Description

After upgrading OpenClaw from v2026.4.1 to v2026.4.2, the Slack plugin fails to load with the following error:

[plugins] slack failed to load from .../openclaw/dist/extensions/slack/index.js: 
Error: Cannot find module '@slack/web-api'
Require stack:
- .../openclaw/dist/client-Cm0jR4_W.js

This causes all Slack bot connections to fail, making all Slack-bound agents completely unresponsive.

Root Cause

In v2026.4.1, @slack/web-api and other @slack/* packages were installed at:

openclaw/node_modules/@slack/web-api/

In v2026.4.2, these packages only exist under:

openclaw/dist/extensions/slack/node_modules/@slack/web-api/

The Slack plugin entry point (client-Cm0jR4_W.js) lives in dist/ and requires @slack/web-api, but Node's module resolution cannot find it because the package is nested inside dist/extensions/slack/node_modules/ instead of being at the top-level node_modules/.

Affected Packages

All @slack/* packages are affected:

• @slack/web-api
• @slack/bolt
• @slack/socket-mode
• @slack/logger
• @slack/oauth
• @slack/types

Workaround

Create symlinks from the top-level node_modules/@slack/ to the nested copies:

PKG_DIR="$(dirname $(realpath $(which openclaw)))/../lib/node_modules/openclaw"
# Or find your pnpm global store path
SRC="$PKG_DIR/dist/extensions/slack/node_modules/@slack"
DST="$PKG_DIR/node_modules/@slack"
mkdir -p "$DST"
for pkg in bolt logger oauth socket-mode types web-api; do
  ln -sf "$SRC/$pkg" "$DST/$pkg"
done

Then restart the gateway.

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.4.2 (d74a122)
• Previous working version: 2026.4.1
• Node.js: v24.14.0
• OS: Linux 6.1.0-33-amd64 (x64)
• Package manager: pnpm v10.30.3
• Slack mode: socket (multi-account, 18 bot accounts)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Upgrade OpenClaw to v2026.4.2 via pnpm add -g [email protected]
2. Have Slack plugin enabled in config with socket mode
3. Start gateway or run openclaw status
4. Observe: PluginLoadFailureError: plugin load failed: slack: Error: Cannot find module '@slack/web-api'

Expected Behavior

Slack plugin loads successfully and all bot socket connections are established, as in v2026.4.1.

Additional Context

openclaw doctor reports "Plugins: Loaded 39, Errors: 0" after applying the symlink workaround, confirming the fix works.