openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug] Feishu channel crashes on Windows v2026.4.24: jiti tryNative bypasses pathToFileURL, and mirror dist/node_modules missing openclaw package [1 comments, 2 participants]

Bug Report

Feishu channel (and potentially other bundled channels) crash on Windows v2026.4.24 with two distinct but related issues:

1. jiti tryNative path bypasses pathToFileURL() conversion, passing raw C:\... paths to import()
2. Mirror dist/node_modules directory lacks openclaw package symlink, causing Cannot find package 'openclaw'

Error Messages

Issue 1 (original):

[feishu] [default] channel exited: Only URLs with a scheme in: file, data, and node are supported by the default ESM loader. On Windows, absolute paths must be valid file:// URLs. Received protocol 'c:'

Issue 2 (after fixing Issue 1):

[feishu] [default] channel exited: Cannot find package 'openclaw' imported from ...\plugin-runtime-deps\openclaw-2026.4.24-ce5f2d314190\dist\extensions\feishu\accounts-DJRdWYvk.js

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.4.24
• Node.js: v24.14.0
• OS: Windows 11 Pro (10.0.22631)
• Install method: npm install -g openclaw
• Channel: feishu

Root Cause Analysis

Issue 1: jiti tryNative bypasses pathToFileURL

Previous fixes (v2026.4.7 PR #61832, #62194, #62286) added toSafeImportPath() in src/plugins/loader.ts and disabled tryNative for bundled dist paths on Windows. However, jiti's internal tryNative code path in jiti.cjs still passes raw Windows paths to nativeImport(), bypassing the pathToFileURL() conversion that exists in nativeImportOrRequire().

In jiti.cjs, the tryNative branch:

if(e.opts.tryNative && !e.opts.transformOptions)
  try {
    if(!(t = jitiResolve(e, t, i)) && i.try) return;
    // BUG: e.nativeImport(t) passes raw Windows path, no pathToFileURL conversion
    return e.nativeImport(t).then(...)
  }

While nativeImportOrRequire() has the conversion:

function nativeImportOrRequire(e, t, i) {
  return i && e.nativeImport
    ? e.nativeImport(function(e) {
        return kt && isAbsolute(e) ? pathToFileURL(e) : e  // pathToFileURL conversion HERE
      }(t)).then(...)
    : jitiInteropDefault(e, e.nativeRequire(t))
}

The tryNative fast-path bypasses nativeImportOrRequire() and calls e.nativeImport(t) directly, where t is a resolved absolute Windows path like C:\Users\...\accounts-DJRdWYvk.js.

Why shouldPreferNativeJiti() / tryNative: false guard didn't help: The resolvePluginLoaderJitiTryNative() function in sdk-alias correctly sets tryNative: false for bundled dist paths on Windows. However, when tryNative is true (for non-dist paths or when the guard doesn't apply), the tryNative branch in jiti's CJS code still has the pathToFileURL gap.

Issue 2: Mirror dist/node_modules missing openclaw package

When prepareBundledPluginRuntimeRoot creates a mirror directory under plugin-runtime-deps/openclaw-<version>-<hash>/, the mirror's dist/ directory contains extension files but no node_modules/openclaw package. When tryNative successfully loads a bundled entry module (after the pathToFileURL fix), Node.js ESM resolver tries to resolve bare specifiers like import ... from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/text-runtime", which requires finding the openclaw package in node_modules. Since it doesn't exist in the mirror directory, resolution fails.

Workaround / Fix Applied

Fix for Issue 1: Patch jiti.cjs

In node_modules/jiti/dist/jiti.cjs, change the tryNative branch to convert Windows absolute paths before passing to nativeImport:

// Before (buggy):
return e.nativeImport(t).then(i=>(!1===e.opts.moduleCache&&delete e.nativeRequire.cache[t],jitiInteropDefault(e,i)));

// After (fixed):
return e.nativeImport(kt&&isAbsolute(t)?pathToFileURL(t):t).then(i=>(!1===e.opts.moduleCache&&delete e.nativeRequire.cache[t],jitiInteropDefault(e,i)));

This mirrors the same pathToFileURL() conversion already present in nativeImportOrRequire().

Fix for Issue 2: Create node_modules junction

New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path "<mirror-dist>\node_modules\openclaw" -Target "<original-openclaw-install-path>"

Reproduction Steps

1. Install OpenClaw v2026.4.24 globally on Windows: npm install -g openclaw
2. Configure a feishu channel in openclaw.json
3. Start the gateway: openclaw gateway --port 18789
4. Observe the feishu channel crash with ERR_UNSUPPORTED_ESM_URL_SCHEME
5. After applying Fix 1, observe Cannot find package 'openclaw' error
6. After applying Fix 2, feishu channel starts successfully

Expected Behavior

Bundled channels (feishu, telegram, discord, etc.) should load and start on Windows without ESM URL scheme errors, regardless of installation path or drive letter.

Related Issues

• #61795 - Original plugin loader ESM fix (closed as fixed in v2026.4.7)
• #61832 - toSafeImportPath() PR (merged)
• #62194 - Bundled channel entry contract Windows fix (merged)
• #62286 - Keep bundled dist loads off native Jiti on Windows (merged)
• #62374 - ESM URL scheme error report (closed as fixed)
• #62502 - Non-C drive ESM issue (open)