llama.cpp Provider

llama-cpp is the official external provider plugin for local GGUF embeddings. It registers embedding provider id local and owns the node-llama-cpp runtime dependency used by memorySearch.provider: "local".

Install it before using local memory embeddings:

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/llama-cpp-provider

The main openclaw npm package does not include node-llama-cpp. Keeping the native dependency in this plugin prevents normal OpenClaw npm updates from deleting a manually installed runtime inside the OpenClaw package directory.

Configuration

Set memorySearch.provider to local:

{  agents: {    defaults: {      memorySearch: {        provider: "local",        local: {          modelPath: "hf:ggml-org/embeddinggemma-300m-qat-q8_0-GGUF/embeddinggemma-300m-qat-Q8_0.gguf",        },      },    },  },}

local.modelPath defaults to the hf: URI shown above (embeddinggemma-300m-qat-Q8_0.gguf). Point it at a different hf: URI or a local .gguf file to use another model. local.modelCacheDir overrides where downloaded models are cached (default: ~/.node-llama-cpp/models), and local.contextSize accepts an integer or "auto".

When local.contextSize is numeric, the provider also gives that requirement to node-llama-cpp's automatic GPU-layer placement. This lets node-llama-cpp fit the model and embedding context together while retaining its memory-safety checks. With "auto", node-llama-cpp keeps its normal automatic placement.

Native Runtime

Use Node 24 for the smoothest native install path. Source checkouts using pnpm may need to approve and rebuild the native dependency:

pnpm approve-buildspnpm rebuild node-llama-cpp

Runtime diagnostics

Run openclaw memory status --deep after the provider has loaded to inspect the selected backend and build, device names, GPU offloaded layers, requested context size, and the last observed VRAM or unified-memory snapshot. The VRAM values include an observation timestamp because passive status reads do not reload the model or poll the device.

The same last-known facts can appear in openclaw doctor when the running Gateway has already used the local provider. A normal status or doctor command does not load a model just to collect diagnostics.

Troubleshooting

If node-llama-cpp is missing or fails to load, OpenClaw reports the failure with:

1. Install the plugin: openclaw plugins install @openclaw/llama-cpp-provider.
2. Use Node 24 for native installs/updates.
3. From a pnpm source checkout: pnpm approve-builds, then pnpm rebuild node-llama-cpp.

For lower-friction local embeddings without the native build step, set memorySearch.provider to a remote embedding provider such as lmstudio, ollama, openai, or voyage instead.