Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Gateway fails to start because memory-lancedb plugin config is validated even when the plugin is explicitly disabled in the user config.

Steps to reproduce

Bug: memory-lancedb config validation fails even when plugin is disabled (v2026.4.8)

Summary

After updating to 2026.4.8, the gateway fails to start with a config validation error for memory-lancedb — even when the plugin is explicitly disabled or not present in the user's config at all.

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.4.8 (9ece252)
• OS: Windows 11
• Install method: npm (npm install -g openclaw)
• Node version: (npm managed)
• Setup: Local-only, Ollama + qwen2.5:3b, loopback gateway

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install or update to OpenClaw 2026.4.8
2. Have a config with no memory-lancedb entry, or with "memory-lancedb": { "enabled": false }
3. Run openclaw gateway status

Error Output

Invalid config at C:\Users\elite\.openclaw\openclaw.json:
- plugins.entries.memory-lancedb.config.embedding: invalid config: must have required property 'embedding'

Root Cause (observed)

OpenClaw 2026.4.8 appears to inject memory-lancedb as a built-in default plugin and validates its full config schema even when "enabled": false. Users with no memory-lancedb entry, or a minimal disabled entry, hit this validation wall with no clear path to fix it.

Additionally, meta.lastTouchedVersion being set to an older version causes OpenClaw to silently overwrite user config edits with its own defaults on every run — making manual fixes extremely difficult to apply and persist.

What Did NOT Work

• Removing the memory-lancedb block entirely — OpenClaw re-injects it from defaults
• Adding { "enabled": false } only — schema validation still fails
• Adding type and model fields to embedding — rejected with must NOT have additional properties
• openclaw config fix — no effect
• npm update -g openclaw — stayed on same version 2026.4.8 (9ece252)

Workaround

Patch the config directly via Node.js (bypasses Notepad paste issues on Windows):

node -e "const fs=require('fs');const f='C:\\\\Users\\\\YOUR_USERNAME\\\\.openclaw\\\\openclaw.json';const c=JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(f));c.meta.lastTouchedVersion='2026.4.8';c.meta.lastTouchedAt='2026-04-08T00:00:00.000Z';c.plugins.entries['memory-lancedb']={enabled:false,config:{embedding:{apiKey:'dummy'}}};fs.writeFileSync(f,JSON.stringify(c,null,2));console.log('Done!');"

Key findings:

• The embedding block must contain only apiKey — no type or model fields allowed
• A dummy apiKey value satisfies the schema validator even when the plugin is disabled
• meta.lastTouchedVersion must match the current version or config edits are silently overwritten

Suggested Fixes

1. Skip schema validation for plugins where "enabled": false — this is the core issue
2. Support ollama as a valid embedding type for memory-lancedb (currently rejected with must NOT have additional properties)
3. openclaw config fix should auto-patch known schema errors introduced by version upgrades
4. Document the lastTouchedVersion behavior — silent config overwrites are very confusing to debug and make manual fixes nearly impossible to apply

Impact

Any user upgrading to 2026.4.8 who does not have a fully configured memory-lancedb block (including users who have never used it) will hit this error and be unable to start their gateway.

Expected behavior

In v2026.4.5 (last known-good version), gateway started successfully with "memory-lancedb": { "enabled": false } and no config.embedding block required.

Actual behavior

Gateway fails with Invalid config: plugins.entries.memory-lancedb.config.embedding: must have required property 'embedding' even when memory-lancedb is set to "enabled": false or absent from user config entirely.

OpenClaw version

2026.4.8 (9ece252)

Operating system

Windows 11

Install method

npm global

Model

ollama

Provider / routing chain

Local-only, Ollama + qwen2.5:3b, loopback gateway

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response