RelayPlane

Agent ops layer for OpenClaw — observability, governance, and cost optimization with automatic failover. Never breaks your setup.

OpenRouter routes. RelayPlane observes, governs, and learns.

Agent ops for OpenClaw power users. Your agents make hundreds of API calls per session — RelayPlane gives you visibility, cost control, and governance over all of them.

What It Does

RelayPlane is an optional optimization layer that sits in your agent's request pipeline. It routes simple tasks to cheaper models, enforces budgets, and logs everything — with automatic fallback to direct provider calls if anything goes wrong.

Key principle: RelayPlane is never a dependency. If the proxy dies, your agents keep working. Zero downtime, guaranteed.

Installation

npm install -g @relayplane/proxy@latest

Quick Start

# 1. Start the proxy (runs on localhost:4100 by default)
relayplane-proxy

# 2. Add to your openclaw.json:
#    { "relayplane": { "enabled": true } }

# 3. That's it. OpenClaw routes through RelayPlane when healthy,
#    falls back to direct provider calls automatically.

⚠️ Important: Do NOT Set BASE_URL

Never do this:

# ❌ WRONG — hijacks ALL traffic, breaks OpenClaw if proxy dies
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:4100

Instead, use the config approach:

// ✅ RIGHT — openclaw.json
{
  "relayplane": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

The config approach uses a circuit breaker — if the proxy is down, traffic goes direct. The BASE_URL approach has no fallback and will take down your entire system.

Architecture

Agent → OpenClaw Gateway → Circuit Breaker → RelayPlane Proxy → Provider
                                   ↓ (on failure)
                              Direct to Provider

• Circuit breaker: 3 consecutive failures → proxy bypassed for 30s
• Auto-recovery: Health probes detect when proxy comes back
• Process management: Gateway can spawn/manage the proxy automatically

Configuration

Minimal (everything else has defaults):

{
  "relayplane": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

Full options:

{
  "relayplane": {
    "enabled": true,
    "proxyUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:4100",
    "autoStart": true,
    "circuitBreaker": {
      "failureThreshold": 3,
      "resetTimeoutMs": 30000,
      "requestTimeoutMs": 3000
    }
  }
}

Commands

Command	Description
relayplane-proxy	Start the proxy server
relayplane-proxy stats	View usage and cost breakdown
relayplane-proxy --port 8080	Custom port
relayplane-proxy --offline	No telemetry
relayplane-proxy --help	Show all options

Programmatic Usage (v1.3.0+)

import { RelayPlaneMiddleware, resolveConfig } from '@relayplane/proxy';

const config = resolveConfig({ enabled: true });
const middleware = new RelayPlaneMiddleware(config);

// Route a request — tries proxy, falls back to direct
const response = await middleware.route(request, directSend);

// Check status
const status = middleware.getStatus();
console.log(middleware.formatStatus());

Advanced: Full Agent Ops Proxy

import { createSandboxedProxyServer } from '@relayplane/proxy';

const { server, middleware } = createSandboxedProxyServer({
  enableLearning: true,    // Enable pattern detection
  enforcePolicies: true,   // Enforce budget/model policies
  relayplane: { enabled: true },  // Circuit breaker wrapping
});

await server.start();
// All three pillars active: Observes + Governs + Learns
// Circuit breaker protects against proxy failures

What's New in v1.4.0

Three Pillars — All Integrated:

• Observes (Learning Ledger) — every run captured, full decision explainability
• Governs (Policy Engine) — budget caps, model allowlists, approval gates
• Learns (Learning Engine) — pattern detection, cost suggestions, rule management

Sandbox Architecture (v1.3.0+):

• Circuit breaker — automatic failover, no more system outages
• Process manager — proxy runs as managed child process
• Health probes — active recovery detection
• Stats & observability — p50/p95/p99 latencies, request counts, circuit state

Learning Engine Endpoints (v1.4.0):

• GET /v1/analytics/summary — analytics with date range
• POST /v1/analytics/analyze — detect patterns, anomalies, generate suggestions
• GET /v1/suggestions — list pending suggestions
• POST /v1/suggestions/:id/approve / reject — suggestion workflow
• GET /v1/rules — active rules
• GET /v1/rules/:id/effectiveness — is this rule helping?

Privacy

• Your prompts stay local — never sent to RelayPlane servers
• Anonymous telemetry — only token counts, latency, model used
• Opt-out anytime — relayplane-proxy telemetry off
• Fully offline mode — relayplane-proxy --offline

Links

• Docs: https://relayplane.com/docs
• GitHub: https://github.com/RelayPlane/proxy
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@relayplane/proxy