OpenClaw has been getting faster and smaller at the same time. The performance work is visible in agent turns. The dependency work is quieter, but it cuts npm size, install size, audit surface, and native package surprises.
The package grew while OpenClaw gained channels, providers, media, memory, and plugin SDK surface. Then we started moving heavier plugin dependency cones out of core. The full release rows and caveats live in the technical report.
5.1x faster
v2026.4.14
9.8sv2026.5.28
1.9s
4.0x faster
v2026.4.14
7.5sv2026.5.28
1.9s
15% lower
v2026.4.14
686 MBv2026.5.28
581 MB
59% smaller
2026.3.31
43.3 MB2026.5.28
17.9 MB
300
Latest release, down 19% from 5.27 in the same fresh-install audit.
Down 53% from the monthly high.
smaller
5.28 cuts nested openclaw/node_modules
from 656.1 MiB to 259.7 MiB in the local audit. Still not fully gone.
9,082
Down 27% from 5.27 because 5.28 no longer ships the internal dist/plugin-sdk/src/**
declaration mirror.
More product, larger package
The npm package grew from 82.9 MB unpacked to 182.6 MB unpacked while the surface area expanded.
Plugin extraction becomes visible
Bedrock, Slack, OpenShell, Anthropic Vertex, Matrix, and WhatsApp move out of the core dependency path.
Shrinkwrap exposed bad package shape
npm materialized a large nested tree with every canvas platform package.
Latest release: faster turns, much smaller installs
17.9 MB published tarball, 300 installed package roots, and a 361.7 MiB fresh install in the local audit.
Compared with 5.27: cold turns down 14.5%, warm turns down 16.0%, install size down 52.8%.
The direction is simple: keep core small, move optional capabilities into plugins, make dependency ownership explicit, and measure the user-visible effects. The 5.27 and 5.28 performance rows are repeat-3 mock-provider workflow runs from release branches; the install row is a fresh local npm install with scripts disabled. Useful for spotting large shifts, not for pretending every millisecond is a benchmark law.
For methodology, caveats, per-release rows, and the shrinkwrap boundary audit, read the technical report. Growth, here, looks more like molting than adding.