openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Plugins/Extensions: Third-party memory plugin (openclaw-engram) installed via not discovered after v2026.3.31 externalization [1 participants]

Bug Description

After the v2026.3.31 plugin externalization changes, third-party plugins installed via openclaw plugins install to ~/.openclaw/extensions/ are not being discovered/loaded correctly when assigned to plugin slots.

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.4.2
• OS: Linux (Ubuntu)
• Node: v24.14.0

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install a third-party memory plugin:

   openclaw plugins install @joshuaswarren/openclaw-engram@latest

2. Plugin installs successfully to ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-engram/

3. Configure the plugin in openclaw.json:

   {
     "plugins": {
       "slots": { "memory": "openclaw-engram" },
       "entries": {
         "openclaw-engram": {
           "enabled": true,
           "config": { ... }
         }
       }
     }
   }

4. Restart gateway: openclaw gateway restart

5. Check logs - plugin shows initialization but with old bundled code, not extension code

Expected Behavior

The extension at ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-engram/ should be loaded and used for the memory slot, with its version (9.1.29) and fixes.

Actual Behavior

• Logs show subsystem path ~/.nvm/.../openclaw/dist/subsystem-*.js is used instead
• Extension code is not loaded
• The v2026.3.31 release notes mention: "Plugin SDK: Deprecate the legacy provider compat subpaths plus the older bundled provider setup"
• The v2026.4.1-beta.1 fix mentions: "Restore externalized bundled plugin runtime dependency staging" but this appears to only apply to bundled plugins, not user-installed extensions

Investigation Findings

1. Extension is properly installed at ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-engram/ with correct openclaw.plugin.json and package.json (v9.1.29)
2. No openclaw-engram exists in ~/.nvm/.../openclaw/dist/extensions/ (bundled)
3. Config plugins.slots.memory: "openclaw-engram" should resolve to extension
4. The subsystem loader appears to use bundled code path regardless of slot assignment
5. Extension has fixes from March 27, 2026 (issues #310, #311 in engram repo) that are NOT in bundled version

Related Issues

• #45287 - Plugin discovery/validation issues during update
• #56968 - Third-party memory plugins show "unavailable" status (cosmetic, but related plugin discovery)
• #57011 - Missing memory-tool.runtime dist chunk

Workaround Attempts

1. Updated resolvedVersion, resolvedSpec, integrity in openclaw.json to match extension version - no effect
2. Verified extension has correct plugin manifest - no effect
3. Enabled/disabled plugin - no effect
4. Gateway restart - no effect

Possible Root Cause

After v2026.3.31 externalization:

• Bundled plugins are staged from dist/plugins/ or dist/extensions/
• User-installed extensions in ~/.openclaw/extensions/ may not be included in the discovery path
• The slot resolver may only check bundled plugin registry, not extension directory

Suggested Fix

Ensure extension discovery path includes ~/.openclaw/extensions/ for slot resolution, similar to how bundled plugins are discovered after the v2026.4.1-beta.1 fix.

Severity

Medium - Memory functionality works with bundled version, but users cannot upgrade memory plugins with newer fixes without waiting for OpenClaw bundled version updates.