openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: PluginEntrySchema zod schema missing allowConversationAccess — non-bundled plugins cannot use conversation hooks [2 comments, 3 participants]

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Non-bundled plugins (e.g., openclaw-observability) are blocked from using conversation-related typed hooks (like llm_input, llm_output) because the zod schema for PluginEntrySchema does not include allowConversationAccess, despite the runtime code (loader-DeOtDUYt.js) checking for it. This means the documented configuration path plugins.entries.<pluginId>.hooks.allowConversationAccess=true triggers a schema validation error, making it impossible to grant conversation access to non-bundled plugins without manually patching the s Environment • OpenClaw version: 2026.4.23 (commit a979721) • Installation: npm global (/Users/<user>/.local/lib/node_modules/openclaw/) • OS: macOS (reproducible on any platform)

Steps to reproduce

1、Install a non-bundled plugin that uses conversation hooks, e.g.:

          openclaw plugins install openclaw-observability
2、Attempt to grant conversation access in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:
json

{
  "plugins": {
	    "entries": {
	      "openclaw-observability": {
	        "enabled": true,
	        "hooks": {
	          "allowConversationAccess": true
	        }
	     }
	    }
	  }
	}

Run openclaw gateway status or start the gateway.

Expected behavior

The configuration is accepted, and the non-bundled plugin can receive llm_input, llm_output, and other conversation hooks.

Actual behavior

Invalid config at /Users/<user>/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

• plugins.entries.openclaw-observability.hooks: Unrecognized key: "allowConversationAccess" If allowConversationAccess is not set, the gateway blocks the hook at runtime: [plugins] typed hook "llm_input" blocked because non-bundled plugins must set plugins.entries.openclaw-observability.hooks.allowConversationAccess=true This creates a deadlock: setting the config key fails schema validation, but not setting it blocks the hook at runtime.

Root Cause Analysis I traced the issue through the source code. Here's the relevant code paths:

1. Runtime check — loader-DeOtDUYt.js (line ~1286–1301) The runtime correctly reads allowConversationAccess from entry.hooks:

js // policy comes from entry?.hooks (confirmed via grep: // "hookPolicy: entry?.hooks" and // "on: (hookName, handler, opts) => registerTypedHook(record, hookName, handler, opts, params.hookPolicy)") if (isConversationHookName(hookName)) { const explicitConversationAccess = policy?.allowConversationAccess; if (record.origin !== "bundled" && explicitConversationAccess !== true) { pushDiagnostic({ level: "warn", pluginId: record.id, source: record.source, message: typed hook "${hookName}" blocked because non-bundled plugins must set plugins.entries.${record.id}.hooks.allowConversationAccess=true }); return; } // ... } 2. Schema definition — zod-schema-BhKK4qYw.js (line ~1293–1300) The PluginEntrySchema zod schema only defines allowPromptInjection, not allowConversationAccess:

js // Current (buggy) schema: const PluginEntrySchema = z.object({ enabled: z.boolean().optional(), hooks: z.object({ allowPromptInjection: z.boolean().optional() // ← only this! }).strict().optional(), subagent: z.object({ ... }).strict().optional(), config: z.record(z.string(), z.unknown()).optional() }).strict(); 3. Config schema validation The plugins config block uses .strict():

js plugins: z.object({ // ... entries: z.record(z.string(), PluginEntrySchema).optional(), // ... }).strict().optional(), Since PluginEntrySchema uses .strict() and only allows allowPromptInjection in the hooks sub-object, any attempt to add allowConversationAccess fails validation.

Temporary Workaround Manually patched zod-schema-BhKK4qYw.js to add the missing field:

js hooks: z.object({ allowPromptInjection: z.boolean().optional(), allowConversationAccess: z.boolean().optional() // ← added }).strict().optional(), After this patch, the configuration is accepted and conversation hooks work correctly.

Suggested Fix Add allowConversationAccess to the hooks sub-object in PluginEntrySchema. The corrected schema should be:

js const PluginEntrySchema = z.object({ enabled: z.boolean().optional(), hooks: z.object({ allowPromptInjection: z.boolean().optional(), allowConversationAccess: z.boolean().optional() // ← add this }).strict().optional(), subagent: z.object({ allowModelOverride: z.boolean().optional(), allowedModels: z.array(z.string()).optional() }).strict().optional(), config: z.record(z.string(), z.unknown()).optional() }).strict(); The source file should be somewhere like src/plugins/config-schema.ts or wherever PluginEntrySchema is defined in the TypeScript source.

Additional Notes The openclaw-observability plugin's openclaw.plugin.json declares llm_input and llm_output in its slots array, so these hooks are expected to work.

The hooks config path for plugin entries is distinct from the top-level hooks.internal.entries used for hook packs — these serve different purposes.

Other config keys like allowPromptInjection work correctly through the same mechanism; only allowConversationAccess is missing from the schema.

Severity: Medium — Prevents non-bundled plugins from using conversation hooks, forcing users to either use bundled plugins only or manually patch the schema.

Suggested label: bug, plugin-system, good first issue

OpenClaw version

2026.4.23

Operating system

mac OS 15.4

Install method

No response

Model

Minimax M2.5

Provider / routing chain

openclaw-alibaba cloud - Minimax M2.5

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response