optimclaw/FEATURE_PARITY.md

IronClaw ↔ OpenClaw Feature Parity Matrix

This document tracks feature parity between IronClaw (Rust implementation) and OpenClaw (TypeScript reference implementation). Use this to coordinate work across developers.

Legend:

• ✅ Implemented
• 🚧 Partial (in progress or incomplete)
• ❌ Not implemented
• 🔮 Planned (in scope but not started)
• 🚫 Out of scope (intentionally skipped)
• ➖ N/A (not applicable to Rust implementation)

---

1. Architecture

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Hub-and-spoke architecture	✅	🚧	IronClaw has channels but no central gateway
WebSocket control plane	✅	❌	Gateway with ws://127.0.0.1:18789
Single-user system	✅	✅
Multi-agent routing	✅	❌	Workspace isolation per-agent
Session-based messaging	✅	✅	Per-sender sessions
Loopback-first networking	✅	✅	HTTP binds to 0.0.0.0 but can be configured

Owner: Unassigned

---

2. Gateway System

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Gateway control plane	✅	❌	Central WebSocket server
HTTP endpoints for Control UI	✅	❌	Web dashboard
Channel connection lifecycle	✅	🚧	ChannelManager handles streams
Session management/routing	✅	✅	SessionManager exists
Configuration hot-reload	✅	❌
Network modes (loopback/LAN/remote)	✅	🚧	HTTP only
OpenAI-compatible HTTP API	✅	❌	/v1/chat/completions
Canvas hosting	✅	❌	Agent-driven UI
Gateway lock (PID-based)	✅	❌
launchd/systemd integration	✅	❌
Bonjour/mDNS discovery	✅	❌
Tailscale integration	✅	❌
Health check endpoints	✅	❌
doctor diagnostics	✅	❌

Owner: Unassigned

---

3. Messaging Channels

Channel	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
CLI/TUI	✅	✅	-	Ratatui-based TUI
HTTP webhook	✅	✅	-	axum with secret validation
REPL (simple)	✅	✅	-	For testing
WASM channels	❌	✅	-	IronClaw innovation
WhatsApp	✅	❌	P1	Baileys (Web)
Telegram	✅	❌	P1	grammY (Bot API)
Discord	✅	❌	P2	discord.js
Signal	✅	❌	P2	signal-cli
Slack	✅	🚧	P1	Stub exists, needs implementation
iMessage	✅	❌	P3	BlueBubbles recommended
Feishu/Lark	✅	❌	P3
LINE	✅	❌	P3
WebChat	✅	❌	P2	Browser-based chat
Matrix	✅	❌	P3	E2EE support
Mattermost	✅	❌	P3
Google Chat	✅	❌	P3
MS Teams	✅	❌	P3
Twitch	✅	❌	P3
Voice Call	✅	❌	P3	Twilio/Telnyx
Nostr	✅	❌	P3

Channel Features

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
DM pairing codes	✅	❌	Verification for unknown senders
Allowlist/blocklist	✅	❌	Per-channel access control
Self-message bypass	✅	❌	Own messages skip pairing
Mention-based activation	✅	❌	Configurable patterns
Per-group tool policies	✅	❌	Allow/deny specific tools
Thread isolation	✅	✅	Separate sessions per thread
Per-channel media limits	✅	❌
Typing indicators	✅	🚧	TUI shows status

Owner: Unassigned

---

4. CLI Commands

Command	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
run (agent)	✅	✅	-	Default command
tool install/list/remove	✅	✅	-	WASM tools
gateway start/stop	✅	❌	P2
onboard (wizard)	✅	❌	P2	Interactive setup
tui	✅	✅	-	Ratatui TUI
config	✅	❌	P2	Read/write config
channels	✅	❌	P2	Channel management
models	✅	🚧	-	Model selector in TUI
status	✅	❌	P2	System status
agents	✅	❌	P3	Multi-agent management
sessions	✅	❌	P3	Session listing
memory	✅	❌	P2	Memory search CLI
skills	✅	❌	P3	Agent skills
pairing	✅	❌	P3	Node pairing
nodes	✅	❌	P3	Device management
plugins	✅	❌	P3	Plugin management
hooks	✅	❌	P2	Lifecycle hooks
cron	✅	❌	P2	Scheduled jobs
webhooks	✅	❌	P3	Webhook config
message send	✅	❌	P2	Send to channels
browser	✅	❌	P3	Browser automation
sandbox	✅	✅	-	WASM sandbox
doctor	✅	❌	P2	Diagnostics
logs	✅	❌	P3	Query logs
update	✅	❌	P3	Self-update
completion	✅	❌	P3	Shell completion

Owner: Unassigned

---

5. Agent System

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Pi agent runtime	✅	➖	IronClaw uses custom runtime
RPC-based execution	✅	🚧	Worker isolation
Multi-provider failover	✅	❌	Provider fallback chains
Per-sender sessions	✅	✅
Global sessions	✅	❌	Optional shared context
Session pruning	✅	❌	Auto cleanup old sessions
Context compaction	✅	✅	Auto summarization
Custom system prompts	✅	✅	Template variables
Skills (modular capabilities)	✅	❌	Capability bundles
Thinking modes (low/med/high)	✅	❌	Configurable reasoning depth
Block-level streaming	✅	❌
Tool-level streaming	✅	❌
Plugin tools	✅	✅	WASM tools
Tool policies (allow/deny)	✅	✅
Exec approvals (/approve)	✅	✅	TUI approval overlay
Elevated mode	✅	❌	Privileged execution
Subagent support	✅	✅	Task framework
Auth profiles	✅	❌	Multiple auth strategies

Owner: Unassigned

---

6. Model & Provider Support

Provider	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
NEAR AI	✅	✅	-	Primary provider
Anthropic (Claude)	✅	🚧	-	Via NEAR AI proxy
OpenAI	✅	🚧	-	Via NEAR AI proxy
AWS Bedrock	✅	❌	P3
Google Gemini	✅	❌	P3
OpenRouter	✅	❌	P3
Ollama (local)	✅	❌	P2	Local models
node-llama-cpp	✅	➖	-	N/A for Rust
llama.cpp (native)	❌	🔮	P3	Rust bindings

Model Features

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Auto-discovery	✅	❌
Failover chains	✅	❌	Provider fallback
Cooldown management	✅	❌	Skip failed providers
Per-session model override	✅	✅	Model selector in TUI
Model selection UI	✅	✅	TUI keyboard shortcut

Owner: Unassigned

---

7. Media Handling

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
Image processing (Sharp)	✅	❌	P2	Resize, format convert
Audio transcription	✅	❌	P2
Video support	✅	❌	P3
PDF parsing	✅	❌	P2	pdfjs-dist
MIME detection	✅	❌	P2
Media caching	✅	❌	P3
Vision model integration	✅	❌	P2	Image understanding
TTS (Edge TTS)	✅	❌	P3	Text-to-speech
TTS (OpenAI)	✅	❌	P3
Sticker-to-image	✅	❌	P3	Telegram stickers

Owner: Unassigned

---

8. Plugin & Extension System

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Dynamic loading	✅	✅	WASM modules
Manifest validation	✅	✅	WASM metadata
HTTP path registration	✅	❌	Plugin routes
Workspace-relative install	✅	✅	~/.ironclaw/tools/
Channel plugins	✅	✅	WASM channels
Auth plugins	✅	❌
Memory plugins	✅	❌	Custom backends
Tool plugins	✅	✅	WASM tools
Hook plugins	✅	❌
Provider plugins	✅	❌
Plugin CLI (install, list)	✅	✅	tool subcommand
ClawHub registry	✅	❌	Discovery

Owner: Unassigned

---

9. Configuration System

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Primary config file	✅ ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json	✅ .env	Different formats
JSON5 support	✅	❌	Comments, trailing commas
YAML alternative	✅	❌
Environment variable interpolation	✅	✅	${VAR}
Config validation/schema	✅	✅	Type-safe Config struct
Hot-reload	✅	❌
Legacy migration	✅	➖
State directory	✅ ~/.openclaw-state/	✅ ~/.ironclaw/
Credentials directory	✅	✅	Session files

Owner: Unassigned

---

10. Memory & Knowledge System

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Vector memory	✅	✅	pgvector
Session-based memory	✅	✅
Hybrid search (BM25 + vector)	✅	✅	RRF algorithm
OpenAI embeddings	✅	✅
Gemini embeddings	✅	❌
Local embeddings	✅	❌
SQLite-vec backend	✅	❌	IronClaw uses PostgreSQL
LanceDB backend	✅	❌
QMD backend	✅	❌
Atomic reindexing	✅	✅
Embeddings batching	✅	❌
Citation support	✅	❌
Memory CLI commands	✅	❌	memory search/index/status
Flexible path structure	✅	✅	Filesystem-like API
Identity files (AGENTS.md, etc.)	✅	✅
Daily logs	✅	✅
Heartbeat checklist	✅	✅	HEARTBEAT.md

Owner: Unassigned

---

11. Mobile Apps

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
iOS app (SwiftUI)	✅	🚫	-	Out of scope initially
Android app (Kotlin)	✅	🚫	-	Out of scope initially
Gateway WebSocket client	✅	🚫	-
Camera/photo access	✅	🚫	-
Voice input	✅	🚫	-
Push-to-talk	✅	🚫	-
Location sharing	✅	🚫	-
Node pairing	✅	🚫	-

Owner: Unassigned (if ever prioritized)

---

12. macOS App

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
SwiftUI native app	✅	🚫	-	Out of scope
Menu bar presence	✅	🚫	-
Bundled gateway	✅	🚫	-
Canvas hosting	✅	🚫	-
Voice wake	✅	🚫	-
Exec approval dialogs	✅	✅	-	TUI overlay
iMessage integration	✅	🚫	-

Owner: Unassigned (if ever prioritized)

---

13. Web Interface

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
Control UI Dashboard	✅	❌	P2	Web status/config
Channel status view	✅	❌	P2
Agent management	✅	❌	P3
Model selection	✅	✅	-	TUI only
Config editing	✅	❌	P3
Debug/logs viewer	✅	❌	P3
WebChat interface	✅	❌	P2	Browser chat
Canvas system (A2UI)	✅	❌	P3	Agent-driven UI

Owner: Unassigned

---

14. Automation

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Priority	Notes
Cron jobs	✅	❌	P2	Schedule-based tasks
Timezone support	✅	❌	P2
One-shot/recurring jobs	✅	❌	P2
beforeInbound hook	✅	❌	P2
beforeOutbound hook	✅	❌	P2
beforeToolCall hook	✅	❌	P2
onMessage hook	✅	❌	P2
onSessionStart hook	✅	❌	P2
onSessionEnd hook	✅	❌	P2
transcribeAudio hook	✅	❌	P3
transformResponse hook	✅	❌	P2
Bundled hooks	✅	❌	P2
Plugin hooks	✅	❌	P3
Workspace hooks	✅	❌	P2	Inline code
Outbound webhooks	✅	❌	P2
Heartbeat system	✅	✅	-	Periodic execution
Gmail pub/sub	✅	❌	P3

Owner: Unassigned

---

15. Security Features

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Gateway token auth	✅	🚧	HTTP webhook secret
Device pairing	✅	❌
Tailscale identity	✅	❌
OAuth flows	✅	🚧	NEAR AI OAuth
DM pairing verification	✅	❌
Allowlist/blocklist	✅	❌
Per-group tool policies	✅	❌
Exec approvals	✅	✅	TUI overlay
TLS 1.3 minimum	✅	✅	reqwest rustls
SSRF protection	✅	✅	WASM allowlist
Loopback-first	✅	🚧	HTTP binds 0.0.0.0
Docker sandbox	✅	❌	Uses WASM sandbox
WASM sandbox	❌	✅	IronClaw innovation
Tool policies	✅	✅
Elevated mode	✅	❌
Safe bins allowlist	✅	❌
LD*/DYLD* validation	✅	❌
Path traversal prevention	✅	✅
Webhook signature verification	✅	✅
Media URL validation	✅	❌
Prompt injection defense	✅	✅	Pattern detection, sanitization
Leak detection	✅	✅	Secret exfiltration

Owner: Unassigned

---

16. Development & Build System

Feature	OpenClaw	IronClaw	Notes
Primary language	TypeScript	Rust	Different ecosystems
Build tool	tsdown	cargo
Type checking	TypeScript/tsgo	rustc
Linting	Oxlint	clippy
Formatting	Oxfmt	rustfmt
Package manager	pnpm	cargo
Test framework	Vitest	built-in
Coverage	V8	tarpaulin/llvm-cov
CI/CD	GitHub Actions	GitHub Actions
Pre-commit hooks	prek	-	Consider adding

Owner: Unassigned

---

Implementation Priorities

P0 - Core (Already Done)

• ✅ TUI channel with approval overlays
• ✅ HTTP webhook channel
• ✅ WASM tool sandbox
• ✅ Workspace/memory with hybrid search
• ✅ Prompt injection defense
• ✅ Heartbeat system
• ✅ Session management
• ✅ Context compaction
• ✅ Model selection

P1 - High Priority

• ❌ Slack channel (real implementation)
• ❌ Telegram channel
• ❌ WhatsApp channel
• ❌ Multi-provider failover
• ❌ Gateway control plane + WebSocket
• ❌ Hooks system (beforeInbound, beforeToolCall, etc.)

P2 - Medium Priority

• ❌ Cron job scheduling
• ❌ Web Control UI
• ❌ WebChat channel
• ❌ Media handling (images, PDFs)
• ❌ CLI subcommands (config, status, memory, doctor)
• ❌ Ollama/local model support
• ❌ Configuration hot-reload

P3 - Lower Priority

• ❌ Discord channel
• ❌ Signal channel
• ❌ Matrix channel
• ❌ Other messaging platforms
• ❌ TTS/audio features
• ❌ Video support
• ❌ Skills system
• ❌ Plugin registry

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How to Contribute

1. Claim a section: Edit this file and add your name/handle to the "Owner" field
2. Create a tracking issue: Link to GitHub issue for the feature area
3. Update status: Change ❌ to 🚧 when starting, ✅ when complete
4. Add notes: Document any design decisions or deviations

Coordination

• Each major section should have one owner to avoid conflicts
• Owners can delegate sub-features to others
• Update this file as part of your PR

---

Deviations from OpenClaw

IronClaw intentionally differs from OpenClaw in these ways:

1. Rust vs TypeScript: Native performance, memory safety, single binary distribution
2. WASM sandbox vs Docker: Lighter weight, faster startup, capability-based security
3. PostgreSQL vs SQLite: Better suited for production deployments
4. NEAR AI focus: Primary provider with session-based auth
5. No mobile/desktop apps: Focus on server-side and CLI initially
6. WASM channels: Novel extension mechanism not in OpenClaw

These are intentional architectural choices, not gaps to be filled.