Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

After upgrading from 2026.4.24 to 2026.4.25 via openclaw update, the openclaw memory status CLI command fails immediately with:

Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find package 'chokidar' imported from
~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.25-7a0a182eed63/dist/manager-C6O7HXGc.js
Did you mean to import "chokidar/index.js"?

Running openclaw doctor --fix reports all bundled plugin runtime deps as installed and completes without error, but chokidar is still absent from the plugin-runtime-deps directory after --fix completes:

ls ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.25-7a0a182eed63/node_modules/ | grep chokidar
# (no output — chokidar not present)

Steps to reproduce

1. Run the upgrade script or openclaw update from 2026.4.24 → 2026.4.25 (npm global install, Linux, node 24.14.1)

2. After upgrade completes and gateway is running, run: openclaw memory status

3. Observe ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND for chokidar from: ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.25-7a0a182eed63/dist/manager-C6O7HXGc.js

4. Run openclaw doctor --fix Observe: doctor reports all bundled plugin deps installed, completes without error.

5. Run openclaw memory status again. Observe: same ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND — chokidar still missing.

6. Verify chokidar is absent from the bundle: ls ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.25-7a0a182eed63/node_modules/ | grep chokidar (no output)

7. Workaround: cd ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.25-7a0a182eed63 npm install chokidar openclaw memory status (now succeeds)

Expected behavior

openclaw doctor --fix installs chokidar into the plugin-runtime-deps bundle, or the 2026.4.25 package includes it.

Actual behavior

chokidar is absent after both the upgrade and doctor --fix. Manual install inside the bundle directory is the only fix.

OpenClaw version

2026.4.25 (aa36ee6)

Operating system

Linux Mint, linux 6.8.0-110-generic x64, node 24.14.1

Install method

npm global (npm install -g openclaw via openclaw update)

Model

Claude-sonnet-4.5

Provider / routing chain

openrouter

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

• openclaw memory status is broken out of the box after upgrade until the manual workaround is applied
• Gateway and memory plugin function correctly (Telegram responds, memory recall works from agent turns) — this is a CLI-only breakage
• openclaw doctor --fix does not detect or repair the missing chokidar dep

Additional information

Workaround

Manually installing chokidar inside the plugin-runtime-deps bundle resolves the CLI error:

cd ~/.openclaw/plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-2026.4.25-7a0a182eed63
npm install chokidar

After this, openclaw memory status returns correct output and memory is fully operational.

Note: npm install chokidar also removed 425 existing packages from that directory (the bundle had no package.json locking them), so openclaw doctor --fix was run again afterwards to restore the other bundled deps.

Related issues

This appears to be another surface of the bundled plugin runtime dep staging regression tracked in #69842, #67038, #61686. The specific detail here is that chokidar is not included in the deps list that openclaw doctor --fix installs into plugin-runtime-deps, despite being required by dist/manager-C6O7HXGc.js.