PR #51641: fix(cli): route diagnostic logs to stderr when stdout is piped

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: shivama205
• State: open | merged: False
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/51641

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

• Problem: Plugin init logs ([plugins] lines) are written to stdout instead of stderr, contaminating captured output in scripts that use $(openclaw message send ...) or pipe the CLI output.
• Root cause: writeConsoleLine() in the subsystem logger routes info-level diagnostic messages through console.log (stdout), even when stdout is piped/captured.
• Fix: In writeConsoleLine(), route info/debug/trace-level subsystem diagnostic logs to stderr when !process.stdout.isTTY. This is scoped to the subsystem logger sink only — command data output via runtime.log() / console.log() is unaffected.
• Bonus: Version output in help.ts now uses process.stdout.write() directly since it's data, not a diagnostic log.

Closes #51496

Change type

• Bug fix

Scope

• Gateway / CLI

How it works

There are two separate output paths in the CLI:

1. Command data: runtime.log() → console.log() → forward() wrapper → stdout (unchanged)
2. Diagnostic logs: createSubsystemLogger() → writeConsoleLine() → rawConsole.log → stdout (this is the bug)

The fix adds a TTY check in writeConsoleLine() (src/logging/subsystem.ts):

} else if (!process.stdout.isTTY) {
  // When stdout is piped/captured, route subsystem diagnostic logs to stderr
  (sink.error ?? console.error)(sanitized);
} else {
  (sink.log ?? console.log)(sanitized);
}

This only affects subsystem logger output. --version, --json, and all runtime.log() command output stays on stdout.

Test plan

• New test: subsystem logger routes info-level logs to stderr when stdout is not a TTY
• New test: subsystem logger routes info-level logs to stdout when stdout is a TTY
• Updated test: version output now asserts process.stdout.write() instead of console.log
• All existing subsystem.test.ts tests pass (13 total)
• All existing console-capture.test.ts tests pass (11 total)
• All existing run-main.test.ts tests pass (15 total)
• All existing help.test.ts tests pass (4 total)
• pnpm tsgo passes

[!NOTE] This PR was AI-assisted using Claude (Opus 4.6) via Claude Code. All code has been reviewed and tested locally by a human.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) [email protected]

Changed files

• src/cli/program/help.test.ts (modified, +3/-3)
• src/cli/program/help.ts (modified, +4/-3)
• src/logging/subsystem.test.ts (modified, +44/-0)
• src/logging/subsystem.ts (modified, +4/-0)

PR #52008: CLI: write plugin bootstrap logs to stderr (#51496)

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: lurui1997
• State: closed | merged: False
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/52008

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

While loadOpenClawPlugins runs during route-first startup, set loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr so [plugins] lines use stderr instead of stdout (keeps `` captures clean).

Test plan

• pnpm test -- src/cli/plugin-registry.test.ts

Fixes #51496

Made with Cursor

Changed files

• src/cli/plugin-registry.ts (modified, +24/-17)