Summary

Channel plugins that are enabled but not yet configured (no credentials set) fail to initialize at startup with:

[plugins] <id> missing register/activate export
[plugins] 1 plugin(s) failed to initialize (validation: <id>). Run 'openclaw plugins list' for details.

In my case this reproduces for slack because I have no SLACK_BOT_TOKEN set. discord and telegram, which are configured, load fine via the full-mode path.

Environment

• openclaw 2026.4.9 (0512059)
• Installed via npm i -g openclaw
• Linux, Node 22

Root cause

When a channel plugin is enabled but isChannelConfigured(...) returns false, the loader picks registrationMode = "setup-runtime" (dist/loader-BSIqIOsD.js:2562). In that mode, the loader opens manifestRecord.setupSource (the plugin's setup-entry.js) instead of index.js.

Every bundled channel plugin's setup-entry.js is built via defineBundledChannelSetupEntry() (dist/channel-entry-contract-DWlZ12A9.js:196), which returns:

{
  kind: "bundled-channel-setup-entry",
  loadSetupPlugin: () => ...,
  loadSetupSecrets: () => ..., // optional
}

But the loader's resolveSetupChannelRegistration() (dist/loader-BSIqIOsD.js:2104) expects a plugin property that is a plain object:

function resolveSetupChannelRegistration(moduleExport) {
    const resolved = moduleExport && typeof moduleExport === "object" && "default" in moduleExport ? moduleExport.default : moduleExport;
    if (!resolved || typeof resolved !== "object") return {};
    const setup = resolved;
    if (!setup.plugin || typeof setup.plugin !== "object") return {};
    return { plugin: setup.plugin };
}

There's no plugin field on the bundled setup-entry export — only loadSetupPlugin. So resolveSetupChannelRegistration returns {}, the setup-registration branch at loader-BSIqIOsD.js:2713 is skipped, and the code falls through to the generic resolvePluginModuleExport(mod) path at line 2729. That path runs on the setup-entry module (not index.js), finds no register/activate function, and fails at line 2780.

As a side issue, the diagnostic blames index.js in its message because record.source still points at candidate.source, even though the file that was actually loaded and failed validation was setupSource (setup-entry.js). That made the error quite confusing to trace.

This affects every channel plugin that uses defineBundledChannelSetupEntry. It only reproduces when the plugin is enabled and the channel is not yet configured — configured channels take the full path and never touch setup-entry.js. So in practice, the first unconfigured bundled channel a user enables is what surfaces the bug.

Reproduction

1. Start from a workspace where the slack plugin is enabled (default).
2. Do not set SLACK_BOT_TOKEN / SLACK_APP_TOKEN / SLACK_USER_TOKEN.
3. Run openclaw doctor.

Expected: plugin stays in setup-runtime mode cleanly, ready for first-time setup.

Actual:

[plugins] slack missing register/activate export
[plugins] 1 plugin(s) failed to initialize (validation: slack). Run 'openclaw plugins list' for details.

And openclaw doctor reports Errors: 1 under Plugins with ERROR slack: plugin export missing register/activate (dist/extensions/slack/index.js).

Because of this, the first-time setup flow for slack is unreachable — you can't configure the plugin to make the error go away, and you can't make the error go away without configuring it.

Suggested fix

Teach resolveSetupChannelRegistration to handle bundled setup entries by calling loadSetupPlugin():

function resolveSetupChannelRegistration(moduleExport) {
    const resolved = moduleExport && typeof moduleExport === "object" && "default" in moduleExport ? moduleExport.default : moduleExport;
    if (!resolved || typeof resolved !== "object") return {};
    const setup = resolved;
    if (setup.plugin && typeof setup.plugin === "object") return { plugin: setup.plugin };
    if (typeof setup.loadSetupPlugin === "function") {
        try {
            const loaded = setup.loadSetupPlugin();
            if (loaded && typeof loaded === "object") return { plugin: loaded };
        } catch {}
    }
    return {};
}

I verified locally that slackSetupPlugin (returned by loadSetupPlugin()) is a valid plugin object with id: "slack", setupWizard, commands, configSchema, etc. With this patch applied, openclaw doctor reports Loaded: 57, Errors: 0 and the first-time slack setup flow becomes reachable.

Two related follow-ups worth considering:

1. Point the validation diagnostic at the file that was actually loaded (setupSource when in setup-runtime / setup-only mode) instead of record.source, so the error message isn't misleading.
2. Add a regression test that enables a bundled channel plugin without credentials and asserts the loader completes without errors.