openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Trajectory files fed back as context cause unbounded token consumption and unexpected API billing

Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Summary

OpenClaw feeds trajectory.jsonl files back as context on every session startup, causing token consumption to compound rapidly. A single day of minimal usage (short messages like "ready?") consumed ~20M input tokens and exhausted $25 in Gemini API credits.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11
• OpenClaw version: 2026.5.18 (50a2481)
• Node.js: 24.15.0
• Model: google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview

What happened

Trajectory files in agents/main/sessions/ grew to 139KB–289KB. These were being loaded as context on every new session, even when opened with --session <new-uuid>. The startup token count was ~12k before the user typed anything.

Evidence

• Gemini API dashboard shows ~20M input tokens and ~400 requests on May 21
• Sessions contained only 1-2 short user messages
• Largest trajectory file: 289KB from a session with minimal interaction

Expected behavior

New sessions opened with --session <uuid> should not load previous trajectory files as context. Token consumption should reflect actual user input, not internal file loading.

Impact

Unexpected API billing. $25 in credits consumed in one day.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install OpenClaw 2026.5.18/20 on Windows 11
2. Configure google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview as the model
3. Start a new session: openclaw chat --session <new-uuid>
4. Send one short message (e.g. "ready?")
5. Exit
6. Repeat steps 3-5 two or three times
7. Check agents/main/sessions/ — trajectory.jsonl files will be 100KB+ per session despite minimal user input
8. Check your Gemini API dashboard — input token count will be disproportionately large relative to actual messages sent
9. On subsequent sessions, startup token count shown in TUI status bar will be ~12k before any user message is typed

Expected behavior

Token usage proportional to user input. New --session flag should isolate from previous trajectory data.

Actual behavior

Each new session loads previous trajectory files as context, compounding token usage. Startup already consumes ~12k tokens before user types anything.

OpenClaw version

• OpenClaw version: 2026.5.18 (50a2481)

Operating system

Win 11

Install method

No response

Model

google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview

Provider / routing chain

openclaw -> google-gemini-api

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response