[Bug]: Plugin-registered internal hooks are cleared during gateway startup by ramarnat · Pull Request #13709 · openclaw/openclaw

ramarnat · 2026-02-10T22:49:07Z

Summary

Plugins that register internal hooks during plugin registration (e.g. session:start) lose those hooks when the gateway later loads file-based hooks. The gateway clears internal hooks during startup after plugin registration, wiping plugin-registered hooks.

Steps to reproduce

Create/enable a plugin that registers an internal hook in its registration step (e.g. session:start).
Configure any workspace/internal hooks so loadInternalHooks(...) runs during startup.
Start the gateway.

Expected behavior

Plugin-registered internal hooks should remain registered after internal hooks are loaded.

Actual behavior

Plugin-registered internal hooks are cleared and do not fire.

Environment

Clawdbot version: 2026.2.9
OS: Linux
Install method: Docker

Notes / Why

The gateway clears internal hooks during startGatewaySidecars after plugin registration. Fix is to clear before plugins register hooks and keep hook discovery additive. (Branch: pr/internal-hooks-clear-before-plugins includes fix + regression test.)

Greptile Overview

Greptile Summary

This PR fixes a bug where plugins that registered internal hooks during initialization (e.g., session:start) would lose those hooks when the gateway later loaded file-based hooks. The root cause was that clearInternalHooks() was being called in startGatewaySidecars after plugins had already registered their hooks.

Key Changes:

Moved clearInternalHooks() call from server-startup.ts:99 (after plugins load) to server.impl.ts:234 (before plugins load)
Updated comments to clarify that internal hooks should only be cleared once at startup, before plugin registration
Added comprehensive regression test that verifies plugin-registered internal hooks survive the loadInternalHooks() call

How it works:

Gateway startup clears internal hooks registry once (server.impl.ts:234)
Plugins are loaded and may register internal hooks via api.registerHook() (server.impl.ts:235)
Later, startGatewaySidecars() loads file-based hooks additively without clearing (server-startup.ts:101)
Both plugin-registered and file-based hooks coexist in the registry

The fix ensures hook discovery is additive rather than destructive, preserving all hooks regardless of registration source.

Confidence Score: 5/5

This PR is safe to merge with minimal risk
The fix is surgical and well-reasoned: it moves a single function call to the correct location in the startup sequence. The change is backed by a comprehensive regression test that validates the exact bug scenario described. The execution order is clear (clear hooks → load plugins → load file hooks), and the comments explain the rationale. No breaking changes or risky refactoring involved.
No files require special attention

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@gumadeiras

…claw#18660) Merged via /review-pr -> /prepare-pr -> /merge-pr. Prepared head SHA: ba54c5a Co-authored-by: robbyczgw-cla <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

@gumadeiras

…openclaw#19609) Merged via /review-pr -> /prepare-pr -> /merge-pr. Prepared head SHA: 10d9df5 Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

openclaw-barnacle · 2026-02-19T02:14:07Z