Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

After upgrading to 2026.4.21 (from an earlier version), subagent spawning started loading BOOTSTRAP.md from agent workspaces instead of SOUL.md. This had not occurred before the upgrade.

Steps to reproduce

• Agent luke (workspace: ~/.openclaw/workspace-luke/) had a BOOTSTRAP.md file dated March 20, 2026
• After the 2026.4.21 upgrade, spawning Luke caused his BOOTSTRAP.md to fire instead of loading SOUL.md
• Same issue confirmed present for agent mia
• Deleting BOOTSTRAP.md from workspace-luke/ fixed Luke's spawn immediately
• After deletion, Luke correctly loaded SOUL.md and greeted as "Hi GT! Luke here!"

Notes:

• BOOTSTRAP.md was present in the workspace before the upgrade but was not being triggered
• The upgrade appears to have changed bootstrap priority/order, causing BOOTSTRAP.md to fire before SOUL.md on subagent spawn
• Other agents (workspace-recon) also have BOOTSTRAP.md and may be affected

Expected behavior

Persistent sub agent should have loaded soul.md

Actual behavior

agent bootstrapped instead of reading soul.md

OpenClaw version

• OpenClaw Version: 2026.4.21

Operating system

OS: macOS (Darwin 25.x, arm64)

Install method

npm

Model

minimax2.7-highspeed

Provider / routing chain

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response