Summary

When upgrading OpenClaw core via npm install -g, the external plugins in ~/.openclaw/npm/ are not upgraded in tandem. This creates a version mismatch between core and plugins that causes hard failures at runtime (e.g. No API provider registered for api: bedrock-converse-stream). Additionally, the official openclaw plugins update --all command fails to detect the drift due to conflicting SQLite metadata.

This is a data point reinforcing #83337 and #88707, but with additional evidence that the built-in recovery path (plugins update) is also broken.

Environment

• OpenClaw core: 2026.6.8 (upgraded from 2026.5.27 via npm install -g)
• Plugins at time of failure: @openclaw/[email protected], @openclaw/[email protected], @openclaw/[email protected]
• OS: macOS (arm64, Darwin 25.2.0)
• Node.js: v24.13.0
• Install method: npm global

Reproduction

1. Have a working OpenClaw setup with external plugins installed in ~/.openclaw/npm/
2. Upgrade core: npm install -g @openclaw/openclaw@latest
3. Restart the gateway (via launchctl or any external method)
4. Send a message → "LLM request failed"

Error Evidence

From /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-2026-06-18.log:

{
  "isError": true,
  "error": "LLM request failed.",
  "rawErrorPreview": "No API provider registered for api: bedrock-converse-stream",
  "model": "global.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1",
  "provider": "amazon-bedrock"
}

Root Cause

Core 2026.6.8 expects the bedrock provider plugin to call registerApiProvider with the new plugin SDK. The old plugin (2026.5.27) doesn't have this registration code → API never gets registered → all LLM calls fail.

plugins update Also Broken

Running openclaw plugins update --all reports "already up to date" even though plugins are 2026.5.27 while core is 2026.6.8:

$ openclaw plugins update --all --dry-run
# Reports plugins as "already up to date" at 2026.5.27
# Doctor warning: "conflicting package metadata entries"

The SQLite install index has stale metadata that prevents the update command from recognizing the drift.

Workaround

Manual npm upgrade in the plugins directory:

cd ~/.openclaw/npm
npm install @openclaw/amazon-bedrock-provider@latest \
            @openclaw/feishu@latest \
            @openclaw/slack@latest
# Then restart gateway

Impact

This is a hard upgrade blocker for any user with external plugins. The failure mode is especially bad because:

1. npm install -g reports success → user thinks upgrade is done
2. Gateway starts without error in the log → appears healthy
3. First message fails with cryptic "LLM request failed" → user thinks the upgrade broke something
4. Built-in recovery (plugins update) doesn't work → user is stuck without manual npm knowledge

Expected Behavior

At minimum one of these should work:

• Option A: npm install -g also upgrades ~/.openclaw/npm/ plugins (or prompts to do so)
• Option B: Gateway startup detects core/plugin version mismatch and refuses to start with a clear error message explaining how to fix
• Option C: openclaw plugins update --all correctly detects and resolves the drift

Related Issues

• Plugin/core version drift after upgrade causes silent channel failure #83337 — Plugin/core version drift after upgrade causes silent channel failure
• [Bug] Regression 2026.5.27→2026.5.28: "No API provider registered for api: bedrock-converse-stream" — pi-ai removal breaks Bedrock provider registration; bearer token auth broken #88707 — "No API provider registered for api: bedrock-converse-stream" (same error, different version jump)
• plugins update --all leaves exact beta official plugins pinned after stable upgrade #94083 — plugins update --all leaves plugins pinned after stable upgrade