diff --git a/src/plugins/install.ts b/src/plugins/install.ts
index 40aeb3c5a63..49ce72dcd07 100644
--- a/src/plugins/install.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/install.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import { validateRegistryNpmSpec } from "../infra/npm-registry-spec.js";
 import { extensionUsesSkippedScannerPath, isPathInside } from "../security/scan-paths.js";
 import * as skillScanner from "../security/skill-scanner.js";
 import { CONFIG_DIR, resolveUserPath } from "../utils.js";
+import { loadPluginManifest } from "./manifest.js";
 
 type PluginInstallLogger = {
   info?: (message: string) => void;
@@ -149,7 +150,17 @@ async function installPluginFromPackageDir(params: {
   }
 
   const pkgName = typeof manifest.name === "string" ? manifest.name : "";
-  const pluginId = pkgName ? unscopedPackageName(pkgName) : "plugin";
+  const npmPluginId = pkgName ? unscopedPackageName(pkgName) : "plugin";
+
+  // Prefer the canonical `id` from openclaw.plugin.json over the npm package name.
+  // This avoids a latent key-mismatch bug: if the manifest id (e.g. "memory-cognee")
+  // differs from the npm package name (e.g. "cognee-openclaw"), the plugin registry
+  // uses the manifest id as the authoritative key, so the config entry must match it.
+  const ocManifestResult = loadPluginManifest(params.packageDir);
+  const manifestPluginId =
+    ocManifestResult.ok && ocManifestResult.manifest.id ? ocManifestResult.manifest.id : undefined;
+
+  const pluginId = manifestPluginId ?? npmPluginId;
   const pluginIdError = validatePluginId(pluginId);
   if (pluginIdError) {
     return { ok: false, error: pluginIdError };
@@ -161,6 +172,12 @@ async function installPluginFromPackageDir(params: {
     };
   }
 
+  if (manifestPluginId && manifestPluginId !== npmPluginId) {
+    logger.info?.(
+      `Plugin manifest id "${manifestPluginId}" differs from npm package name "${npmPluginId}"; using manifest id as the config key.`,
+    );
+  }
+
   const packageDir = path.resolve(params.packageDir);
   const forcedScanEntries: string[] = [];
   for (const entry of extensions) {