PR #59684: fix(gateway): suppress /new startup chatter in chat history

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: jepson-liu
• State: open | merged: False
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/59684

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

• Fixes a WebChat history leak where /new//reset startup control content could appear as user-visible chat messages.
• Suppresses startup-sequence chatter in chat.history, including reset control turns and bootstrap read toolCall/toolResult noise.
• Keeps real assistant replies visible while preserving existing NO_REPLY filtering behavior.

Change Type (select all)

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor required for the fix
• Docs
• Security hardening
• Chore/infra

Scope (select all touched areas)

• Gateway / orchestration
• Skills / tool execution
• Auth / tokens
• Memory / storage
• Integrations
• API / contracts
• UI / DX
• CI/CD / infra

Linked Issue/PR

• Fixes #59651
• Related #59651

User-visible / Behavior Changes

• WebChat no longer shows internal /new or /reset startup instructions and bootstrap read chatter in chat history.
• Normal assistant replies still appear after reset/new startup.

Security Impact (required)

• New permissions/capabilities? (No)
• Secrets/tokens handling changed? (No)
• New/changed network calls? (No)
• Command/tool execution surface changed? (No)
• Data access scope changed? (No)
• If any Yes, explain risk + mitigation:

Repro + Verification

Environment

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04
• Runtime/container: local gateway + WebChat
• Model/provider: openrouter/free (issue report), plus local regression fixtures
• Integration/channel (if any): WebChat (chat.history)
• Relevant config (redacted): default session setup

Steps

1. Trigger a fresh /new or /reset session startup.
2. Let startup sequence run bootstrap file reads.
3. Call chat.history for that session.

Expected

• Internal startup control prompt and bootstrap read tool chatter are hidden.
• Final assistant greeting/reply remains visible.

Actual

• Before fix: startup control content leaked into chat.history.
• After fix: startup control content is suppressed.

Evidence

• Failing test/log before + passing after
• Trace/log snippets
• Screenshot/recording
• Perf numbers (if relevant)

Human Verification (required)

• Verified scenarios:
  • chat.history suppresses startup chatter after /new and /reset-equivalent startup content.
  • chat.history still keeps regular assistant messages.
  • Existing NO_REPLY filtering tests remain green.
• Edge cases checked:
  • Bare /new command history entries.
  • Startup toolCall + toolResult sequences for bootstrap file reads.
• What you did not verify:
  • Full end-to-end browser UI manual run in this PR branch.

Review Conversations

• I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
• I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

Compatibility / Migration

• Backward compatible? (Yes)
• Config/env changes? (No)
• Migration needed? (No)
• If yes, exact upgrade steps:

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

• How to disable/revert this change quickly:
  • Revert this single commit on the fix branch.
• Files/config to restore:
  • src/gateway/server-methods/chat.ts
  • src/gateway/server.chat.gateway-server-chat.test.ts
• Known bad symptoms reviewers should watch for:
  • chat.history unexpectedly dropping valid non-startup user/assistant messages.

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk:
  • Over-filtering non-startup transcript entries if they mimic startup patterns.
  • Mitigation:
    • Combined command + sequence-aware filtering and targeted gateway history regression tests.

Changed files

• src/gateway/server-methods/chat.ts (modified, +157/-0)
• src/gateway/server.chat.gateway-server-chat.test.ts (modified, +135/-0)