openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Subagent deliveryContext inheritance broken - responses never reach parent session [1 participants]

Bug Description

Subagents spawned via sessions_spawn complete successfully but their responses never reach the parent session or user. The root cause is missing deliveryContext.to and deliveryContext.accountId inheritance from parent to child session.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create parent session with valid delivery context:

{
  "deliveryContext": {
    "channel": "signal",
    "to": "+358504369XXX",
    "accountId": "default"
  }
}

1. Spawn subagent:

sessions_spawn({
  label: "sihteeri",
  task: "Check Wilma schedule for student XXX today",
  runtime: "subagent",
  mode: "run"
})

1. Subagent completes successfully:

   • Runs Wilma CLI
   • Gets correct result
   • Status: done
   • Runtime: ~9 seconds

2. Check subagent deliveryContext:

{
  "deliveryContext": {
    "channel": "signal"
    // ← Missing: "to" and "accountId"
  }
}

1. Result: Parent session never receives subagent response. User waits indefinitely.

Expected Behavior

Subagent should inherit full deliveryContext from parent:

{
  "deliveryContext": {
    "channel": "signal",
    "to": "+35850436XXXX",
    "accountId": "default"
  }
}

Response should be delivered to parent session and user via the specified channel.

Actual Behavior

Subagent only inherits channel, missing to and accountId:

{
  "deliveryContext": {
    "channel": "signal"
  }
}

Result:

• Subagent completes successfully
• Attempts to announce result
• Has no delivery target
• Response goes nowhere
• Parent session yields indefinitely
• User receives no response

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.3.23-2 (7ffe7e4)
• OS: Linux 6.17.4-2-pve (x64)
• Runtime: Proxmox CT (Debian-based)
• Node: v22.22.1
• Channel: Signal (signal-cli HTTP daemon)
• Parent model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5
• Subagent model: anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5

Evidence

From sessions_list output (2026-03-24 12:08 UTC):

First subagent spawn (11:10 UTC):

{
  "key": "agent:main:subagent:4752bc8d-05fa-4c45-a81c-43f29de8b81b",
  "label": "sihteeri",
  "deliveryContext": {
    "channel": "signal"
  },
  "status": "done",
  "startedAt": 1774350621641,
  "endedAt": 1774350634991,
  "runtimeMs": 11962
}

Second subagent spawn (12:08 UTC):

{
  "key": "agent:main:subagent:fa7c237e-b7e7-4a1f-b0bf-28cdc0246c9f",
  "label": "sihteeri-check",
  "deliveryContext": {
    "channel": "signal"
  },
  "status": "done",
  "startedAt": 1774354122433,
  "endedAt": 1774354131753,
  "runtimeMs": 8337
}

Both subagents:

• ✅ Completed successfully
• ✅ Generated correct response
• ❌ Could not deliver response (missing to field)

User Impact

Severity: High

User waited 57 minutes before reporting frustration.

What happened from user perspective:

1. Asked simple question: "Moneltako XXX alkoi tänään koulu"
2. No response
3. Waited ~60 minutes
4. Frustration: "This is unacceptable"

What happened from system perspective:

1. Subagent spawned successfully
2. Completed in 9 seconds with correct answer
3. Response never reached user
4. Parent session yielded indefinitely

Workaround

Do NOT delegate via sessions_spawn when response delivery is required.

Use direct execution instead:

cd /root/.openclaw/workspace-sihteeri && wilma schedule list --when today --student xxxx --json

This bypasses subagent spawning and returns results directly to parent session.

Additional Context

• Related to multi-agent setups (Main → Talkkari/Sihteeri delegation pattern)
• May be related to #15640 (Multi-agent: resolveSessionFilePath called without agentId)
• May be related to #15601 (resolveSessionFilePath falls back to DEFAULT_AGENT_ID when callers omit opts.agentId)

Possible fix location:

• Subagent spawn initialization code
• deliveryContext inheritance logic
• Session metadata copy/clone function

Expected fix: Deep copy entire deliveryContext from parent to child session during sessions_spawn.

Reproduction Script

// In main agent session with Signal channel
sessions_spawn({
  label: "test-subagent",
  task: "Echo back: test message",
  runtime: "subagent",
  mode: "run"
})

// Then check:
sessions_list({ activeMinutes: 5 })
// Subagent will show deliveryContext: { channel: "signal" } with missing "to" field

Note: This blocks all delegation workflows where parent expects subagent response. Critical for multi-agent architectures.