openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix config patch validates the fragment instead of the merged result

Summary

openclaw config patch appears to validate the patch fragment against the full schema before merging it with the current config. As a result, valid partial updates fail unless the patch redundantly re-declares required sibling fields that already exist in live config.

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.5.7
• Install path: native install via the official one-liner
• Host OS: Ubuntu 24.04

Reproduction

Precondition: the live config already contains a required sibling such as:

openclaw config get channels.discord.groupPolicy
# prints: "allowlist"

Then apply a patch that adds another sibling without re-declaring groupPolicy:

cat > /tmp/patch-missing-sibling.json5 <<'EOF1'
{ channels: { discord: { someOtherField: 1 } } }
EOF1
openclaw config patch --dry-run /tmp/patch-missing-sibling.json5

For comparison, re-include the existing required sibling:

cat > /tmp/patch-redundant-sibling.json5 <<'EOF2'
{ channels: { discord: { groupPolicy: "allowlist", someOtherField: 1 } } }
EOF2
openclaw config patch --dry-run /tmp/patch-redundant-sibling.json5

Expected

config patch should merge the fragment into the existing config and validate the merged result. If channels.discord.groupPolicy is already present in live config, a sibling-only patch should pass.

Actual

The sibling-only patch fails with an error like:

Config validation failed: channels.discord.groupPolicy is required

Re-declaring the already-present sibling makes the patch pass, which suggests validation is being run against the fragment in isolation rather than the merged document.

Why this matters

This makes partial updates much less reliable and turns patch operations into subtree rewrites. It is especially painful for nested config with required siblings, because operators have to know and repeat existing state just to change one field.

Likely cause

The patch path appears to do something like:

schema.validate(parseFragment(input))

instead of:

schema.validate(deepMerge(currentConfig, parseFragment(input)))

Suggested fix

• Merge the patch into the current config before schema validation.
• Ensure required-field validation runs against the post-merge document.
• Add a regression test for patches that add one sibling under an object whose required siblings are already present in live config.

Notes

Related but distinct AoAOS doc:

• docs/upstream-bugs/config-set-drops-siblings-on-deeper-write.md

Primary source doc:

• docs/upstream-bugs/config-patch-validates-fragment-only.md