openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: announce bug [2 comments, 2 participants]

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Summary

When using sessions_send for inter-agent communication, messages are broadcast to the main agent session by default, causing memory/context pollution for the administrator agent.

Steps to reproduce

Add a deliveryMode parameter to sessions_send:

{
  "sessionKey": "agent:ludehua:main",
  "message": "Hello",
  "deliveryMode": "direct"  // or "announce" (default)
}

Alternative: Add a configuration option:

{
  "session": {
    "agentToAgent": {
      "maxPingPongTurns": 5,
      "announceMode": "target_only"  // "all" | "target_only" | "none"
    }
  }
}

Expected behavior

• Ability to specify a deliveryMode parameter (e.g., "direct" vs "announce")
• When deliveryMode: "direct", messages should only be sent to the target session without broadcasting

Current Workaround

Agents can reply ANNOUNCE_SKIP during the announce step to stay silent, but this doesn't prevent the message from being sent to the main agent in the first place.

Actual behavior

• sessions_send sends messages to the target session
• An "announce step" runs after the primary run completes
• The announce is broadcast to related sessions (including main agent)
• This causes the main agent's context to be polluted with inter-agent messages

OpenClaw version

2026.3.08

Operating system

ubuntu24.04

Install method

No response

Model

glm-5

Provider / routing chain

zai

Config file / key location

No response

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

• Priority: Medium
• Use Case: Multi-agent setups where agents communicate privately
• Workaround Available: Yes (ANNOUNCE_SKIP), but doesn't fully solve the problem

Additional information

No response