openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Build fails resolving protobufjs google/protobuf descriptor on WSL source checkout

Bug type

Build / source checkout failure

Summary

A fresh WSL/Linux source checkout on current origin/main fails before the CLI can run because the on-demand TypeScript/runtime build cannot resolve ../google/protobuf/descriptor.json from protobufjs/ext/descriptor.js.

This blocks using pnpm openclaw ... from source and forced dogfood setup to use the published package (npx openclaw@latest) instead.

Steps to reproduce

1. In WSL Ubuntu 24.04, create a clean Linux-side worktree from origin/main.
2. Run pnpm install --frozen-lockfile.
3. Run any source CLI command that triggers scripts/run-node.mjs, for example:

pnpm openclaw --version
# or
pnpm openclaw agents --help

Expected behavior

The source CLI should build its runtime artifacts and run the requested command.

Actual behavior

The build fails during bundled plugin/runtime build with:

[UNRESOLVED_IMPORT] Could not resolve '../google/protobuf/descriptor.json' in node_modules/protobufjs/ext/descriptor.js

The import chain includes:

node_modules/protobufjs/ext/descriptor.js
node_modules/@grpc/proto-loader/build/src/index.js
node_modules/@grpc/grpc-js/build/src/index.js
node_modules/@opentelemetry/otlp-grpc-exporter-base/...
node_modules/@opentelemetry/sdk-node/build/src/index.js
extensions/diagnostics-otel/src/service.ts
extensions/diagnostics-otel/index.ts

Environment

• OS: WSL Ubuntu 24.04
• Node: v24.15.0
• pnpm: v11.2.2
• Source checkout: origin/main at 8f8638393e (docs: tighten landable bug sweep gates)
• Worktree: Linux-native under /root/src/openclaw-dogfood-sebby
• Install command: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

Evidence

node_modules/protobufjs exists and has google/api/*.json, but not the required descriptor file:

node_modules/protobufjs/google/api/annotations.json
node_modules/protobufjs/google/api/http.json
# missing: node_modules/protobufjs/google/protobuf/descriptor.json

pnpm why protobufjs resolves [email protected]. The lockfile/workspace override also pins protobufjs: 8.4.0.

The published package path still runs:

npx --yes openclaw@latest --version
# OpenClaw 2026.5.20 (e510042)

Impact

• Blocks source CLI dogfooding from current main on WSL/Linux.
• Blocks setting up a source-built WSL Sebby/OpenClaw dogfood runtime.
• Affects build-time bundling through the diagnostics-otel OpenTelemetry gRPC path.

Workaround

Use the published package (npx openclaw@latest) for dogfood runs. This does not fix source checkout builds.

Additional notes

This may be a [email protected] package contents/exports issue, or the bundler may need to treat this descriptor import differently. I did not patch source because the immediate goal was to get WSL Sebby running, and the packaged CLI path worked.