openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Control UI Markdown Preview rewrites local file links into Gateway routes [1 pull requests]

Summary

Local absolute file links rendered in Control UI Markdown Preview are treated as same-origin Gateway routes instead of opening or downloading the local file.

Bug type

UI / Control UI file-link handling

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.5.18
• Platform: macOS
• Gateway / Control UI URL: https://127.0.0.1:18789/
• File type observed: .docx

What happened

An agent generated a Word document and replied with a Markdown link using a local absolute path:

[example.docx](/Users/<user>/.openclaw/data/<plugin-or-skill>/output/example.docx)

In the Control UI Markdown Preview, the link is clickable, but clicking it opens a new page inside the OpenClaw Gateway origin, for example:

https://127.0.0.1:18789/Users/<user>/.openclaw/data/<plugin-or-skill>/output/example.docx/chat?session=agent%3Amain%3Adashboard%3A...

This keeps the user inside the OpenClaw web app instead of opening/downloading the generated .docx file.

Expected behavior

Generated local artifact links should have a reliable way to open or download the file from the Control UI.

Possible acceptable behaviors:

• Render local absolute file paths as plain text instead of clickable same-origin links.
• Provide a safe download/open endpoint for generated artifacts.
• Preserve an artifact-specific link format that the Control UI can handle intentionally.
• If direct local file opening is intentionally unsupported in browsers, show an explicit UI hint instead of producing a misleading clickable link.

Reproduction steps

1. Ask an OpenClaw agent in Control UI to generate a .docx file under a local path such as ~/.openclaw/data/<plugin-or-skill>/output/....
2. Have the agent return the file as a Markdown link using an absolute local path beginning with /Users/....
3. Open the rendered Markdown Preview.
4. Click the file link.

Actual result

The browser navigates to a same-origin Gateway URL under https://127.0.0.1:18789/Users/... and remains inside the OpenClaw UI.

Impact

This makes generated local artifacts look clickable but not actually usable from the Control UI. Users have to manually copy the local path and open it outside OpenClaw.

Notes

This may be expected browser behavior for root-relative links, but from the Control UI user's perspective it is confusing because the link appears to point to a generated file artifact.