# ADR 8: Platform-Native Message Formats

**Date**: 2026-04-28

### Decision
Each plugin sends and receives messages using its platform's native format (Hermes `MessageEvent`, openclaw message objects, Agent Zero message types) rather than a cross-platform envelope.

### Context
Platform-native message formats carry richer context (threading, state, metadata) that the platform's event loop depends on. Wrapping them in a cross-platform envelope would strip useful metadata and increase parsing overhead on every message.

### Consequences
- Plugin implementations must understand their platform's message types
- Enriched metadata (sender, topic, stream, message_id) is available to the agent naturally
- No serialization/deserialization overhead for local messages
- Each plugin's message handling code is cleaner and more idiomatic