Manifest — LLM Router & Observability for OpenClaw

Manifest is an OpenClaw plugin that:

• Routes every request to the most cost-effective model via a 23-dimension scoring algorithm (<2ms latency)
• Tracks costs and tokens in a real-time dashboard
• Sets limits with email alerts and hard spending caps

Source: github.com/mnfst/manifest — MIT licensed. Homepage: manifest.build

Security & Privacy

TL;DR — The plugin registers Manifest as a standard OpenAI-compatible provider and exposes three read-only agent tools. It does not export telemetry or make background network calls. When you select manifest/auto as your model, OpenClaw routes requests through the Manifest backend — the same way it routes to any other provider like Anthropic or OpenAI. In local mode, all data stays on your machine and no API key is needed.

What the plugin does

1. Registers a provider — adds manifest as an OpenAI-compatible provider with the auto model
2. Injects config — writes provider entry to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and auth profiles (standard plugin registration, reversed on uninstall)
3. Exposes 3 read-only tools — manifest_usage, manifest_costs, manifest_health (query your own usage data via the Manifest API)
4. Registers /manifest command — shows connection status

What the plugin does NOT do

• Does not export telemetry, traces, or metrics — the plugin has no OTLP or telemetry code
• Does not make background or periodic network calls — network calls happen only at startup (connection verification) and when agent tools are invoked by the user
• Does not change your default model — manifest/auto is added to the allowlist only, you must switch to it manually

How routing works

When you manually select manifest/auto as your model, OpenClaw sends requests to the Manifest backend's /v1/chat/completions endpoint — the same way it sends requests to any provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.). The backend picks the optimal model based on conversation complexity. This is standard OpenClaw provider behavior, not a special plugin data flow.

Credential storage

• Cloud mode (manifest-model-router plugin): API key provided via openclaw providers setup manifest-model-router or MANIFEST_API_KEY env var. The key authenticates with the Manifest backend — standard provider auth.
• Local mode (manifest plugin): auto-generated key stored in ~/.openclaw/manifest/config.json with file mode 0600. No external service contacted.

Local mode

All data stays on your machine. The embedded server runs locally and no external calls are made.

Install Provenance

openclaw plugins install manifest installs the manifest npm package.