OpenClaw core bug: plugin update persists runtime-only plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch into source config

Summary

updatePluginsAfterCoreUpdate() uses params.configSnapshot.config (runtime config) as the base config for plugin update persistence. When that runtime config includes normalized/materialized fields like plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch, the later replaceConfigFile() writes them back into ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.

That creates a restart loop on systems where plugin update runs while the gateway is live:

1. plugin update rewrites config
2. rewritten config now includes plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch
3. gateway reload logic detects plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch
4. gateway restarts
5. next plugin update can repeat the same write

Evidence

Historical runtime log

From /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-2026-04-18.log:

• Updating plugins...
• Config overwrite: /Users/faisalshomemacmini/.openclaw/openclaw.json ... changedPaths=2
• immediately followed by:
  • config change detected; evaluating reload (meta.lastTouchedVersion, meta.lastTouchedAt, plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.resolvedAt, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.installedAt)
  • config change requires gateway restart (plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.resolvedAt, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.installedAt) ...

Separate gateway log evidence

From ~/.openclaw/logs/gateway.log:

• [exec] elevated command openclaw plugins update --all 2>&1
• later:
  • [reload] config change detected; evaluating reload (meta.lastTouchedAt, plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch)
  • gateway receives SIGTERM and restarts

Code path

/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/update-cli-D3DsAjPr.js

const syncResult = await syncPluginsForUpdateChannel({
  config: params.configSnapshot.config,
  channel: params.channel,
  workspaceDir: params.root,
  logger: pluginLogger
});

params.configSnapshot.config is runtime config, not source config.

/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/io-5pxHCi7V.js

return {
  sourceConfig,
  resolved: sourceConfig,
  runtimeConfig,
  config: runtimeConfig,
}

Then plugin update persists via:

• replaceConfigFile(...)
• which writes the supplied config back to the source file.

Expected behavior

Plugin update persistence should operate on the source config snapshot, not runtime config.

Minimal fix candidates

Candidate 1: plugin update should use source config

Use params.configSnapshot.sourceConfig ?? params.configSnapshot.config in updatePluginsAfterCoreUpdate().

Example:

const pluginUpdateBaseConfig = params.configSnapshot.sourceConfig ?? params.configSnapshot.config;
const syncResult = await syncPluginsForUpdateChannel({
  config: pluginUpdateBaseConfig,
  channel: params.channel,
  workspaceDir: params.root,
  logger: pluginLogger
});

Candidate 2: writeConfigFile() should project source config correctly before notifying runtime listeners

In practice, candidate 1 alone was not sufficient on Fas's Mac.

Validation after patching candidate 1:

• file diff only showed meta.lastTouchedAt and plugins.installs.lossless-claw.{resolvedAt,installedAt}
• but gateway still logged:
  • config change detected; evaluating reload (meta.lastTouchedAt, gateway.auth.token, plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.resolvedAt, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.installedAt)
  • config change requires gateway restart (gateway.auth.token, plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.resolvedAt, plugins.installs.lossless-claw.installedAt)

That suggests a second bug in runtime snapshot projection / write notification. Relevant code:

if (hadBothSnapshots) nextCfg = coerceConfig(applyMergePatch(runtimeConfigSourceSnapshot, createMergePatch(runtimeConfigSnapshot, cfg)));

inside io-5pxHCi7V.js writeConfigFile().

A more correct projection path already exists nearby:

projectConfigOntoRuntimeSourceSnapshot(cfg)

So the deeper fix likely needs both:

1. plugin update paths should start from sourceConfig
2. runtime snapshot projection during writes should not re-introduce runtime-only fields into reload diffs / notifications

Local stopgaps applied on this machine

Patched local files:

• /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/update-cli-D3DsAjPr.js
• /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/io-5pxHCi7V.js

Backups created:

• /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/update-cli-D3DsAjPr.js.pre-sourceconfig-fix-20260418-184210.bak
• /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/io-5pxHCi7V.js.pre-runtime-projection-fix-20260418-185008.bak

Validation status on this machine:

• candidate 1 reduced on-disk diff to meta/install timestamps only
• but gateway reload still reported gateway.auth.token and plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch
• candidate 2 was also patched locally for further testing
• as of the latest validation, plugin update still triggered a restart-required reload, so upstream investigation is still needed

Notes

A local patch will be overwritten by future OpenClaw upgrades, so this needs an upstream fix in the distributed package.