OpenClaw's ACPX coding-agent harness just gained a significant upgrade: the built-in agent registry has grown from 5 entries to 13, and every new agent ships with a pinned, zero-config npx command so you can launch any of them without hunting through documentation.
Merged PR #55476 by @vincentkoc aligns OpenClaw's local registry with the upstream openclaw/acpx source, closing a drift that had kept several popular agents invisible to the harness's intent detection.
What's New in the Registry
Eight agents join the existing five (codex, claude, gemini, pi, and one other):
- copilot — GitHub Copilot agent adapter
- cursor — Cursor IDE agent via ACP
- droid — Android-native coding assistant
- iflow — workflow-focused coding agent
- kilocode — open-source VS Code extension agent
- kiro — Amazon's new vibe-coding agent
- openclaw — OpenClaw's own self-referential ACP agent
- qwen — Alibaba's Qwen coding model via ACP
Alongside the new entries, existing agents received tighter version pins:
| Agent | Command |
|---|---|
| codex | npx @zed-industries/codex-acp@^0.9.5 |
| claude | npx -y @zed-industries/claude-agent-acp@^0.21.0 |
| pi | npx pi-acp@^0.0.22 |
| gemini | gemini --acp |
Version-pinned commands mean openclaw update can't accidentally drop you onto an incompatible agent release between runs.
Intent Detection Gets Smarter
Because the system prompt and config help text are updated in the same PR, OpenClaw can now correctly detect intent when you say "use cursor" or "run with copilot" — even if you haven't explicitly configured those harness IDs. The harness hints now list cursor, gemini, and openclaw as representative examples alongside the classic codex/claude pair.
How to Use the New Agents
If you're running OpenClaw with an ACPX-compatible session, pick any agent by setting runtime: "acp" and the agentId:
agents:
- name: cursor-agent
runtime:
type: acp
acp:
agent: cursor
No additional install step needed — ACPX resolves the npx command from the built-in registry and launches it on demand.
For Cursor specifically, the updated skill docs add an explicit override guidance section, since Cursor's ACP adapter ships separately from the IDE itself.
Why This Matters
The previous 5-agent registry meant anyone using Kiro, Copilot, or Kilocode had to manually specify raw npx commands in their config — a friction point that made ACPX feel less polished than it actually is. With 13 first-class entries and pinned versions, the harness now covers the majority of actively maintained ACP-compatible coding agents in a single zero-config registry.
The full change is already in main and will ship in the next numbered OpenClaw release. Track it at openclaw/openclaw#55476.