openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: SafeOpenERROR after setting up QMD memory for multi-agent setup [1 participants]

Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

After configuring the QMD memory engine for a multi‑agent setup, any operation that runs the QMD boot/update pipeline via OpenClaw fails with:

• qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root
• Memory index failed (<agentId>): path is not a regular file under root

At the same time, QMD works correctly when run directly with the documented XDG paths, and openclaw memory status reports a valid index under the expected per‑agent state directory.

For example, openclaw memory status for one agent:

Memory Search (assistant)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory, sessions
Indexed: 13/19 files · 13 chunks
Dirty: no
Store: ~/.openclaw/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite
Workspace: ~/.openclaw/workspace/assistant
By source:
  memory · 13/13 files · 13 chunks
  sessions · 0/6 files · 0 chunks
Vector: ready
Batch: disabled (failures 0/0)

This Store: path lives under the documented per‑agent state directory (~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/qmd/…) and I don’t think it should trigger SafeOpenError.

However, when I run openclaw memory index --force --verbose, or when the cron job runs the memory indexer, I consistently get:

🦞 OpenClaw 2026.3.28 (f9b1079)
   Claws out, commit in—let's ship something mildly responsible.

Memory Index (main)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory (MEMORY.md + ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/*.md), sessions (~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/*.jsonl)

19:39:09+00:00 [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root
Memory index failed (main): path is not a regular file under root

Memory Index (assistant-1)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory (MEMORY.md + ~/.openclaw/workspace/assistant-1/memory/*.md), sessions (~/.openclaw/agents/assistant-1/sessions/*.jsonl)

19:39:10+00:00 [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root
Memory index failed (assistant-1): path is not a regular file under root

Memory Index (assistant-2)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory (MEMORY.md + ~/.openclaw/workspace/assistant-2/memory/*.md), sessions (~/.openclaw/agents/assistant-2/sessions/*.jsonl)

19:39:10+00:00 [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root
Memory index failed (assistant-2): path is not a regular file under root

In contrast, running QMD directly inside the same container with the documented env vars works and does not raise SafeOpenError, for example:

STATE_DIR="${OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR:-$HOME/.openclaw}"
export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$STATE_DIR/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-config"
export XDG_CACHE_HOME="$STATE_DIR/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-cache"

qmd update && qmd embed && qmd status
# → succeeds, uses ~/.openclaw/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite

So the bug appears to be that OpenClaw’s memory indexer / cron wrapper is invoking QMD with a different (or mismatched) “root” for the safe‑open check than the one that works when QMD is run directly with the documented XDG paths.

Steps to reproduce

1. Environment:

   • Docker-based deployment
   • OpenClaw 2026.3.28 Docker image
   • Inside container: HOME=/home/node, STATE_DIR=/home/node/.openclaw
   • Multi-agent setup with agents: main, assistant, assistant-1, assistant-2 (names representative)
   • ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json contains: { "memory": { "backend": "qmd", "qmd": { "sessions": { "enabled": true } } }, "agents": { "list": [ { "id": "main", ... }, { "id": "assistant", ... }, { "id": "assistant-1", ... }, { "id": "assistant-2", ... } ] } // no per-agent memory overrides, no tools.fs.allow }

2. Start the gateway via Docker: docker compose up -d docker compose logs -f openclaw-gateway

3. Observe that openclaw memory status works and shows a valid QMD store, for example: Memory Search (assistant) Provider: qmd (requested: qmd) Model: qmd Sources: memory, sessions Indexed: 13/19 files · 13 chunks Dirty: no Store: ~/.openclaw/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite Workspace: ~/.openclaw/workspace/assistant By source: memory · 13/13 files · 13 chunks sessions · 0/6 files · 0 chunks Vector: ready Batch: disabled (failures 0/0)

4. Run QMD directly inside the same container (for one agent) with the documented XDG env vars: docker compose exec openclaw-gateway sh -lc ' STATE_DIR="${OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR:-$HOME/.openclaw}" export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$STATE_DIR/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-config" export XDG_CACHE_HOME="$STATE_DIR/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-cache" qmd update && qmd embed && qmd status '

5. Observe:

   • qmd update succeeds
   • qmd embed succeeds
   • qmd status uses ~/.openclaw/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite
   • No SafeOpenError is raised

6. Now run the OpenClaw memory indexer: openclaw memory index --force --verbose

7. Observe that for each agent (main, assistant, assistant-1, assistant-2) the indexer logs: [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root Memory index failed (<agentId>): path is not a regular file under root

8. Also observe the cron job attempting to run the QMD update: 19:23:31+00:00 debug cron {"module":"cron","storePath":"/home/node/.openclaw/cron/jobs.json"} {"nextAt":...,"delayMs":60000,"clamped":true} cron: timer armed 19:23:34+00:00 warn memory {"subsystem":"memory"} qmd update failed (SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root)

9. Note: the error only appears when QMD is driven through OpenClaw’s memory index/cron integration. Running QMD directly with the same per-agent state directory does not trigger it.

Expected behavior

• OpenClaw’s memory indexer (openclaw memory index) and cron-based QMD updates should reuse the same effective QMD configuration that works when QMD is run directly with the documented XDG env vars.
• For each agent, QMD boot/update should succeed using the per-agent state directory under: ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite
• No SafeOpenError should be raised as long as the target paths are regular files under the expected per-agent state root.

Actual behavior

• QMD works when I run it directly inside the container with the documented XDG_CONFIG_HOME/XDG_CACHE_HOME pointing at ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/qmd/...
• openclaw memory status also works and reports a valid QMD index under ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite.
• But any OpenClaw operation that drives QMD (memory index, cron job) fails with: [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root Memory index failed (<agentId>): path is not a regular file under root
• This happens for every agent (main and multiple assistants) whenever openclaw memory index or the QMD cron update runs.

OpenClaw version

2026.3.28

Operating system

Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)

Install method

npm global inside docker

Model

deepseek-chat

Provider / routing chain

openclaw -> deepseek

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

# openclaw memory status (assistant)
Memory Search (assistant)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory, sessions
Indexed: 13/19 files · 13 chunks
Dirty: no
Store: ~/.openclaw/agents/assistant/qmd/xdg-cache/qmd/index.sqlite
Workspace: ~/.openclaw/workspace/assistant
By source:
  memory · 13/13 files · 13 chunks
  sessions · 0/6 files · 0 chunks
Vector: ready
Batch: disabled (failures 0/0)

# openclaw memory index --force --verbose
🦞 OpenClaw 2026.3.28 (f9b1079)
   Claws out, commit in—let's ship something mildly responsible.

Memory Index (main)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory (MEMORY.md + ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/*.md), sessions (~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/*.jsonl)

19:39:09+00:00 [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root
Memory index failed (main): path is not a regular file under root

Memory Index (assistant-1)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory (MEMORY.md + ~/.openclaw/workspace/assistant-1/memory/*.md), sessions (~/.openclaw/agents/assistant-1/sessions/*.jsonl)

19:39:10+00:00 [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root
Memory index failed (assistant-1): path is not a regular file under root

Memory Index (assistant-2)
Provider: qmd (requested: qmd)
Model: qmd
Sources: memory (MEMORY.md + ~/.openclaw/workspace/assistant-2/memory/*.md), sessions (~/.openclaw/agents/assistant-2/sessions/*.jsonl)

19:39:10+00:00 [memory] qmd boot update failed: SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root
Memory index failed (assistant-2): path is not a regular file under root

# Cron log snippet
19:23:31+00:00 debug cron {"module":"cron","storePath":"/home/node/.openclaw/cron/jobs.json"} {"nextAt":1775077200000,"delayMs":60000,"clamped":true} cron: timer armed
19:23:34+00:00 warn memory {"subsystem":"memory"} qmd update failed (SafeOpenError: path is not a regular file under root)

Impact and severity

Affected:

• Multi-agent OpenClaw deployments that enable the QMD memory backend and rely on the built-in memory indexing/cron behavior.

Severity:

• Medium–High. The QMD backend itself works, but the official OpenClaw integration for memory indexing and cron updates fails with SafeOpenError.
• This undermines the “it just works” behavior for persistent memory across sessions.

Frequency:

• 100% repro on my setup with OpenClaw 2026.3.28 and QMD enabled.
• Happens for every agent (main + multiple assistants) whenever memory indexing or cron QMD update runs.

Consequence:

• Automatic memory indexing via openclaw memory index and the cron job fails.
• I have to run QMD manually inside the container to update/embed, which is not practical for production and breaks the expected OpenClaw UX for QMD memory.

Additional information

No response