Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

openclaw status --deep reports no bootstrap files on mature workspaces where standard bootstrap files are injected normally and only the one-shot BOOTSTRAP.md file is absent.

Steps to reproduce

1. Create or use a normal non-new OpenClaw workspace where the standard bootstrap files exist (AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, IDENTITY.md, USER.md, optionally HEARTBEAT.md / MEMORY.md).
2. Ensure BOOTSTRAP.md is absent, which is the expected steady-state after first-run bootstrapping.
3. Run openclaw status --deep.
4. Optionally compare with a fresh session store entry that contains systemPromptReport.injectedWorkspaceFiles.

Expected behavior

status should describe the state as something like:

• no workspaces bootstrapping
• or BOOTSTRAP.md absent
• or otherwise make it clear that the one-shot BOOTSTRAP.md ritual is not pending

It should not imply that workspace bootstrap injection is missing when AGENTS.md / SOUL.md / TOOLS.md / IDENTITY.md / USER.md are still being injected normally.

Actual behavior

openclaw status --deep reports no bootstrap files.

That wording is misleading on mature workspaces because runtime injection is still working normally; only BOOTSTRAP.md is absent.

In my local repro on 2026.3.8:

• mature workspaces had AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, TOOLS.md, IDENTITY.md, USER.md, HEARTBEAT.md
• BOOTSTRAP.md was absent in all agent workspaces, which is expected
• fresh session entries still showed systemPromptReport.injectedWorkspaceFiles containing the standard workspace bootstrap files
• the status overview still said no bootstrap files

OpenClaw version

2026.3.8

Operating system

macOS 26.3 (arm64)

Install method

npm global

Model

N/A (CLI status command; not model-dependent)

Provider / routing chain

N/A (local CLI status rendering; not provider-dependent)

Config file / key location

~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Additional provider/model setup details

Standard multi-agent local setup with per-agent workspaces. No special bootstrap overrides were required to reproduce this.

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Observed status output before local wording patch:

OpenClaw status
...
Agents │ 5 · no bootstrap files · sessions ...

Additional evidence from local inspection:

• loadWorkspaceBootstrapFiles(...) still enumerates standard files independently of BOOTSTRAP.md
• status rendering appears to compute a bootstrapPending boolean from exists(workspaceDir/BOOTSTRAP.md) and then display that as bootstrap files present / no bootstrap files
• that makes the summary text semantically broader than the value it is actually measuring

This looks like a status wording / UX bug, not a bootstrap injection bug.

Impact and severity

Affected: anyone using mature workspaces after first-run bootstrap is complete
Severity: low-to-medium, but misleading for operators/debugging
Frequency: 100% on steady-state workspaces without BOOTSTRAP.md
Consequence: sends users/operators in the wrong direction by implying bootstrap injection is missing when only the one-shot BOOTSTRAP.md file is absent

Additional information

I could not find an existing issue for this exact wording problem, although there are other bootstrap-related issues and at least one other status reporting bug in the tracker.

A minimal fix seems to be renaming the status wording to reflect the actual signal, for example:

• no workspaces bootstrapping
• 0 bootstrapping
• BOOTSTRAP.md absent

instead of no bootstrap files.