Tools
Devin Cli
By Experimental OpenClaw CLI-backend plugin for Cognition Devin CLI
Install
npm install --ignore-scripts`,Configuration Example
{"type":"result","session_id":"…","result":"…"}README
# openclaw-devin-cli
**Experiment:** an [OpenClaw](https://openclaw.ai) CLI-backend plugin that wires
Cognition's [Devin CLI](https://github.com/CognitionAI/devin-cli) (`devin`) into
OpenClaw's agent runtime, so a model ref like `devin-cli/opus` runs a turn
through `devin -p` instead of a native API provider.
Status: experimental / alpha. It registers correctly and produces valid output
records, but it has not yet been exercised against a real authenticated
`devin` install end-to-end (see [Testing](#testing)).
## Why a bridge script?
OpenClaw's CLI-backend contract (`CliBackendConfig`) expects the spawned
process to emit JSON containing at minimum a `session_id` field (for
`sessionMode: "existing"`) and reply text under a `result`-style key.
`devin -p` does neither: it prints plain text and (as of devin-cli 3000.11.x)
has no `--json` flag, and its TUI-only `--resume` flow has no equivalent
machine-readable session listing beyond `devin list --format json`.
`bin/devin-openclaw-bridge.mjs` is the shim. It:
1. Extracts OpenClaw-private args (`--oc-prompt`, `--oc-system`) so they never
reach `devin` itself.
2. Snapshots `devin list --format json` (cwd-scoped, works unauthenticated)
before and after the run, and diffs the rows to recover the session id that
`devin` created.
3. Spawns `devin -p -- "<prompt>"` (plus `--model`, `-r <sessionId>` on resume)
with `CI=1 NO_COLOR=1 TERM=dumb`, captures stdout, strips ANSI escapes.
4. Emits exactly one JSON line OpenClaw can parse:
```json
{"type":"result","session_id":"…","result":"…"}
```
Errors are emitted as `{"type":"result","status":"error",…,"errors":[…]}`
and the bridge always exits 0 so OpenClaw's watchdog sees the failure
payload rather than a bare exit code.
## Install
Requires `devin` on `PATH` (`devin auth login` for actual model calls) and
OpenClaw >= 2026.9.0.
```bash
# from source
openclaw plugins install /path/to/openclaw-devin-cli
# or, once pushed:
openclaw plugins install git:github.com/spacedouut/openclaw-devin-cli
```
> For `git:` installs, OpenClaw runs `npm install --ignore-scripts`, so the
> compiled `dist/` is committed to this repo on purpose.
## Configuration
`openclaw.json`:
```jsonc
{
"plugins": {
"entries": {
"devin-cli": {
"config": {
// "command": "devin", // binary name or absolute path
// "permissionMode": "accept-edits" // auto | accept-edits | smart | dangerous
}
}
}
}
}
```
`permissionMode` maps to `devin --permission-mode`. When unset, the plugin
mirrors OpenClaw's own exec policy: a `full` exec mode grants Devin
`dangerous` (bypass all approvals); anything else defaults to `accept-edits`
so edits inside the agent workspace proceed without interactive prompts.
Side-question executions are forced to `auto` regardless.
## Usage
```bash
openclaw --model devin-cli/opus # modelAliases: opus -> claude-opus-4.6
openclaw --model devin-cli/sonnet # sonnet -> claude-sonnet-4
openclaw --model devin-cli/<model-id> # anything else passed to devin --model
```
- **Session resume:** the bridge diffs `devin list` rows to find the new
session id; OpenClaw then resumes that session via `devin -r <id>` on
subsequent turns.
- **System prompts:** appended to the first turn's prompt (Devin CLI has no
native system-prompt flag).
- **Images / MCP probing:** disabled in `liveTest` (`defaultImageProbe`,
`defaultMcpProbe` false) — `devin -p` has no CLI flag for image input or
structured MCP config.
## Caveats / open questions
- **No true streaming.** `devin -p` buffers output until the turn completes;
OpenClaw sees one JSON record at the end. Interactive feel will differ from
native providers.
- **Session-id recovery is heuristic.** It relies on `devin list --format
json` output shape (`id`/`session_id`/`sessionId` + a timestamp field) and
on the run actually creating a session row in the current cwd. If the CLI
changes that shape, `session_id` goes missing and every turn starts fresh.
- **Auth required.** `devin` must be logged in (`devin auth login`);
unauthenticated calls surface as error payloads.
- **Alternative path:** `devin acp` exposes the Agent Client Protocol — an
OpenClaw ACP-agent backend (if one lands in the plugin SDK) would be a much
cleaner integration than this stdout-parsing bridge.
## Testing
```bash
npm install
npm run check # tsc --noEmit equivalent via build
npm run build # compiles src/ -> dist/
```
Manual smoke test without OpenClaw:
```bash
# register path
node -e "import('./dist/index.js').then(m=>{
m.default.register({registerCliBackend:b=>console.log(b.config)})})"
# bridge path (replace with a stub or a real devin binary)
DEVIN_OPENCLAW_COMMAND=devin node bin/devin-openclaw-bridge.mjs \
--oc-prompt 'say hi' -p
```
End-to-end in OpenClaw (needs a logged-in `devin`):
```bash
openclaw plugins install -l /path/to/openclaw-devin-cli
openclaw --model devin-cli/opus "hello"
```
## Layout
| path | role |
| --- | --- |
| `openclaw.plugin.json` | manifest (`cliBackends: ["devin-cli"]`, config schema) |
| `src/index.ts` | plugin entry: builds `CliBackendConfig`, permission-mode normalization |
| `src/sdk-shim.d.ts` | typings for untyped `openclaw/plugin-sdk/*` subpaths |
| `bin/devin-openclaw-bridge.mjs` | runtime shim: spawn `devin`, recover session id, emit JSON |
MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
tools
Comments
Sign in to leave a comment