npm shrinkwrap

OpenClaw source checkouts use pnpm-lock.yaml. Published OpenClaw npm packages use npm-shrinkwrap.json, npm's publishable dependency lockfile, so package installs use the dependency graph reviewed during release.

Why it matters

Shrinkwrap is a receipt for the dependency tree that ships with an npm package: it tells npm which exact transitive versions to install.

For OpenClaw releases this means:

• the published package does not ask npm to invent a fresh dependency graph at install time;
• dependency changes are reviewable because they land in a lockfile diff;
• release validation tests the same graph users will install;
• package-size or native-dependency surprises surface before publishing.

Shrinkwrap is not a sandbox. It does not make a dependency safe by itself, and it does not replace host isolation, openclaw security audit, package provenance, or install smoke tests.

OpenClaw is a gateway, plugin host, model router, and agent runtime, so a default install affects startup time, disk use, native package downloads, and supply-chain exposure. Shrinkwrap gives release review a stable boundary: reviewers see transitive dependency movement, validators reject unexpected lockfile drift, and plugin packages carry their own locked dependency graph instead of relying on the root package.

Generating and checking

The root openclaw npm package, OpenClaw-owned npm plugin packages (for example @openclaw/discord), and publishable workspace packages such as @openclaw/ai include npm-shrinkwrap.json when they publish. Workspace dependencies are omitted from the root shrinkwrap because they publish beside the root package; each publishable workspace package pins its own transitive tree instead. Suitable plugin packages can also publish with explicit bundledDependencies, carrying their runtime dependency files in the plugin tarball instead of relying only on install-time resolution.

# All shrinkwrap-managed packages (root + publishable plugins)
pnpm deps:shrinkwrap:generate
pnpm deps:shrinkwrap:check

# Root package only
pnpm deps:shrinkwrap:root:generate
pnpm deps:shrinkwrap:root:check

# Only packages affected by the current changeset
pnpm deps:shrinkwrap:changed:generate
pnpm deps:shrinkwrap:changed:check

The generator resolves npm's publishable lock format but rejects generated package versions that are not already present in pnpm-lock.yaml. That keeps the pnpm dependency age, override, and patch-review boundary intact.

Review these as security-sensitive:

• pnpm-lock.yaml
• npm-shrinkwrap.json
• bundled plugin dependency payloads
• any package-lock.json diff

OpenClaw package validators require shrinkwrap in new root package tarballs and reject package-lock.json for published packages. The plugin npm publish path checks plugin-local shrinkwrap, installs package-local bundled dependencies, then packs or publishes.

Inspecting a published package

Root package:

npm pack openclaw@<version> --json --pack-destination /tmp/openclaw-pack
tar -tf /tmp/openclaw-pack/openclaw-<version>.tgz | grep '^package/npm-shrinkwrap.json$'

Plugin package:

npm pack @openclaw/discord@<version> --json --pack-destination /tmp/openclaw-plugin-pack
tar -tf /tmp/openclaw-plugin-pack/openclaw-discord-<version>.tgz | grep '^package/npm-shrinkwrap.json$'
tar -tf /tmp/openclaw-plugin-pack/openclaw-discord-<version>.tgz | grep '^package/node_modules/'

Background: npm-shrinkwrap.json.