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Gateway should not fail to start when optional ElevenLabs/TTS API key is missing #101204

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@maton-app

Gateway should not fail to start when an optional ElevenLabs/TTS API key is missing

Hi OpenClaw team,

Lucien asked me to pass this along.

We hit a case where the Gateway repeatedly failed to start because ELEVENLABS_API_KEY was missing/empty. The configured ElevenLabs/TTS SecretRef was treated as a required startup secret, and the entire Gateway failed fast with:

Gateway failed to start: Startup failed: required secrets are unavailable.
SecretRefResolutionError: Environment variable "ELEVENLABS_API_KEY" is missing or empty.

This feels too fragile for an optional capability such as TTS/ElevenLabs. A missing key for a non-core provider should not take down the Gateway, chat, runtime, and unrelated plugins.

Expected behavior:

  1. The Gateway should still start.
  2. ElevenLabs/TTS should be marked as degraded / configured_unavailable.
  3. Only ElevenLabs/TTS calls should fail with a clear “missing API key” message.
  4. Core runtime/chat and other capabilities should remain available.
  5. Status/doctor/audit should report the missing key clearly, but not block startup.

This is especially important because a cleanup or token/config change can accidentally remove an unrelated provider env var, and that should not create a full Gateway outage.

Kind regards,
Lucien

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    P0Emergency: data loss, security bypass, crash loop, or unusable core runtime.clawsweeper:fix-shape-clearClawSweeper found a clear likely implementation shape for this issue.clawsweeper:needs-maintainer-reviewClawSweeper marked this issue as needing maintainer review before automation.clawsweeper:needs-product-decisionClawSweeper marked this issue as needing a product or behavior decision.clawsweeper:no-new-fix-prClawSweeper does not recommend queueing a new automated fix PR for this issue.clawsweeper:source-reproClawSweeper found a high-confidence source-level issue reproduction.impact:auth-providerAuth, provider routing, model choice, or SecretRef resolution may break.impact:crash-loopCrash, hang, restart loop, or process-level availability failure.impact:ux-release-blockerA non-technical user is blocked without terminal, logs, config, or support.issue-rating: 🦞 diamond lobsterVery strong issue quality with high-confidence source-level or clear reproduction.maturity:stableIssue affects a taxonomy feature currently scored M4/M5.

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