2026.5.2: plugin must declare contracts.tools before registering agent tools

[vkrmch]

Summary

OpenClaw 2026.5.2 enforces a new contract: plugins must declare contracts.tools in their definePluginEntry({...}) config before calling api.registerTool(...). openclaw-honcho v1.4.1 still uses the legacy "register-first, declare-nothing" pattern, so all five Honcho tools fail to register on gateways running 2026.5.2.

Memory capture hooks (gateway/context/capture) and the memory-prompt-section builder are not affected and still work — but the agent-callable tools (honcho_session, honcho_context, honcho_search_conclusions, honcho_ask, honcho_search_messages) are silently dropped, so the agent loses the ability to query Honcho during a turn.

Versions

• openclaw: 2026.5.2 (released 2026-05-02)
• @honcho-ai/openclaw-honcho: 1.4.1 (also reproduces on 1.3.2)

Repro

Install openclaw-honcho on any gateway running 2026.5.2 and start the gateway.

Logs

/home/<agent>/logs/openclaw.log (logged once per tool, 5 lines on every start):

ERROR [plugins] plugin must declare contracts.tools before registering agent tools (plugin=openclaw-honcho, source=…/extensions/openclaw-honcho/dist/index.js)

Source of the check: /usr/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/subsystem-Bhq-McUP.js:150 (in 2026.5.2).

Plugin entry that triggers it: index.ts L85-126.

Suggested fix

Declare the tool ids in contracts.tools so openclaw can validate registrations upfront:

export default definePluginEntry({
  id: "openclaw-honcho",
  name: "Memory (Honcho)",
  kind: "memory",
  configSchema: honchoConfigSchema,
  contracts: {
    tools: [
      "honcho_session",
      "honcho_context",
      "honcho_search_conclusions",
      "honcho_ask",
      "honcho_search_messages",
      // plus the two passthrough tools registered by registerMemoryPassthrough
    ],
  },
  register(api) { ... },
});

Happy to send a PR if a maintainer can confirm the exact shape expected — specifically whether the passthrough tools need to be listed and whether descriptors are required alongside ids.