Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Brave plugin enabled in openclaw.json (plugins.entries.brave.enabled: true) but does not appear in the gateway's active plugin list at boot. web_search tool is registered in the tool policy but marked "unavailable in the current runtime/provider/model/config." Agents configured with web_search in alsoAllow do not see it in their available tools. This is the second "config says enabled, runtime doesn't load" bug on 2026.4.15 — see also #68241 (claude-opus-4-7 model validation).

Steps to reproduce

1. Upgrade OpenClaw to 2026.4.15 via npm update -g openclaw
2. Enable Brave plugin: openclaw plugins enable brave
3. Restart gateway: systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway
4. Check gateway log: boot shows "6 plugins: acpx, browser, device-pair, phone-control, talk-voice, telegram" — Brave not listed
5. Spawn an agent with web_search in alsoAllow
6. Agent reports web_search not in available tools
7. Gateway log: "tools.profile (messaging) allowlist contains unknown entries (web_search). These entries are shipped core tools but unavailable in the current runtime/provider/model/config."

Expected behavior

Brave plugin should load at boot and register web_search as an available tool for agents that include it in their tool policy. openclaw plugins list shows Brave as "loaded" — it should appear in the gateway's active plugin list and the tool should be available to agents.

Actual behavior

Gateway boot log: "6 plugins: acpx, browser, device-pair, phone-control, talk-voice, telegram" — Brave absent. When agents attempt to use web_search, gateway logs: "tools.profile (messaging) allowlist contains unknown entries (web_search). These entries are shipped core tools but unavailable in the current runtime/provider/model/config." Agent runtime toolset confirms: web_search not listed (web_fetch IS available). BRAVE_API_KEY env var is set and valid in the gateway systemd environment.

OpenClaw version

2026.4.15 (041266a)

Operating system

Ubuntu 24.04 / WSL2 on Windows 11 Pro

Install method

npm global

Model

google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview (sub-agent), anthropic/claude-opus-4-6 (main)

Provider / routing chain

openclaw gateway -> anthropic/google API (direct, no proxy)

Additional provider/model setup details

BRAVE_API_KEY is set in the gateway systemd environment. openclaw plugins list shows Brave as "loaded" with status "loaded" (not "disabled"). Config: plugins.entries.brave.enabled: true. No additional Brave config (no API key path override, no custom endpoint). Agent config includes web_search in alsoAllow array alongside web_fetch (which works) and browser (which works).

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

Affected: All agents needing keyword web search capability Severity: Medium (workaround exists via web_fetch and browser) Frequency: 100% — web_search never loads Consequence: Agents cannot perform keyword searches, must use URL-based web_fetch or browser navigation instead. Briefing pipeline uses workaround successfully but keyword search would improve research quality.

Additional information

Pattern match: This is the second "config enabled, runtime doesn't load" bug on 2026.4.15. See #68241 for the Opus 4.7 model validation failure — same version, same pattern (config says enabled/configured, gateway doesn't register it at runtime). Both bugs share the characteristic that openclaw plugins list reports the component as loaded/configured, but the gateway boot log and runtime behaviour show it absent. Workaround: agents use web_fetch and browser for web research.