What Problem This Solves

Tracking issue for closing the flat/scalar streaming-config compat window and the resolveGroupIntroHint adapter surface, with the external-ecosystem evidence and timeline in one place so affected plugin authors get actionable notice before the removal ships.

Background

Every bundled channel accepts only the nested streaming config shape since the 2026.7.2 train; openclaw doctor --fix migrates operator configs. External SDK plugins currently keep working through a deprecated fallback that warns once per key per process (first shipped in v2026.7.2-beta.1). The removal is prepared in #107656 (draft) and lands only after the warning has shipped in a stable train — earliest is the 2026.7.3 train.

Who is affected (evidence: full 77-package sweep, 2026-07-14)

A registry-wide inspection of external channel packages (official catalogs, npm, ClawHub) found 13 packages using the deprecated surface; the other 64 are clean. Exact file:line evidence lives in the maintainer notes archive.

Flat/scalar streaming config (stops resolving after removal — migrate keys to streaming.{mode,chunkMode,block,preview}):
@zalo-platforms/openclaw-zaloclawbot, @cxyhhhhh/openclaw-qqbot, @larksuite/openclaw-lark, @optimatist/langlangbot-openclaw, @tencent-connect/openclaw-qqbot, @xgjktech/xg_cwork_im, @xmoxmo/bncr, openclaw-stepfun, @srinathh/openclaw-channel-twilio-whatsapp (flat chunkMode in its own openclaw.plugin.json defaults — operator-side doctor cannot fix this one; the plugin manifest itself must be updated).

groups.resolveGroupIntroHint registrations (type-level break only; core never consumed the hint):
@soimy/dingtalk, @nevis/talk, @cxyhhhhh/openclaw-qqbot, @tencent-connect/openclaw-qqbot.

Deprecated openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-streaming subpath (NOT removed by #107656; will get its own deprecation window):
@inline-openclaw/inline, @roamhq/openclaw-roam — migrate imports to openclaw/plugin-sdk/channel-outbound at leisure.

Migration (one minute per package)

// before                          // after
{ "chunkMode": "newline",          { "streaming": {
  "blockStreaming": true,              "chunkMode": "newline",
  "blockStreamingCoalesce": {...},     "block": { "enabled": true, "coalesce": {...} },
  "draftChunk": {...} }                "preview": { "chunk": {...} } } }
// scalar: "streaming": true  →  "streaming": { "mode": "partial" }   (false → "off")

resolveGroupIntroHint registrations can simply be deleted — the hint was never read.

Timeline

• 2026.7.2 train (warning ships stable): flat/scalar keys keep working, gateway logs one deprecation warning per key.
• 2026.7.3 train: refactor(channels)!: close the streaming flat-key and intro-hint deprecation windows #107656 lands — flat/scalar keys stop resolving; bundled channels already reject them with a doctor pointer; matrix account-level scalars fail validation with an actionable message.

User Impact

Operators of the nine flat-config packages above may see chunking/streaming behavior revert to channel defaults after 2026.7.3 unless the plugin (or their config) migrates. Everything nested is unaffected.

Evidence

Sweep method and per-package file:line matches recorded 2026-07-14 (77 packages, 0 fetch failures); warning tags verified via git merge-base against v2026.7.1 / v2026.7.2-beta.1.