Description

When configuring plugins.slots.contextEngine to a third-party plugin (e.g., lossless-claw), the boot-md hook fails during Gateway startup because the context engine is not yet registered when agent bootstrap runs.

Error Logs

boot: agent run failed: Context engine "lossless-claw" is not registered. Available engines: legacy
[hooks/boot-md] boot-md failed for agent startup run

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install lossless-claw plugin: openclaw plugins install @martian-engineering/lossless-claw
2. Configure context engine: openclaw config set plugins.slots.contextEngine lossless-claw
3. Restart Gateway: openclaw gateway restart
4. Observe boot-md hook failure

Expected Behavior

• Context engine plugins should be fully registered before agent bootstrap runs
• boot-md hook should execute successfully after Gateway restart

Actual Behavior

• Agent bootstrap fails because context engine is not registered
• boot-md hook fails as a consequence
• Gateway starts but bootstrap files (BOOT.md) are not executed

Workaround

Set plugins.slots.contextEngine to legacy (the default):

openclaw config set plugins.slots.contextEngine legacy
openclaw gateway restart

Environment

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.3.7
• Node.js: 25.8.0
• OS: macOS 26.3.1 (arm64)
• Plugin: @martian-engineering/lossless-claw v0.2.1

Impact

• BOOT.md and other bootstrap hooks cannot execute when using custom context engines
• Users must choose between custom context engines and bootstrap functionality

Suggested Fix

Ensure context engine plugins are fully registered and initialized before agent bootstrap runs during Gateway startup.