openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix 2026.4.20-beta.2 on WSL Ubuntu 22.04: bundled extension runtime deps missing after install/onboard, doctor --fix reports complete [2 comments, 3 participants]

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Summary

On WSL Ubuntu 22.04, a fresh install of OpenClaw 2026.4.20-beta.2 left bundled extension runtime dependencies missing.

openclaw doctor --fix reported Doctor complete., but openclaw onboard still failed with missing-module errors from bundled extensions, for example:

• Cannot find module '@larksuiteoapi/node-sdk'
• Cannot find module 'nostr-tools'

The only way to get it working was to manually install all dependencies declared by dist/extensions/*/package.json into the installed OpenClaw package root.

Environment

• OpenClaw: 2026.4.20-beta.2 (4e25479)
• OS: WSL Ubuntu 22.04
• Node: v22.22.2

Install Methods Tested

1) Initial Install Path

• Installer script
• Service path ended up under:

  ~/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw

2) Clean Reinstall

Performed a full clean reinstall to the local-prefix install path:

openclaw gateway uninstall
npm uninstall -g openclaw
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install-cli.sh | bash -s -- --version 2026.4.20-beta.2
~/.openclaw/bin/openclaw gateway install --force
~/.openclaw/bin/openclaw gateway restart

The reinstall still exhibited the same missing bundled runtime dependencies during onboarding.

Expected Behavior

A fresh install followed by:

openclaw doctor --fix
openclaw onboard

should work without requiring any manual npm install operations inside the OpenClaw package directory.

Actual Behavior

openclaw onboard failed with errors such as:

Error: Cannot find module '@larksuiteoapi/node-sdk'
Require stack:
/home/<user>/.openclaw/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/extensions/feishu/client-yWGpoGkZ.js

After manually installing that package, onboarding failed again:

Error: Cannot find module 'nostr-tools'
Require stack:
/home/<user>/.openclaw/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/extensions/nostr/setup-surface-d0cfZ0y8.js

This indicates the issue is not specific to Feishu, but rather a broader bundled runtime dependency problem.

Additionally, on the older ~/.npm-global install, running the postinstall repair script failed with:

Error: unsafe dist entry: dist/extensions/microsoft/node_modules/.bin/node-edge-tts

What doctor --fix Did

openclaw doctor --fix output:

Doctor complete.

It did not detect or repair the missing bundled extension dependencies.

Workaround That Fixed It

Manually batch-installed all dependencies declared by bundled extension manifests:

cd ~/.openclaw/lib/node_modules/openclaw && npm install --omit=dev --no-save --package-lock=false --ignore-scripts --legacy-peer-deps $(node -e 'const fs=require("fs"),path=require("path");const root=path.join(process.cwd(),"dist","extensions");const seen=new Map();for(const entry of fs.readdirSync(root,{withFileTypes:true})){if(!entry.isDirectory())continue;const pkgPath=path.join(root,entry.name,"package.json");if(!fs.existsSync(pkgPath))continue;const pkg=JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgPath,"utf8"));for(const [name,version] of Object.entries(pkg.dependencies||{})){if(!seen.has(name))seen.set(name,name+"@"+version);}}process.stdout.write([...seen.values()].join(" "));')

After running:

~/.openclaw/bin/openclaw gateway restart
~/.openclaw/bin/openclaw onboard

everything worked as expected.

Notes

This appears to be caused by one or more of the following:

• Bundled plugin runtime dependencies are not being mirrored or installed correctly in this beta
• doctor --fix is not detecting all missing bundled runtime dependencies
• Install/update process may leave stale or unsafe dist/extensions/*/node_modules state behind

Steps to reproduce

On WSL Ubuntu 22.04 with Node v22.22.2, install OpenClaw 2026.4.20-beta.2 via either: the installer script, or a clean reinstall using: openclaw gateway uninstall npm uninstall -g openclaw curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install-cli.sh | bash -s -- --version 2026.4.20-beta.2 ~/.openclaw/bin/openclaw gateway install --force ~/.openclaw/bin/openclaw gateway restart Run: openclaw doctor --fix Run: openclaw onboard Observe onboarding fail with missing bundled extension runtime dependencies, e.g.: Cannot find module '@larksuiteoapi/node-sdk' Cannot find module 'nostr-tools'

Expected behavior

NOT_ENOUGH_INFO

Actual behavior

openclaw onboard fails during onboarding with missing module errors from bundled extensions, including:

Error: Cannot find module '@larksuiteoapi/node-sdk' Require stack: /home/<user>/.openclaw/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/extensions/feishu/client-yWGpoGkZ.js After installing that, another failure: Error: Cannot find module 'nostr-tools' Require stack: /home/<user>/.openclaw/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/extensions/nostr/setup-surface-d0cfZ0y8.js

Additionally, openclaw doctor --fix reports Doctor complete. and does not flag or repair the issue.

OpenClaw version

2026.4.20-beta.2

Operating system

Ubuntu 22.04 WSL

Install method

npm

Model

openai-codex/gpt-5.4

Provider / routing chain

openclaw

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response