OpenClaw v2026.5.22 dropped on May 24, 2026, and it’s a release worth digging into — not just for the headline 4,000× performance improvement on model listing, but for the quiet debut of the Meeting Notes plugin. This how-to walks through what the plugin does, where to get it, and how to wire up Discord voice as your first live source.

What’s New in v2026.5.22

Before we get into setup, a quick overview of what this release actually delivers:

  • 4,100× faster /models endpoint — the gateway now pre-warms a provider auth-state map at startup, so per-call model listing drops from ~20 seconds to ~5 ms. This applies to all model-listing calls, not just the CLI.
  • Meeting Notes plugin — moved from core into an external source-only plugin, with Discord voice as the inaugural live source.
  • npm supply-chain hardening — shrinkwrap files and earlier acceptance checks to reduce dependency risks.
  • Windows installer improvements — safer shims, portable bootstrap, and rollback support.
  • Session picker enhancements — searchable and paginated interface for managing long session histories.
  • Narrower default sub-agent context — sub-agents now inherit only AGENTS.md and TOOLS.md by default, reducing context bloat.

What Is the Meeting Notes Plugin?

The Meeting Notes plugin is designed to capture, store, and summarize transcripts from voice conversations — most commonly meetings, calls, or Discord voice channel sessions. It operates as a source-only external plugin, meaning it plugs into OpenClaw’s SDK source-provider contract and is installed separately from the core npm package.

Key capabilities per the official release notes:

  • Auto-start capture configuration — define triggers so capture begins automatically
  • Manual transcript import — bring in transcripts from other tools
  • Read-only CLI access — via the openclaw meeting-notes command
  • Discord voice as a live source — the first and (at launch) only live source available

Note: The plugin is marked as source-only and external. This means it handles transcript ingestion and summaries, not real-time streaming audio processing. The Discord voice integration captures audio through Discord’s existing voice channel infrastructure.

Before You Begin

Make sure you’re running OpenClaw v2026.5.22 or later. You can check with:

openclaw --version

If you’re on an older version, update via npm:

npm update -g openclaw

On Windows, follow the updated installer flow described in the v2026.5.22 changelog — the new rollback support means upgrades are safer than in prior versions.

Step 1: Install the Meeting Notes Plugin

Because the Meeting Notes plugin ships as an external plugin (not bundled in core), you need to install it separately. The official plugin is available as a source-only package in the OpenClaw plugin ecosystem.

Refer to the official OpenClaw plugin documentation for the exact install command and package name — the plugin is listed under the external plugins section of the v2026.5.22 release notes.

⚠️ Accuracy note: We’re not listing a specific npm install command here because the exact package name should be confirmed from the official release page or plugin registry. Plugin packages are registered separately from the core CLI.

Step 2: Configure Discord Voice as Your Source

Discord voice integration is the first live source the Meeting Notes plugin supports. To use it, you’ll need:

  1. A Discord bot or integration configured to capture audio from a voice channel. Discord’s developer platform lets you create bots with voice channel permissions — you’ll need CONNECT and SPEAK permissions at minimum for audio access.

  2. The plugin source configuration pointing to your Discord setup. Per the release notes, the plugin supports an auto-start capture configuration — refer to the plugin’s own documentation for the config schema.

⚠️ Accuracy note: The specific configuration keys for the Discord voice source weren’t enumerated in the public release notes we reviewed. Refer to the plugin’s README or openclaw meeting-notes --help for the exact configuration syntax before writing config files.

Step 3: Access Your Meeting Notes

Once the plugin is installed and configured, the Meeting Notes CLI interface is available:

openclaw meeting-notes

This command provides read-only access to captured transcripts and summaries. You can also manually import transcripts from other sources using the import functionality — useful if you have existing recordings from Zoom, Teams, or other platforms.

What the 4,100× Performance Improvement Means for You

This is worth calling out separately because it affects more than just the /models endpoint. The root cause of the old ~20-second latency was that every call to list models triggered redundant plugin and CLI discovery work. Version v2026.5.22 eliminates this by:

  • Reusing process-stable channel catalog reads
  • Applying lazy-loading to startup-idle plugin work, core handlers, and the ACPX runtime
  • Caching plugin SDK alias maps and skipping unnecessary filesystem probes
  • Pre-warming the provider auth-state map once at gateway startup

The result: if you self-host OpenClaw or build skills that call model-listing endpoints, you should see nearly instantaneous responses where you previously waited. The one caveat: the warm-up resets after hot reloads, so the first call post-reload will still take slightly longer.

Sources

  1. OpenClaw v2026.5.22 Release Notes — GitHub
  2. r/myclaw — Community discussion: OpenClaw 5.22 just launched

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