CLI: route JSON preaction logs to stderr by 08820048 · Pull Request #52060 · openclaw/openclaw

08820048 · 2026-03-22T03:58:45Z

Summary

Problem: CLI commands with --json could still print plugin/bootstrap logs to stdout before the JSON payload.
Why it matters: this breaks machine-readable stdout contracts for commands like openclaw agents list --json | jq ....
What changed: the CLI preAction hook now routes logs to stderr for real JSON-output commands before config guard or plugin loading runs, and the regression test covers both enabled and excluded --json paths.
What did NOT change (scope boundary): no log levels changed, no command payload shapes changed, and parse-only --json aliases such as config set --json remain untouched.

Change Type (select all)

Scope (select all touched areas)

Linked Issue/PR

User-visible / Behavior Changes

CLI commands that support real --json output now keep stdout reserved for JSON by routing preAction/plugin/bootstrap logs to stderr.

Security Impact (required)

New permissions/capabilities? (Yes/No) No
Secrets/tokens handling changed? (Yes/No) No
New/changed network calls? (Yes/No) No
Command/tool execution surface changed? (Yes/No) No
Data access scope changed? (Yes/No) No
If any Yes, explain risk + mitigation:

Repro + Verification

Environment

OS: macOS 26.4
Runtime/container: local zsh shell
Model/provider: N/A
Integration/channel (if any): CLI preAction
Relevant config (redacted): --json commands that can load plugins during startup

Steps

Run a CLI command with real JSON output and plugin/bootstrap startup, such as openclaw agents list --json.
Pipe stdout to a JSON parser.
Confirm startup logs no longer corrupt stdout.

Expected

Stdout remains valid JSON for real --json output commands.

Actual

Before: plugin/bootstrap logs could print to stdout before the JSON payload.
After: those logs are redirected to stderr before config guard/plugin loading, preserving JSON stdout.

Evidence

Attach at least one:

Failing test/log before + passing after
Trace/log snippets
Screenshot/recording
Perf numbers (if relevant)

Human Verification (required)

What you personally verified (not just CI), and how:

Verified scenarios: pnpm test -- src/cli/program/preaction.test.ts passes and now asserts status --json, update status --json, and backup create --json flip stderr routing, while config set --json does not.
Edge cases checked: JSON routing is applied before config-guard bypass, so bypassed JSON commands still preserve stdout.
What you did not verify: I did not reproduce a plugin-loaded end-to-end CLI run in this terminal; pnpm build also fails on current upstream/main due to unrelated untouched memory export errors in src/memory/embeddings-openai.ts and src/memory/manager-sync-ops.ts.

Review Conversations

I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

Compatibility / Migration

Backward compatible? (Yes/No) Yes
Config/env changes? (Yes/No) No
Migration needed? (Yes/No) No
If yes, exact upgrade steps:

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

How to disable/revert this change quickly: revert commit f902d4989
Files/config to restore: src/cli/program/preaction.ts, src/cli/program/preaction.test.ts
Known bad symptoms reviewers should watch for: unexpected stderr routing on commands that only use --json as an input-parsing mode

Risks and Mitigations

Risk: a parse-only --json command could accidentally be treated as JSON output and change stderr behavior.
- Mitigation: the change keeps the existing isJsonOutputMode(...) gate and regression coverage for config set --json.

greptile-apps · 2026-03-22T04:00:51Z

Greptile Summary

This PR fixes a bug where plugin/bootstrap initialization logs could leak to stdout before the JSON payload when running CLI commands with --json, breaking machine-readable stdout contracts for patterns like openclaw agents list --json | jq .... The fix adds a routeLogsToStderr() call in the preAction hook — importantly, before the shouldBypassConfigGuard() early-return — ensuring that even config-guard-bypassing commands (e.g. backup create --json) still get their logs redirected to stderr.

The change is minimal, targeted, and well-scoped: only two files touched, no log-level or payload-shape changes.
emitCliBanner was already guarded with its own hasJsonFlag check (returns early for --json), so the banner was never part of the pollution problem and remains unaffected.
Renaming the local suppressDoctorStdout variable to reuse the already-computed jsonOutputMode is a clean deduplication.
Test coverage is thorough: status --json, update status --json, and backup create --json all assert loggingState.forceConsoleToStderr === true; config set --json correctly asserts false. beforeEach/afterEach teardown and mid-test resets prevent state leakage between sub-scenarios.

Confidence Score: 5/5

This PR is safe to merge — the change is minimal, logically correct, and well-covered by regression tests.
The diff is two files, the logic change is a single if-block moved above an early-return guard, the pre-existing isJsonOutputMode gate is unchanged, and the banner's own hasJsonFlag guard already covers that edge case. All new and existing assertions pass. No API contracts, log levels, or command payload shapes are altered.
No files require special attention.

_{Last reviewed commit: "CLI: route JSON prea..."}

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-03-22T04:02:10Z

src/cli/program/preaction.ts

+    if (jsonOutputMode) {
+      routeLogsToStderr();


Do not redirect --json command payloads to stderr

Setting routeLogsToStderr() here flips global console routing before command execution, and in normal CLI execution (src/cli/run-main.ts) enableConsoleCapture() has already patched console.*. Since defaultRuntime.log uses console.log and many JSON-mode handlers emit their payload via runtime.log(JSON.stringify(...)) (for example in status/update/backup commands), the actual JSON result is moved to stderr rather than stdout, breaking pipelines like openclaw ... --json | jq that expect machine-readable stdout.

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CLI: route JSON preaction logs to stderr

f902d49

openclaw-barnacle bot added cli CLI command changes size: XS labels Mar 22, 2026

chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Mar 22, 2026

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This was referenced Mar 22, 2026

fix(cli): route plugin logs to stderr during --json output #52449

Merged

[Bug]: --json CLI flags output plugin logs to stdout, breaking JSON parsing #52032

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CLI: route JSON preaction logs to stderr#52060

CLI: route JSON preaction logs to stderr#52060
08820048 wants to merge 1 commit intoopenclaw:mainfrom
08820048:fix-cli-json-stderr-52032

08820048 commented Mar 22, 2026

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08820048 commented Mar 22, 2026

Summary

Change Type (select all)

Scope (select all touched areas)

Linked Issue/PR

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Security Impact (required)

Repro + Verification

Environment

Steps

Expected

Actual

Evidence

Human Verification (required)

Review Conversations

Compatibility / Migration

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

Risks and Mitigations

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greptile-apps bot commented Mar 22, 2026

Greptile Summary

Confidence Score: 5/5

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