three preferences. If you check the MemoryLake dashboard at app.memorylake.ai, you will see these memories stored as typed Factual memories with timestamps, provenance, and confidence scores.
For a stronger test: share a preference, wait, then share a contradicting one ("Actually, I have switched back to Node for this project"). MemoryLake's conflict detection will flag the Deno/Node contradiction and automatically resolve it in favor of the more recent statement — while preserving the full history of the change.
Before and After
Without the plugin, OpenClaw stores memories as untyped markdown files with SQLite indexing. Retrieval uses hybrid keyword + semantic search over flat text. There is no temporal indexing, no conflict detection, and no cross-device sync. Memories work well for individual, single-device use but degrade as stores grow and information changes over time.
With the memorylake-openclaw plugin, every memory is additionally processed through MemoryLake's infrastructure: typed into one of six categories, placed on a temporal index, checked for conflicts against existing memories, and stored with full provenance. Retrieval gains type-aware, time-aware search that returns more relevant results — especially for temporal queries ("What did I decide last week?") and multi-hop queries ("Based on my project and preferences, what framework should I use?").
The improvement compounds over time. In the first week, the difference is subtle. After a month of daily use, the cumulative benefits of typed memories, automatic conflict resolution, and temporal indexing become significant. The system does not just remember more — it remembers better.
What the Plugin Does Under the Hood
The memorylake-openclaw plugin hooks into OpenClaw's memory extraction pipeline. When OpenClaw extracts a memory from a conversation, the plugin intercepts it and sends it to the MemoryLake API. MemoryLake processes the memory through its typing engine (classifying it into Background, Factual, Event, Conversation, Reflection, or Skill), its temporal indexer (placing it on the timeline), and its conflict detector (checking for contradictions).
The plugin also enhances retrieval. When OpenClaw assembles context for a new conversation, the plugin queries MemoryLake's typed index alongside the local store. The results are merged, with MemoryLake's typed results providing more precise context — especially for questions that require temporal reasoning or synthesis across multiple memory types.
All of this happens asynchronously and transparently. The plugin does not slow down conversations — memory processing happens in the background after each exchange. The retrieval enhancement adds approximately 50-100ms to context assembly, which is negligible compared to LLM inference time.
Typed Memories in Action
With the plugin active, your memories are automatically classified into six types. When you say "I am a senior engineer at a fintech startup," that becomes a Background memory. When you say "I prefer Rust for performance-critical code," that becomes a Factual memory. When you say "We decided to use PostgreSQL yesterday," that becomes an Event memory with a timestamp.
The typing matters for retrieval quality. When OpenClaw needs to answer "What tools do I use?", it queries Factual memories specifically — not every memory. When it needs to answer "What happened this week on the project?", it queries Event memories with a temporal filter. The result is more precise, more relevant context.
You can view your typed memories in the MemoryLake dashboard at app.memorylake.ai. Each memory shows its type, confidence score, creation time, source conversation, and any conflict flags. This transparency helps you understand and trust the memory system.
Conflict Detection in Action
Conflict detection is the feature that most improves memory quality over time. Without it, old and new information coexist without resolution — and the LLM must guess which is current. With it, contradictions are caught and resolved automatically at ingestion time.
Real example: in January you tell OpenClaw "Our API uses REST with JSON." In February you say "We are migrating to gRPC." Without the plugin, both memories persist and OpenClaw might reference REST in a February conversation. With the memorylake-openclaw plugin, the system recognizes that gRPC supersedes REST for your API, updates the active memory, and preserves the REST memory as historical context.
The conflict detection operates at three levels: logical conflicts (direct contradictions like "uses REST" vs "uses gRPC"), implicit knowledge conflicts (inferences that conflict, like "vegetarian" conflicting with "grilled steaks last weekend"), and hallucination conflicts (where the AI's own statements contradict stored memories). All three levels work automatically with no configuration needed.
Cross-Device Sync
If you use OpenClaw on multiple machines — a laptop and a desktop, for example — the memorylake-openclaw plugin ensures both instances share the same memory through MemoryLake's cloud sync. Memories created on your laptop are available on your desktop the next time its gateway connects, and vice versa.
Sync is automatic and incremental. Only new and modified memories are transferred. The sync protocol uses event sourcing, so even if one machine is offline for weeks, it catches up automatically when reconnected. There is no manual sync step and no risk of data loss from extended disconnection.
For teams, MemoryLake also supports shared memory spaces. A team memory space contains project decisions, architectural choices, and shared context that is accessible to every team member's OpenClaw instance. Personal memories remain private; team memories are shared. The plugin merges both at retrieval time.
Troubleshooting
Plugin not showing in list after install: Run openclaw plugins install memorylake-openclaw again. If it still fails, check your OpenClaw version — the plugin system requires January 2026 or later. Run openclaw --version to verify.
Gateway fails to restart: The most common cause is invalid JSON in openclaw.json. Run jq . ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json to check for syntax errors. If the file is corrupted, restore your backup: cp ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. Then carefully re-edit, making sure to only add the memorylake-openclaw entry without disturbing existing content.
Plugin shows "enabled" but not "connected": Verify your API key and project ID are correct. The API key should start with "sk-" and the project ID with "proj-". Check that your network can reach api.memorylake.ai on port 443. If you are behind a corporate firewall, you may need to configure proxy settings in the plugin config.
Conclusion
In three commands and one config edit, you have upgraded OpenClaw from local markdown memory to a full-featured memory infrastructure. Your agent now has typed memories, temporal indexing, conflict detection, memory provenance, and cross-device sync — all running transparently through the memorylake-openclaw plugin.
The integration preserves everything that makes OpenClaw great — the developer experience, the local-first transparency, the familiar CLI workflow — while adding the depth that production memory requires. OpenClaw handles the interface; MemoryLake handles the infrastructure.
Memory is a compounding asset. Every day you use the plugin, the system accumulates more typed, indexed, conflict-resolved memories. A month from now, your OpenClaw agent will understand your projects, preferences, and decisions with a depth that no stateless tool can match. Start today — the 60 seconds are worth it.