OpenClaw hit a rough patch last week after a series of instability incidents that rattled users across Discord, Telegram, and WhatsApp. Between April 24 and April 29, gateways slowed, plugin repair loops stalled, and many opted to downgrade. The move aimed to trim libraries and clarify plugin boundaries.

In response, the team split optional features into ClawHub, a separate artifact store, and announced a Long‑Term Support release for May. They also shifted heavy integrations—such as parsers and providers—out of the core. The decision was driven by recent npm supply‑chain attacks that exposed risks in transitive dependencies and post‑install scripts, and highlighted the need for stricter release hygiene across teams.

The founder acknowledged that the project had become too founder‑driven, with most packaging, review, and support falling on a single person. With backing from the OpenClaw Foundation and OpenAI, a formal team structure will now handle releases and quality checks. Users who logged bugs, shared logs, and tested betas helped shape the next iteration for a more reliable infrastructure deployment.