openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix New security defaults silently break existing workflows after upgrade [1 participants]

Summary

Upgrading from 2026.3.28 to 2026.3.31 silently introduced tools.exec.strictInlineEval defaulting to true, which blocks python3 -c, node -e, heredocs, and all inline eval forms -- even when the user has an existing allowlist with ask: off and security: full.

This broke ~30+ cron jobs and all interactive exec workflows without warning.

Problem

New security settings added in minor releases default to the most restrictive posture. Users who have explicitly configured permissive exec policies (because they run single-user, self-hosted deployments) get silently downgraded on upgrade.

The upgrade path was:

1. Running 2026.3.28 with tools.exec.ask: off -- everything works
2. npm i -g openclaw@latest to 2026.3.31
3. Gateway restarts
4. All python3 -c, heredocs, node -e calls start hitting exec denied: allowlist miss
5. No changelog warning, no migration note, no deprecation notice

Expected Behavior

One or more of:

• Opt-in, not opt-out: New restrictive defaults should not apply to users who have explicitly configured permissive policies. If tools.exec.ask is already off, assume the user knows what they are doing.
• Migration warning: On first boot after upgrade, if new security defaults conflict with existing config, log a warning: "New default strictInlineEval: true is active. Your existing exec workflows may require approval. Set strictInlineEval: false to preserve previous behavior."
• preserveOnUpgrade flag: A config-level flag (e.g., tools.exec.preserveOnUpgrade: true) that locks exec policy against new defaults.
• Changelog visibility: Breaking security changes should be listed as BREAKING in release notes, not buried in schema additions.

Workaround

Set in openclaw.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "exec": {
      "strictInlineEval": false
    }
  }
}

This works but should not be necessary for users who already have permissive exec config.

Environment

• OpenClaw 2026.3.31 (upgraded from 2026.3.28)
• macOS (arm64), single-user self-hosted deployment
• ~98 active cron jobs, many using python3 -c and heredocs
• tools.exec.ask: off configured prior to upgrade