openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: memory: qmd binary unavailable via subprocess spawn (`/opt/homebrew/bin/qmd` ENOENT) despite binary existing in shell, causing fallback to builtin backend [1 participants]

Warning log

warn memory {"subsystem":"memory"} qmd binary unavailable (/opt/homebrew/bin/qmd); falling back to builtin: spawn /opt/homebrew/bin/qmd ENOENT

openclaw memory status --deep

[lcm] Ignoring sessions matching 1 pattern(s): agent:*:cron:** [lcm] Plugin loaded (enabled=true, db=/Users/sompisjunsui/.openclaw/lcm.db, threshold=0.75) [lcm] Compaction summarization model: anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5 (override)

🦞 OpenClaw 2026.4.8 (9ece252) — I can run local, remote, or purely on vibes—results may vary with DNS.

│ ◇ │ ◇ Memory Search (main) Provider: qmd (requested: qmd) Model: qmd Sources: memory Indexed: 27/0 files · 27 chunks Dirty: no Store: ~/.openclaw/agents/main/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite Workspace: ~/.openclaw/workspaces Dreaming: off Embeddings: unavailable Embeddings error: QMD status probe failed: qmd status timed out after 5000ms By source: memory · 27/0 files · 27 chunks Vector: unavailable Vector error: QMD status probe failed: qmd status timed out after 5000ms Batch: disabled (failures 0/0) Recall store: 0 entries · 0 promoted · 0 concept-tagged · 0 spaced Recall path: ~/.openclaw/workspaces/memory/.dreams/short-term-recall.json QMD audit: /.openclaw/agents/main/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite · 8613888 bytes · 3 collections Issues: memory directory missing (/.openclaw/workspaces/memory)

Memory Search (writer) Provider: qmd (requested: qmd) Model: qmd Sources: memory Indexed: 27/0 files · 27 chunks Dirty: no Store: ~/.openclaw/agents/writer/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite Workspace: ~/.openclaw/workspaces/writer Dreaming: off Embeddings: unavailable Embeddings error: QMD status probe failed: qmd status timed out after 5000ms By source: memory · 27/0 files · 27 chunks Vector: unavailable Vector error: QMD status probe failed: qmd status timed out after 5000ms Batch: disabled (failures 0/0) Recall store: 0 entries · 0 promoted · 0 concept-tagged · 0 spaced Recall path: ~/.openclaw/workspaces/writer/memory/.dreams/short-term-recall.json QMD audit: /.openclaw/agents/writer/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite · 7901184 bytes · 3 collections Issues: memory directory missing (/.openclaw/workspaces/writer/memory)

Evidence collected

• Binary reportedly exists at /opt/homebrew/bin/qmd
• Binary is callable from shell
• OpenClaw still receives ENOENT when spawning it internally
• Wrapper/path-variant attempts did not resolve the issue
• Temporary workaround is fallback to builtin memory backend

TL;DR

The most likely fix is to ensure the qmd binary is accessible and executable by the user running the OpenClaw process, potentially by adjusting the PATH environment variable or file system permissions.

Guidance

1. Verify file system permissions: Check the ownership and permissions of the /opt/homebrew/bin/qmd binary to ensure it is executable by the user running OpenClaw.
2. Check the PATH environment variable: Confirm that the directory containing the qmd binary is included in the PATH environment variable for the user running OpenClaw.
3. Test with an absolute path: Try specifying the absolute path to the qmd binary in OpenClaw's configuration to rule out any issues with the PATH variable.
4. Inspect OpenClaw's runtime environment: Investigate the environment variables and working directory of the OpenClaw process to ensure they match the expectations of the qmd binary.

Example

No specific code snippet is provided, but an example of checking file system permissions using the ls command is:

ls -l /opt/homebrew/bin/qmd

This command will display the ownership and permissions of the qmd binary.

Notes

The issue may be related to the difference in environment or permissions between the interactive shell and the OpenClaw runtime context. Further investigation into the specifics of the OpenClaw process and its environment may be necessary to resolve the issue.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by adjusting the file system permissions or the PATH environment variable to ensure the qmd binary is accessible and executable by the OpenClaw process. This is recommended because the issue appears to be related to the runtime environment of OpenClaw rather than a problem with the qmd binary itself.