OpenClaw memory-core Dreaming narrative session cleanup still leaves session/trajectory residue on 2026.5.3-1

Summary

On OpenClaw 2026.5.3-1, the managed memory-core Dreaming sweep runs successfully, but it still leaves substantial session/trajectory residue after the 03:00 sweep.

This looks related to earlier fixed/closed Dreaming cleanup issues, but the local installed 2026.5.3-1 bundle still lacks the key cleanup behavior proposed in open PR #70464.

This report is intended as evidence for either a new issue or a comment on the existing Dreaming cleanup PR/issue. It was prepared from a local read-only audit; no local OpenClaw core patch was applied.

Environment

OpenClaw: 2026.5.3-1 (2eae30e)
OS: macOS 26.4.1 x64
Node: 25.9.0
Context engine: lossless-claw 0.9.4
Memory plugin: memory-core bundled 2026.5.3
Dreaming: enabled, managed cron `0 3 * * *` Asia/Shanghai
Agent/workspace audited: sungeng, plus main sessions where Dreaming narrative residue appears

Actual behavior observed

The official managed Dreaming cron ran successfully around 03:00 Asia/Shanghai.

Evidence from the local audit:

Memory Dreaming Promotion cron: last run OK
DREAMS.md mtime: 2026-05-05 03:00:50
New phase files:
- memory/dreaming/light/2026-05-05.md (~20KB)
- memory/dreaming/rem/2026-05-05.md (~128B)
- memory/dreaming/deep/2026-05-05.md (~154B)
Recall store after run: 55 entries, 0 promoted

The quality side is not the main problem here. Promoted 0 can be normal because durable memory should require repeated evidence.

The problem is residue:

03:00–03:03 window under ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions:
- 61 files touched/created in the window
- total size ~5.0 MB
- 37 files matched dream/memory-related patterns
- matched size ~5.0 MB

Examples from that window include many .trajectory.jsonl sidecars around 200KB each and paired/small .jsonl files:

9826c96c-37ce-467b-8f5f-7f96c874ad40.jsonl 10247 03:00:22
9826c96c-37ce-467b-8f5f-7f96c874ad40.trajectory.jsonl 213313 03:00:23
336562ec-8534-4b0e-95d3-115e13f49c4f.trajectory.jsonl 206977 03:00:40
32defa40-27a0-43da-a6be-337b46f78d02.trajectory.jsonl 215363 03:00:50
fbc5934e-8d3c-4f87-bb95-258e3712124d.jsonl 3933 03:00:54
fbc5934e-8d3c-4f87-bb95-258e3712124d.trajectory.jsonl 202191 03:00:55
...

The main session store also contains many Dreaming narrative entries (agent:main:dreaming-narrative-*). A local scan found roughly 21 Dreaming/cron-related entries among 23 entries in ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json at the time of investigation.

Logs also showed lossless-claw processing Dreaming narrative sessions after Dreaming, including ENOENT for missing .jsonl files. This suggests the primary transcript can disappear while other session/LCM/trajectory lifecycle code still sees references:

lossless-claw afterTurn/bootstrap checkpoint refresh failed: ENOENT stat ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/<sessionId>.jsonl
lossless-claw auto-rotate warning: reason=session-file-stat-failed

Expected behavior

After the Dream Diary/narrative subagent run is processed, internal dreaming-narrative-* sessions should not accumulate in normal session stores/UI, and trajectory sidecars should not accumulate unboundedly.

Expected cleanup should reconcile:

• sessions.json entries / session store rows
• primary .jsonl transcript files
• .trajectory.jsonl sidecars
• .trajectory-path.json sidecars if present
• LCM/context-engine afterTurn timing, or at least avoid leaving ENOENT races as repeated warnings

Relevant upstream history

There are multiple prior issues/PRs that appear related:

• [Bug]: too many dream sessions have led to accumulation #65192 CLOSED — too many dream sessions accumulated; upstream noted prevention/repair work on main.
• [Bug]: Dreaming creates many internal narrative sessions overnight despite daily 03:00 schedule, filling the Sessions list #65277 CLOSED — Dreaming creates many internal narrative sessions overnight and fills Sessions list.
• Dreaming sessions pollute UI agent switcher — sessions.json not cleaned up after dream runs #70402 CLOSED — Dreaming sessions pollute UI agent switcher; .jsonl and sessions.json not cleaned up.
• memory-core narrative session cleanup fails with missing scope: operator.admin #69886 / memory-core dreaming cleanup requires operator.admin and logs failure despite successful promotion #70395 / memory-core: narrative session cleanup fails with "missing scope: operator.admin" during dreaming phases #71956 / memory-core dreaming cleanup fails: subagent deleteSession cannot dispatch sessions.delete (operator.admin required) #72712 CLOSED — narrative cleanup failed due to missing operator.admin / deleteSession scope.
• fix(memory-core): prevent dreaming-narrative session leaks (#66358) #67023 MERGED — fix(memory-core): prevent dreaming-narrative session leaks (#66358).
• Fix dreaming replay, repair polluted artifacts, and gate wiki tabs #65138 MERGED — fixed Dreaming replay/self-ingestion and repair flows.
• Bug: Dreaming narrative sessions not cleaned up after completion #76691 CLOSED — “Bug: Dreaming narrative sessions not cleaned up after completion”.
• fix(memory-core): allow bounded dreaming session cleanup #70464 OPEN — fix(memory-core): allow bounded dreaming session cleanup.

Local code comparison against #70464 direction

Local installed file:

/usr/local/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/dreaming-phases-BAWwmoXz.js

Local buildNarrativeSessionKey still includes nowMs in the session key:

function buildNarrativeSessionKey(params) {
  const workspaceHash = createHash("sha1").update(params.workspaceDir).digest("hex").slice(0, 12);
  return `dreaming-narrative-${params.phase}-${workspaceHash}-${params.nowMs}`;
}

Local startNarrativeRunOrFallback uses the session key as the idempotency key:

params.subagent.run({
  idempotencyKey: params.sessionKey,
  sessionKey: params.sessionKey,
  ...
})

Local feature check:

{
  "phaseFile": "/usr/local/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/dreaming-phases-BAWwmoXz.js",
  "serverPluginsFile": "/usr/local/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/server-plugins-Bn7zfXhk.js",
  "buildNarrativeSessionKeyIncludesNowMs": true,
  "buildNarrativeSessionKeyStableWithoutNowMs": false,
  "startNarrativeRunUsesSessionKeyAsIdempotencyKey": true,
  "hasPreCleanupBeforeNarrativeRun": false,
  "scrubMentionsTrajectory": false,
  "scrubScansJsonlOnly": true,
  "deleteSessionFinallyExists": true,
  "pluginOwnedDeleteHasSyntheticAdmin": true
}

This suggests the local 2026.5.3-1 bundle includes some earlier cleanup fixes, but not the later #70464-style stable session key / separate idempotency key / pre-cleanup behavior.

Local code already has the older permission fix

The old operator.admin cleanup failure appears fixed locally.

Local file:

/usr/local/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/server-plugins-Bn7zfXhk.js

Local deleteSession(params) now passes pluginRuntimeOwnerId and uses synthetic admin scope for plugin-owned cleanup when needed:

const pluginOwnedCleanupOptions = pluginId ? {
  pluginRuntimeOwnerId: pluginId,
  ...!hasAdminScope(scope?.client) ? {
    forceSyntheticClient: true,
    syntheticScopes: [ADMIN_SCOPE]
  } : {}
} : void 0;
await dispatchGatewayMethod("sessions.delete", {
  key: params.sessionKey,
  deleteTranscript: params.deleteTranscript ?? true
}, pluginOwnedCleanupOptions);

So this does not look like the older missing-operator.admin problem anymore.

Local scrub appears to ignore trajectory sidecars

dreaming-phases-BAWwmoXz.js contains scrubDreamingNarrativeArtifacts(...), but the local audit found:

• it scans session directory files ending in .jsonl
• no .trajectory reference was found in that dreaming cleanup function/file

This matches the observed residue pattern: primary JSONL handling may be partially working, while .trajectory.jsonl / sidecar cleanup is not closed-loop.

Why this matters

One daily Dreaming run produced roughly 5 MB and dozens of session/trajectory artifacts. If Dreaming stays enabled for long-term accumulation, this can cause:

• session directory bloat
• slow sessions.list / session maintenance
• noisy UI/session switcher entries
• lossless-claw afterTurn ENOENT warnings
• event-loop delay / file-scan pressure over time

Request / proposed fix direction

Please confirm whether #70464 or equivalent logic is intended for 2026.5.x.

Potential fix areas:

1. Stabilize Dreaming narrative session keys across runs/workspaces/phases, moving nowMs into idempotencyKey only.
2. Add explicit pre-cleanup before starting a new narrative run.
3. Ensure deleteSession / session maintenance handles trajectory sidecars for Dreaming narrative sessions.
4. Ensure cleanup removes/prunes corresponding sessions.json entries or uses the normal session deletion lifecycle fully.
5. Coordinate with context-engine afterTurn lifecycle so cleanup does not race with lossless-claw checkpoint/rotation processing, or at least avoids persistent ENOENT warnings.

Attachments / local artifacts

Local read-only audit artifacts are available under:

~/.openclaw/tmp/dreaming-cleanup-issue-draft-20260505_142912

Relevant generated files:

• local-evidence.json
• session-evidence.txt
• fetched PR metadata/diffs for fix(memory-core): allow bounded dreaming session cleanup #70464, fix(memory-core): prevent dreaming-narrative session leaks (#66358) #67023, Fix dreaming replay, repair polluted artifacts, and gate wiki tabs #65138