Summary

When downgrading from OpenClaw 2026.4.x back to 2026.3.2, the openclaw.json written by the newer version contains keys and value formats that are invalid in 2026.3.2. The gateway starts with silent config errors that break Discord channel connectivity and LLM responses, with no actionable guidance.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11
• Node.js: v25.5.0
• Downgraded from: 2026.4.24 → 2026.3.2

Steps to Reproduce

1. Run OpenClaw 2026.4.24 — it auto-migrates openclaw.json with new keys
2. Downgrade: npm install -g [email protected] (e.g. due to the Windows Discord ESM crash in #71749)
3. Restart OpenClaw
4. Observe openclaw doctor output

What Goes Wrong

openclaw doctor reports three classes of errors, none of which have an automated fix:

1. Unrecognized key: imageGenerationModel

2026.4.x adds agents.defaults.imageGenerationModel to openclaw.json. 2026.3.2 does not recognize this key and rejects the config block. Additionally, removing it manually leaves a trailing comma in the JSON (since it was the last key in the object), resulting in a JSON syntax error that silently breaks model routing.

Invalid config: agents.defaults: Unrecognized key: "imageGenerationModel"

2. Invalid tools.web.search.provider value

2026.4.x adds "tavily" as a valid search provider. 2026.3.2 only accepts "brave", "perplexity", "grok", "gemini", "kimi".

Invalid config: tools.web.search.provider: Invalid input (allowed: "brave", "perplexity", "grok", "gemini", "kimi")

3. Invalid channels.discord.streaming format

2026.4.x migrates "streaming": "off" (string) to "streaming": { "mode": "off" } (object). 2026.3.2 only accepts the string form.

Invalid config: channels.discord.streaming: Invalid input (allowed: true, false, "off", "partial", "block", "progress")

The Discord channel crashes on startup due to error #3, leaving the bot offline.

4. Stale plugin entries (warnings, not errors)

2026.4.x adds plugin entries for tavily, google, openai, anthropic, browser to plugins.entries. These generate warnings in 2026.3.2 but are silently ignored, cluttering the log.

Expected Behavior

• openclaw doctor (or startup) detects that openclaw.json was written by a newer version and warns the user clearly:

  ⚠️ Config was last written by OpenClaw 2026.4.24; current version is 2026.3.2. Some keys may be invalid. Run openclaw doctor --fix to migrate down.

• openclaw doctor --fix should be able to strip/rewrite incompatible keys for the current version, or at minimum list exactly which keys need manual removal.
• The JSON output of doctor --fix should never produce invalid JSON (trailing comma issue).

Workaround

Manually edit openclaw.json to:

1. Remove agents.defaults.imageGenerationModel
2. Fix the resulting trailing comma
3. Change tools.web.search.provider back to "gemini"
4. Change channels.discord.streaming from { "mode": "off" } back to "off"
5. Remove 2026.4.x-only plugin entries from plugins.entries

Suggested Fix / PR Opportunity

• Add a "minVersion" or "writtenByVersion" field to openclaw.json and check it on startup
• Implement downgrade-aware config migration in doctor --fix (strip keys unknown to current version, rewrite changed value formats)
• Guard JSON serialization so removed keys never leave trailing commas

Happy to test a fix on Windows 11 + Node 25.