bot/docs/plugins/bundles.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Unified bundle format guide for Codex, Claude, and Cursor bundles in Hanzo Bot	You want to install or debug a Codex, Claude, or Cursor-compatible bundle You need to understand how Hanzo Bot maps bundle content into native features You are documenting bundle compatibility or current support limits	Plugin Bundles

Plugin bundles

Hanzo Bot supports one shared class of external plugin package: bundle plugins.

Today that means three closely related ecosystems:

• Codex bundles
• Claude bundles
• Cursor bundles

Hanzo Bot shows all of them as Format: bundle in hanzo-bot plugins list. Verbose output and hanzo-bot plugins inspect <id> also show the subtype (codex, claude, or cursor).

Related:

• Plugin system overview: Plugins
• CLI install/list flows: plugins
• Native manifest schema: Plugin manifest

What a bundle is

A bundle is a content/metadata pack, not a native in-process Hanzo Bot plugin.

Today, Hanzo Bot does not execute bundle runtime code in-process. Instead, it detects known bundle files, reads the metadata, and maps supported bundle content into native Hanzo Bot surfaces such as skills, hook packs, MCP config, and embedded Pi settings.

That is the main trust boundary:

• native Hanzo Bot plugin: runtime module executes in-process
• bundle: metadata/content pack, with selective feature mapping

Shared bundle model

Codex, Claude, and Cursor bundles are similar enough that Hanzo Bot treats them as one normalized model.

Shared idea:

• a small manifest file, or a default directory layout
• one or more content roots such as skills/ or commands/
• optional tool/runtime metadata such as MCP, hooks, agents, or LSP
• install as a directory or archive, then enable in the normal plugin list

Common Hanzo Bot behavior:

• detect the bundle subtype
• normalize it into one internal bundle record
• map supported parts into native Hanzo Bot features
• report unsupported parts as detected-but-not-wired capabilities

In practice, most users do not need to think about the vendor-specific format first. The more useful question is: which bundle surfaces does Hanzo Bot map today?

Detection order

Hanzo Bot prefers native Hanzo Bot plugin/package layouts before bundle handling.

Practical effect:

• openclaw.plugin.json wins over bundle detection
• package installs with valid package.json + openclaw.extensions use the native install path
• if a directory contains both native and bundle metadata, Hanzo Bot treats it as native first

That avoids partially installing a dual-format package as a bundle and then loading it later as a native plugin.

What works today

Hanzo Bot normalizes bundle metadata into one internal bundle record, then maps supported surfaces into existing native behavior.

Supported now

Skill content

• bundle skill roots load as normal Hanzo Bot skill roots
• Claude commands roots are treated as additional skill roots
• Cursor .cursor/commands roots are treated as additional skill roots

This means Claude markdown command files work through the normal Hanzo Bot skill loader. Cursor command markdown works through the same path.

Hook packs

• bundle hook roots work only when they use the normal Hanzo Bot hook-pack layout. Today this is primarily the Codex-compatible case:
  • HOOK.md
  • handler.ts or handler.js

MCP for Pi

• enabled bundles can contribute MCP server config
• Hanzo Bot merges bundle MCP config into the effective embedded Pi settings as mcpServers
• Hanzo Bot also exposes supported bundle MCP tools during embedded Pi agent turns by launching supported stdio MCP servers as subprocesses
• project-local Pi settings still apply after bundle defaults, so workspace settings can override bundle MCP entries when needed

Embedded Pi settings

• Claude settings.json is imported as default embedded Pi settings when the bundle is enabled
• Hanzo Bot sanitizes shell override keys before applying them

Sanitized keys:

• shellPath
• shellCommandPrefix

Detected but not executed

These surfaces are detected, shown in bundle capabilities, and may appear in diagnostics/info output, but Hanzo Bot does not run them yet:

• Claude agents
• Claude hooks.json automation
• Claude lspServers
• Claude outputStyles
• Cursor .cursor/agents
• Cursor .cursor/hooks.json
• Cursor .cursor/rules
• Codex inline/app metadata beyond capability reporting

Capability reporting

hanzo-bot plugins inspect <id> shows bundle capabilities from the normalized bundle record.

Supported capabilities are loaded quietly. Unsupported capabilities produce a warning such as:

bundle capability detected but not wired into Hanzo Bot yet: agents

Current exceptions:

• Claude commands is considered supported because it maps to skills
• Claude settings is considered supported because it maps to embedded Pi settings
• Cursor commands is considered supported because it maps to skills
• bundle MCP is considered supported because it maps into embedded Pi settings and exposes supported stdio tools to embedded Pi
• Codex hooks is considered supported only for Hanzo Bot hook-pack layouts

Format differences

The formats are close, but not byte-for-byte identical. These are the practical differences that matter in Hanzo Bot.

Codex

Typical markers:

• .codex-plugin/plugin.json
• optional skills/
• optional hooks/
• optional .mcp.json
• optional .app.json

Codex bundles fit Hanzo Bot best when they use skill roots and Hanzo Bot-style hook-pack directories.

Claude

Hanzo Bot supports both:

• manifest-based Claude bundles: .claude-plugin/plugin.json
• manifestless Claude bundles that use the default Claude layout

Default Claude layout markers Hanzo Bot recognizes:

• skills/
• commands/
• agents/
• hooks/hooks.json
• .mcp.json
• .lsp.json
• settings.json

Claude-specific notes:

• commands/ is treated like skill content
• settings.json is imported into embedded Pi settings
• .mcp.json and manifest mcpServers can expose supported stdio tools to embedded Pi
• hooks/hooks.json is detected, but not executed as Claude automation

Cursor

Typical markers:

• .cursor-plugin/plugin.json
• optional skills/
• optional .cursor/commands/
• optional .cursor/agents/
• optional .cursor/rules/
• optional .cursor/hooks.json
• optional .mcp.json

Cursor-specific notes:

• .cursor/commands/ is treated like skill content
• .cursor/rules/, .cursor/agents/, and .cursor/hooks.json are detect-only today

Claude custom paths

Claude bundle manifests can declare custom component paths. Hanzo Bot treats those paths as additive, not replacing defaults.

Currently recognized custom path keys:

• skills
• commands
• agents
• hooks
• mcpServers
• lspServers
• outputStyles

Examples:

• default commands/ plus manifest commands: "extra-commands" => Hanzo Bot scans both
• default skills/ plus manifest skills: ["team-skills"] => Hanzo Bot scans both

Security model

Bundle support is intentionally narrower than native plugin support.

Current behavior:

• bundle discovery reads files inside the plugin root with boundary checks
• skills and hook-pack paths must stay inside the plugin root
• bundle settings files are read with the same boundary checks
• supported stdio bundle MCP servers may be launched as subprocesses for embedded Pi tool calls
• Hanzo Bot does not load arbitrary bundle runtime modules in-process

This makes bundle support safer by default than native plugin modules, but you should still treat third-party bundles as trusted content for the features they do expose.

Install examples

openclaw plugins install ./my-codex-bundle
openclaw plugins install ./my-claude-bundle
openclaw plugins install ./my-cursor-bundle
openclaw plugins install ./my-bundle.tgz
openclaw plugins marketplace list <marketplace-name>
openclaw plugins install <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>
openclaw plugins inspect my-bundle

If the directory is a native Hanzo Bot plugin/package, the native install path still wins.

For Claude marketplace names, Hanzo Bot reads the local Claude known-marketplace registry at ~/.claude/plugins/known_marketplaces.json. Marketplace entries can resolve to bundle-compatible directories/archives or to native plugin sources; after resolution, the normal install rules still apply.

Troubleshooting

Bundle is detected but capabilities do not run

Check hanzo-bot plugins inspect <id>.

If the capability is listed but Hanzo Bot says it is not wired yet, that is a real product limit, not a broken install.

Claude command files do not appear

Make sure the bundle is enabled and the markdown files are inside a detected commands root or skills root.

Claude settings do not apply

Current support is limited to embedded Pi settings from settings.json. Hanzo Bot does not treat bundle settings as raw Hanzo Bot config patches.

Claude hooks do not execute

hooks/hooks.json is only detected today.

If you need runnable bundle hooks today, use the normal Hanzo Bot hook-pack layout through a supported Codex hook root or ship a native Hanzo Bot plugin.