Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Summary
Builtin memory search and manual memory indexing work, but new markdown files created in workspace/memory and memorySearch.extraPaths are not auto-indexed when memorySearch.sync.watch=true.

Steps to reproduce

Start OpenClaw 2026.4.9 with builtin memory enabled, memorySearch.sync.watch=true, memorySearch.sync.onSearch=true, and memorySearch.extraPaths including /home/openclaw/workspace/knowledge.
Trigger a successful gateway-side memory search, for example with:
openclaw agent --agent main --thinking off --timeout 60
--message "Please use memory_search and reply only with OK"
--json
Create a new markdown file in:
/home/openclaw/workspace/memory
/home/openclaw/workspace/knowledge
Wait 120 seconds.
Check the memory SQLite store or search results.

Expected behavior

New markdown files created under workspace/memory and configured extraPaths should be auto-indexed when memorySearch.sync.watch=true.

Actual behavior

The new markdown files do not appear in the memory index after 120 seconds.
Manual indexing with openclaw memory index --agent main indexes them successfully.

OpenClaw version

2026.4.9

Operating system

Oracle Linux ARM64

Install method

npm global

Model

minimax/MiniMax-M2.7

Provider / routing chain

openclaw gateway -> minimax

Additional provider/model setup details

Memory backend under test is builtin/local memory with:

provider = "local"
model = "embeddinggemma:latest"
sync.watch = true
sync.onSearch = true
extraPaths = ["/home/openclaw/workspace/knowledge", "/home/openclaw/workspace/archive/memory"]
memory_search works, openclaw memory status --deep reports embeddings/vector ready, and manual indexing works.

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Observed evidence:

memory_search succeeds through the gateway.
openclaw memory index --agent main indexes the new files successfully.
Repro was tested with new files in both:
/home/openclaw/workspace/memory
/home/openclaw/workspace/knowledge
Neither file was auto-indexed within 120 seconds.
The issue reproduces for both the default memory path and configured extraPaths, so it is not limited to extraPaths.

Impact and severity

Affected users/systems/channels:
Users relying on builtin memory auto-indexing for new markdown files under workspace/memory or configured memorySearch.extraPaths on this OpenClaw setup.

Severity:
Medium. Search and manual indexing still work, but automatic memory refresh does not.

Frequency:
Observed on all tested attempts in this environment. New markdown files created under both /home/openclaw/workspace/memory and /home/openclaw/workspace/knowledge were not auto-indexed within 120 seconds.

Consequence:
New knowledge files do not become searchable automatically. A manual openclaw memory index --agent main run is required to make the new files available in memory search.

Additional information

Observed on OpenClaw 2026.4.9.

This does not appear to be limited to extraPaths: the same behavior was observed for new files under both the default workspace/memory path and the configured extra path /home/openclaw/workspace/knowledge.

Manual indexing succeeds immediately, so the observed failure is specific to the automatic watch-triggered indexing path.