openclaw - ✅(Solved) Fix [Bug]: Gateway crash-loop on 2026.4.9 — ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined (missing destructured variable in loadOpenClawPlugins) [2 pull requests, 2 comments, 3 participants]

openclaw2026-04-10 14:47:23

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openclaw/openclaw#64357•Fetched 2026-04-11 06:15:13

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Author

hteo1337

Participants

hteo1337

Jah-yee

openclaw-barnacle[bot]

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referenced ×5cross-referenced ×4commented ×2

Error Message

Gateway failed to start: ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined

Root Cause

In the compiled loader file (loader-BSIqIOsD.js), function loadOpenClawPlugins (line ~2334) calls resolvePluginLoadCacheContext(options) and destructures the result:

// line 2336
const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, onlyPluginIds,
  includeSetupOnlyChannelPlugins, preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins, shouldActivate,
  shouldLoadModules, cacheKey, runtimeSubagentMode } = resolvePluginLoadCacheContext(options);

resolvePluginLoadCacheContext returns activationSourceConfig in its result object (line ~2025), but the destructuring above omits it. Later, line ~2446 references activationSourceConfig as a bare variable in a diagnostic log:

if (shouldActivate) logger.warn(`[plugins-diag] ... activation.plugins=${JSON.stringify(activationSourceConfig?.plugins ?? null)}`);

This causes a ReferenceError because activationSourceConfig was never assigned in that scope.

Fix Action

Fix

Add activationSourceConfig to the destructuring:

- const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, ...
+ const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSourceConfig, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, ...

One-line fix, no behavior change — just extracts a variable that's already returned but never assigned.

PR fix notes

PR #64387: fix(plugins): include activationSourceConfig in loadOpenClawPlugins destructuring

Repository: openclaw/openclaw
Author: hteo1337
State: open | merged: False
Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/64387

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

resolvePluginLoadCacheContext returns activationSourceConfig in its result object (used to thread the original raw config through to activation-source creation)
loadOpenClawPlugins destructures the result but omits activationSourceConfig
The compiled build (2026.4.9, loader-BSIqIOsD.js) injects a diagnostic log inside loadOpenClawPlugins that references activationSourceConfig as a bare variable
Since the variable was never destructured, this causes ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined, crash-looping the gateway on every startup attempt

One-line fix

Add activationSourceConfig to the destructuring at loadOpenClawPlugins line ~1092.

Reproduction

Install OpenClaw 2026.4.9 via pnpm/npm
Start the gateway (openclaw gateway start or via LaunchAgent)
Gateway crash-loops: starting... → loading configuration… → resolving authentication… → crash → repeat every ~4s
~/.openclaw/logs/gateway.err.log shows: Gateway failed to start: ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined

Evidence

Gateway error log (repeating every ~4 seconds):

2026-04-10T14:14:03.652+03:00 Gateway failed to start: ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined
2026-04-10T14:14:07.982+03:00 Gateway failed to start: ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined
2026-04-10T14:14:12.218+03:00 Gateway failed to start: ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined

Compiled code trace

In loader-BSIqIOsD.js:

Line ~1996 — resolvePluginLoadCacheContext declares and returns activationSourceConfig:

const activationSourceConfig = options.activationSourceConfig ?? options.config ?? {};
// ...
return { env, cfg, normalized, activationSourceConfig, activationSource, ... };

Line ~2336 — loadOpenClawPlugins destructures but omits it:

const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, ... } = resolvePluginLoadCacheContext(options);
//                              ^ missing activationSourceConfig here

Line ~2446 — a diagnostic log references it as a bare variable:

if (shouldActivate) logger.warn(`[plugins-diag] ... activation.plugins=${JSON.stringify(activationSourceConfig?.plugins ?? null)}`);
// ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined

Environment

OpenClaw: 2026.4.9 (0512059)
Node.js: v25.9.0
OS: macOS 26.3.1 (arm64)

AI-assisted

AI-assisted (Claude Code / Opus 4.6)
Tested locally: applied equivalent patch to compiled loader-BSIqIOsD.js, confirmed gateway starts successfully
I understand what the code does

Related issues

Fixes #64357

Related (same symptom family — false plugins.allow is empty warnings):

#62049, #64170, #62521, #63693, #63182

Possibly related (plugin loading crashes/hangs):

#64306, #64354

Test plan

pnpm build && pnpm check && pnpm test passes
Gateway starts without crash-loop on fresh install
openclaw doctor no longer shows activationSourceConfig ReferenceError

Changed files

scripts/check-no-raw-channel-fetch.mjs (modified, +1/-1)
src/plugins/loader.ts (modified, +2/-0)
test/scripts/lint-suppressions.test.ts (modified, +1/-0)

PR #64430: fix: keep activationSourceConfig in plugin loader context

Repository: openclaw/openclaw
Author: EronFan
State: closed | merged: False
Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/64430

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

destructure activationSourceConfig from resolvePluginLoadCacheContext() inside loadOpenClawPlugins
explicitly retain the variable in scope so diagnostic paths cannot regress into a ReferenceError
add a narrow regression test guarding the loader destructuring

Testing

node source guard for src/plugins/loader.ts
attempted targeted Vitest run for src/plugins/loader.test.ts (the suite did not complete in this constrained environment, so I kept the explicit regression test in place)

Fixes #64357

Changed files

src/plugins/loader.test.ts (modified, +7/-77)
src/plugins/loader.ts (modified, +2/-0)

Code Example

Gateway failed to start: ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined

---

// line 2336
const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, onlyPluginIds,
  includeSetupOnlyChannelPlugins, preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins, shouldActivate,
  shouldLoadModules, cacheKey, runtimeSubagentMode } = resolvePluginLoadCacheContext(options);

---

if (shouldActivate) logger.warn(`[plugins-diag] ... activation.plugins=${JSON.stringify(activationSourceConfig?.plugins ?? null)}`);

---

- const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, ...
+ const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSourceConfig, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, ...

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Bug Description

OpenClaw 2026.4.9 gateway crash-loops on startup with:

Gateway failed to start: ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined

The gateway never reaches ready — it loops through loading configuration → resolving authentication → starting → crash every ~4 seconds indefinitely.

Root Cause

In the compiled loader file (loader-BSIqIOsD.js), function loadOpenClawPlugins (line ~2334) calls resolvePluginLoadCacheContext(options) and destructures the result:

// line 2336
const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, onlyPluginIds,
  includeSetupOnlyChannelPlugins, preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins, shouldActivate,
  shouldLoadModules, cacheKey, runtimeSubagentMode } = resolvePluginLoadCacheContext(options);

if (shouldActivate) logger.warn(`[plugins-diag] ... activation.plugins=${JSON.stringify(activationSourceConfig?.plugins ?? null)}`);

This causes a ReferenceError because activationSourceConfig was never assigned in that scope.

Fix

Add activationSourceConfig to the destructuring:

- const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, ...
+ const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSourceConfig, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, ...

One-line fix, no behavior change — just extracts a variable that's already returned but never assigned.

Environment

OpenClaw: 2026.4.9 (0512059)
Node.js: v25.9.0
OS: macOS 26.3.1 (arm64)
Install: pnpm global (/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw)

Related Issues

This likely explains or contributes to:

#62049 — False-positive "plugins.allow is empty" warning
#64170 — normalizePluginsConfig drops slots.contextEngine, false warning
#62521 — plugins.allow config ignored, false warning fires 13+ times
#63693 — False positive plugins.allow warning from core memory search
#63182 — False plugin provenance warnings for npm-installed global plugin

And may relate to:

#64306 — CLI commands hang in ensureCliPluginRegistryLoaded (if plugin load crashes silently)
#64354 — Memory CLI hangs indefinitely on Linux

extent analysis

TL;DR

Apply the one-line fix to the loadOpenClawPlugins function by adding activationSourceConfig to the destructuring assignment.

Guidance

Verify the fix by checking if the activationSourceConfig variable is correctly assigned after the destructuring change.
Confirm that the gateway starts up successfully and reaches the ready state without crash-looping.
Review related issues (#62049, #64170, #62521, #63693, #63182) to determine if this fix resolves or mitigates those problems.
Test the fix on different environments (e.g., Linux) to ensure it's not specific to macOS.

Example

The corrected code should look like this:

const { env, cfg, normalized, activationSourceConfig, activationSource, autoEnabledReasons, onlyPluginIds,
  includeSetupOnlyChannelPlugins, preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins, shouldActivate,
  shouldLoadModules, cacheKey, runtimeSubagentMode } = resolvePluginLoadCacheContext(options);

Notes

This fix assumes that the resolvePluginLoadCacheContext function correctly returns the activationSourceConfig property in its result object.

Recommendation

Apply the workaround by adding activationSourceConfig to the destructuring assignment, as this fix is a simple and targeted solution to the identified issue.

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openclaw - ✅(Solved) Fix [Bug]: Gateway crash-loop on 2026.4.9 — ReferenceError: activationSourceConfig is not defined (missing destructured variable in loadOpenClawPlugins) [2 pull requests, 2 comments, 3 participants]

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Error Message

Root Cause

Fix Action

Fix

PR fix notes

PR #64387: fix(plugins): include activationSourceConfig in loadOpenClawPlugins destructuring

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

One-line fix

Reproduction

Evidence

Compiled code trace

Environment

AI-assisted

Related issues

Test plan

Changed files

PR #64430: fix: keep activationSourceConfig in plugin loader context

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

Testing

Changed files

Code Example

Bug Description

Root Cause

Fix

Environment

Related Issues

extent analysis

TL;DR

Guidance

Example

Notes

Recommendation

Still need to ship something?

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