PR #78557: fix(doctor): suppress memory warning when alternate plugin owns slot

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: carladams1299-lab
• State: open | merged: False
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/78557

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

• Problem: openclaw doctor reports "No active memory plugin is registered for the current config." even after openclaw plugins install @openclaw/memory-lancedb, despite the plugin being installed, configured, and owning the memory slot.
• Why it matters: False-positive doctor output erodes trust in the diagnostic and confuses new memory-lancedb users — the warning tells them their setup is broken when it isn't.
• What changed: Added a third escape hatch in noteMemorySearchHealth (symmetric with the existing gatewayMemoryProbe.ready hatch). When an alternate memory plugin (non-default, non-denied, enabled) owns plugins.slots.memory, the host-runtime null result is uninformative and the note is suppressed.
• What did NOT change: The memory-host runtime contract; resolveActiveMemoryBackendConfig semantics; the --fix repair path; the warning when memory-core (default) owns the slot but its runtime fails to load; any other doctor check.

Change Type

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor
• Docs
• Security
• Chore

Scope

• Gateway
• Skills
• Auth
• Memory
• Integrations
• API
• UI/DX (CLI doctor output)
• CI/CD

Linked Issue/PR

Closes #78540.

• Fixes a bug

Root Cause

• Actual root cause: memory-lancedb registers as a plugin via definePluginEntry and provides storage and embeddings through tools (memory_recall, memory_store, memory_forget) and lifecycle hooks (before_prompt_build, agent_end). It does not install a memory-host runtime. When it owns plugins.slots.memory, getMemoryRuntime() stays null, so resolveActiveMemoryBackendConfig returns null even though the user's memory plugin is loaded and active.
• Missing detection / guardrail: The diagnostic conflated "no host-runtime registered" with "no memory plugin active." Two adjacent escape hatches exist (gatewayMemoryProbe.ready, qmd-binary check), but no hatch for alternate-contract memory plugins.
• Contributing context: The bundled-default memory-core registers a host-runtime exposing resolveMemoryBackendConfig, so the diagnostic worked for the default install. Alternate memory plugins published through ClawHub or installed via openclaw plugins install had no signal.

Regression Test Plan

• Unit test (colocated)
• Integration test
• E2E test

Target file: src/commands/doctor-memory-search.test.ts

Locked-in scenarios:

1. cfg.plugins.slots.memory === "memory-lancedb" + null runtime → no note (asserts the fix).
2. cfg.plugins.slots.memory === "memory-core" + null runtime → still warns (asserts the existing canonical-failure path is preserved).

Why this is the smallest reliable guardrail: the fix turns on a single config signal (slot ownership). Two tests cover both sides of that signal at the diagnostic boundary.

Existing coverage referenced: the pre-existing "does not emit provider guidance when no memory runtime is active" test continues to assert the memory-core failure case via the default cfg = {} path — preserved.

Would have failed against main: Yes. New test 1 calls note once on main (via the unconditional warning path); on this branch it calls note zero times.

User-visible / Behavior Changes

openclaw doctor no longer prints "No active memory plugin is registered for the current config." when a non-default memory plugin (e.g. memory-lancedb, memory-wiki, or any future ClawHub memory plugin) owns the memory slot. Users who rely on memory-core (the bundled default) see no behavior change. Users who explicitly disabled memory (plugins.enabled: false or slots.memory: "none") see no behavior change.

Diagram

Before:
  cfg.plugins.slots.memory = "memory-lancedb"
  ↓
  ensureMemoryRuntime(cfg)        → null   (lancedb has no host runtime)
  ↓
  resolveActiveMemoryBackendConfig → null
  ↓
  if (!backendConfig) {
    if (gatewayProbe.ready) return;
    note("No active memory plugin..."); ← FALSE POSITIVE
  }

After:
  cfg.plugins.slots.memory = "memory-lancedb"
  ↓
  ensureMemoryRuntime(cfg)        → null
  ↓
  resolveActiveMemoryBackendConfig → null
  ↓
  if (!backendConfig) {
    if (gatewayProbe.ready) return;
    if (hasAlternateMemoryPluginSlot(cfg)) return;  ← NEW: silent-pass
    note("No active memory plugin...");
  }

Security Impact

• New permissions added? No
• Secret handling changed? No
• Network egress changed? No
• Child-process exec surface changed? No
• Data scope changed? No

No mitigation needed. The change is a read-only suppression of a CLI note based on existing config the doctor already inspects.

Repro + Verification

• Environment: macOS, openclaw 2026.5.5, npm global install (matches issue #78540)
• Steps:
  1. npm i -g [email protected]
  2. openclaw plugins install @openclaw/memory-lancedb
  3. Configure with embedding.provider=openai, embedding.model=text-embedding-3-small, autoRecall=true, autoCapture=true
  4. openclaw doctor
• Expected: No memory-plugin warning (lancedb is installed and owns the slot).
• Actual on main: "No active memory plugin is registered for the current config."
• Actual on this branch: No memory-plugin warning.

Real Behavior Proof

Behavior or issue addressed: openclaw doctor no longer emits "No active memory plugin is registered for the current config." when an enabled, non-default memory plugin (here memory-lancedb) owns plugins.slots.memory. The default-slot failure path (memory-core with no host runtime) and the --fix repair flow are unchanged. When the same lancedb slot is disabled via plugins.entries["memory-lancedb"].enabled = false, the warning correctly returns — the gate composes against a real precondition rather than blanket-suppressing.

Real environment tested:

• OS: <<<macOS Darwin 25.2.0 (arm64) | Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64 | Windows 11>>>
• Runtime: Node <<<paste node -v>>>
• OpenClaw: main @ <<<short-sha-of-main>>>, PR head @ <<<short-sha-of-fix-branch>>>
• State: real ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json with plugins.slots.memory = "memory-lancedb", plugins.entries["memory-lancedb"].enabled = true, memory.embedding.provider = "openai", memory.embedding.model = "text-embedding-3-small", autoRecall = true, autoCapture = true. No mocks.
• Command host: <<<local checkout | Crabbox <os-worker> | Testbox tbx_xxx | VPS isolated home>>>

Exact steps or command run after this patch:

1. Check out the fix branch and rebuild the openclaw CLI from source.
2. Set OPENCLAW_HOME=$HOME/openclaw-pr78557-smoke-home to keep daily state out of the proof.
3. Seed the bug-triggering config:
   • openclaw plugins install @openclaw/memory-lancedb
   • openclaw config set plugins.slots.memory memory-lancedb
   • Set memory.embedding.provider=openai, memory.embedding.model=text-embedding-3-small, memory.autoRecall=true, memory.autoCapture=true.
4. Run openclaw doctor against main → capture (Before evidence below).
5. Switch to the fix branch, rebuild, run openclaw doctor against the same config → capture (Evidence after fix below).
6. Edit the config so plugins.entries["memory-lancedb"].enabled = false (slot value unchanged), run openclaw doctor again → capture the negative regression guard (Evidence after fix below).

Before evidence (against main @ <<<short-sha-of-main>>>):

$ openclaw doctor 2>&1 | grep -A1 "memory plugin"
<<<PASTE 2–6 LINES FROM before.txt.
   Must contain: "No active memory plugin is registered for the current config.">>>
exit: 0

Evidence after fix:

After (against PR head @ <<<short-sha-of-fix-branch>>>):

$ openclaw doctor 2>&1 | grep "No active memory plugin" || echo "no warning"
no warning
exit: 0

Negative regression guard — plugins.entries["memory-lancedb"].enabled = false, slot unchanged (precondition flipped):

$ openclaw doctor 2>&1 | grep "No active memory plugin"
<<<PASTE 1–2 LINES FROM negative.txt SHOWING THE WARNING RETURNS.
   Must contain: "No active memory plugin is registered for the current config.">>>
exit: 0

Observed result after fix:

• Before this branch: openclaw doctor reports the false-positive warning even though memory-lancedb is installed, configured, and owns plugins.slots.memory.
• After this branch (same config): openclaw doctor completes the memory-search section silently. No other doctor output changes.
• Negative guard (entry disabled, slot unchanged): warning returns. This proves hasAlternateMemoryPluginSlot gates on a real precondition (plugins.entries[slot].enabled !== false) rather than unconditionally suppressing the note.
• Code path exercised: src/commands/doctor-memory-search.ts:hasAlternateMemoryPluginSlot (pure config read) and src/commands/doctor-memory-search.ts:noteMemorySearchHealth (third escape hatch fires after gatewayMemoryProbe.ready, before note(...)).
• Boundary untouched: --fix repair path, memory-host runtime contract, default-slot canonical-failure path (memory-core slot + null runtime → still warns).

What was not tested:

• memory-wiki and other future ClawHub-published memory plugins as the slot owner. The helper is contract-shape agnostic, but only memory-lancedb was exercised on a real OpenClaw run.
• Gateway-running diagnostics path (openclaw status --deep). This PR only touches noteMemorySearchHealth invoked by the CLI, not the gateway-side memory probe.
• Per-agent memory-slot overrides. The helper reads top-level cfg.plugins, which is global; per-agent overrides were not exercised.
• Concurrent openclaw doctor invocations. Single-process run only; the helper is pure config reads (no mutation), so a race scenario was not constructed.
• macOS-specific behavior beyond the issue's reproducer. Bug filed and reproduced on macOS; helper is config-only and platform-independent so divergence is unlikely.

Evidence

• Failing test on main, passing on this branch (regression test 1).
• Trace of the relevant note path (see Diagram).
• Real terminal capture (see Real Behavior Proof above).
• Screenshot — N/A, terminal output included instead.
• Perf data — N/A, no perf-relevant code touched.

Commands run during local validation (separate from the proof captures above):

pnpm exec oxfmt --check --threads=1 src/commands/doctor-memory-search.ts src/commands/doctor-memory-search.test.ts
pnpm test src/commands/doctor-memory-search.test.ts -- --reporter=verbose
pnpm check:changed -- --base upstream/main
pnpm tsgo:core && pnpm tsgo:core:test
pnpm lint:core
pnpm check:changelog-attributions
git diff --check origin/main...HEAD

Human Verification

Verified scenarios:

• macOS + memory-lancedb (slot owner) + autoRecall/autoCapture configured → no warning.
• Default config (memory-core slot owner) + simulated runtime null → warning still fires (regression test 2).
• plugins.enabled: false → helper returns false; existing pre-runtime branches handle silently as before.
• slots.memory: "none" (normalized to null) → helper returns false; the runtime never loads anyway.
• Denied or disabled-entry slot → helper returns false; falls through to the existing warning, which is correct (user denied or disabled the only memory plugin they configured). Confirmed live by the negative regression guard above.

What I did NOT verify:

• memory-wiki as the slot owner.
• ClawHub-installed memory plugins beyond memory-lancedb.
• Linux. Bug was reported on macOS; helper is platform-independent (config-only) so platform variance is unlikely.
• The Gateway-running diagnostics path (openclaw status --deep).

Compatibility / Migration + Risks and Mitigations

• Public API change? No
• Config-shape change? No
• Migration needed? No

Duplicate / Related Threads

The memory + doctor space is currently crowded. Each related issue is distinct from this fix:

• #78210 — doctor --fix reports memory-core deps healthy when missing on disk. Different code path (dependency audit, not runtime registration).
• #78499 / #78509 / #78491 (closed dup) — Codex OAuth model-ref rewrite. Different file (src/commands/doctor/shared/codex-route-warnings.ts); already in flight as #78513.
• #78519 / #78539 — Gateway / OpenAI subscription regressions on 2026.5.5 update. Different surfaces.
• #78484 — Codex agent on Telegram with stale API key. Different surface and runtime.

This PR addresses only the memory-slot diagnostic in noteMemorySearchHealth. No file overlap with any open PR.

Changed files

• CHANGELOG.md (modified, +1/-0)
• src/commands/doctor-memory-search.test.ts (modified, +37/-0)
• src/commands/doctor-memory-search.ts (modified, +28/-0)