openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Bug: memory-core dreaming cron job never registered due to gateway:startup hook timing race [1 comments, 1 participants]

Description

The memory-core plugin's dreaming cron job is never registered because of a startup timing race condition.

Root Cause

In server.impl-WjqjRArz.js (line ~27181), the gateway:startup hook is triggered via setTimeout(250ms):

// startup hook fires early
setTimeout(() => {
    triggerInternalHook(createInternalHookEvent("gateway", "startup", ...));
}, 250);

// plugin services start AFTER the timeout fires
let pluginServices = await startPluginServices({ ... });

The memory-core plugin calls registerShortTermPromotionDreaming(api) inside its register() method, which registers a hook for "gateway:startup". But by the time startPluginServices completes and the plugin's register() runs, the gateway:startup event has already been dispatched (250ms earlier). The hook handler is registered but never called.

As a result, reconcileShortTermDreamingCronJob() never executes, and no dreaming cron job is ever created.

Observed Behavior

• Gateway logs show "ready (3 plugins, 0.8s)" but zero dreaming-related log output.
• ~/.openclaw/cron/jobs.json contains no dreaming cron job.
• ~/.openclaw/workspace/DREAMS.md is never created.
• ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/.dreams/ never gets dreaming reports.
• On April 7, the dreaming cron was created once ("memory-core: created managed dreaming cron job."), but after a Gateway crash-restart on April 8, it was removed and never re-created despite 8+ subsequent restarts.

Workaround

Manually adding the dreaming cron job to jobs.json while the gateway is running works — the job is not removed at runtime. However, on the next gateway restart, the internal cron state may not preserve manually-added jobs.

Environment

• OpenClaw: 2026.4.5 → 2026.4.8 (both affected)
• Node: v22.22.0
• OS: Linux 6.8.0-106-generic (x64)
• Config: plugins.entries.memory-core.config.dreaming.enabled: true, plugins.slots.memory: "memory-core"

Suggested Fix

Either:

1. Trigger gateway:startup after startPluginServices completes, or
2. Add a late-registration mechanism that fires newly registered "gateway:startup" hooks immediately if the event has already occurred, or
3. Call reconcileShortTermDreamingCronJob() from a different lifecycle hook that fires after plugins are loaded.

Relevant Source

• Hook trigger: server.impl-WjqjRArz.js:27181
• Plugin register: extensions/memory-core/index.js:683 (registerShortTermPromotionDreaming(api))
• Hook registration: dreaming-looUjKfS.js:1458 (api.registerHook("gateway:startup", ...))
• Reconcile function: dreaming-looUjKfS.js:1268 (reconcileShortTermDreamingCronJob)