Fix Active Memory memory-only recall latency by SYU8384 · Pull Request #75200 · openclaw/openclaw

SYU8384 · 2026-04-30T18:03:47Z

Summary

Fixes [Bug]: Active Memory blocks direct-chat turns for ~30s and times out across multiple model configurations #65309.
Keeps Active Memory’s memory-only subagent path, but makes the blocking recall path deterministic and cheaper.
Runs exactly one required memory-tool attempt inside the memory-only worker, falling back from memory_recall to memory_search when recall tooling is unavailable.
Separates the rich recall prompt from the actual memory-tool search query so channel/runtime metadata is not sent to QMD as the search string.
Keeps QMD on the fast direct lexical path for Active Memory and records whether QMD sync waits were skipped or fallback was used.
Treats empty memory results or empty summarizer output as NONE instead of injecting worker errors into the main prompt.

What this fixes

Active Memory could spend the reply-path budget on setup, QMD/mcporter search, or a worker that returned without useful memory-tool behavior.
Channel turns could therefore feel stalled even though the main agent was otherwise healthy.
The fix is provider-agnostic: it bounds and simplifies the memory-only worker path rather than depending on a specific model/provider behavior.

Validation

pnpm test extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.test.ts src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.memory-only-forwarding.test.ts
pnpm test extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts extensions/memory-core/src/memory/search-manager.test.ts extensions/memory-core/src/tools.test.ts extensions/discord/src/monitor/provider.test.ts
pnpm exec oxfmt --check --threads=1 <touched files>
pnpm build
pnpm check:changed (local; Blacksmith CLI unavailable in this environment)

Live check

Gateway restarted and reported healthy.
Discord probe connected and send-capable.
A channel test showed queryChars=850, searchQueryChars=4, requiredFirstTool=memory_search, and requiredFirstToolQueryChars=4, with no fresh QMD command using the full channel/runtime metadata.

clawsweeper · 2026-04-30T18:08:16Z

Codex review: passed.

Summary
The PR adds a bounded latest-message search-query section to Active Memory recall prompts, regression coverage for metadata stripping, a changelog entry, and pending-final-delivery session slot reservations.

Reproducibility: yes. for a source-level reproduction path: an eligible interactive turn reaches Active Memory's blocking before_prompt_build hook, which awaits embedded recall before the main prompt is built. The linked issue adds concrete timeout logs from current releases, but I did not run a live gateway/provider reproduction under the read-only constraint.

Next step before merge
No repair lane is needed because automerge is already enabled for this open PR and the review found no discrete fixup blocker.

Security
Cleared: The diff touches Active Memory prompt/query handling, tests, changelog text, and session slot keys; it does not add dependencies, workflows, secret handling, package-resolution changes, or new code-execution surfaces.

Review details

Best possible solution:

Ship the bounded Active Memory search-query behavior with regression coverage, while preserving the already-main session-slot reservation and keeping the fix scoped to recall query handling.

Do we have a high-confidence way to reproduce the issue?

Yes for a source-level reproduction path: an eligible interactive turn reaches Active Memory's blocking before_prompt_build hook, which awaits embedded recall before the main prompt is built. The linked issue adds concrete timeout logs from current releases, but I did not run a live gateway/provider reproduction under the read-only constraint.

Is this the best way to solve the issue?

Yes. The diff is a focused and maintainable fix for the observed metadata-heavy search-query path, with exact-head checks green; if live proof shows models ignore the prompt-only query instruction, a later code-enforced tool-argument seam would be the safer follow-up.

What I checked:

Current main still uses the full recall query: On current main, buildRecallPrompt accepts only config/query and appends the full query as Conversation context; there is no separate bounded searchQuery path. (extensions/active-memory/index.ts:940, 8b2bf7b2e9fd)
Current main blocks prompt building on recall: The before_prompt_build hook builds query from event.prompt/recent turns and awaits maybeResolveActiveRecall before returning prompt context, matching the linked latency path. (extensions/active-memory/index.ts:2816, 8b2bf7b2e9fd)
PR adds bounded search-query plumbing: The PR diff adds MAX_ACTIVE_MEMORY_SEARCH_QUERY_CHARS, buildSearchQuery, searchQuery plumbing into runRecallSubagent/maybeResolveActiveRecall, and prompt text telling the worker to use the bounded query for memory_search or memory_recall. (extensions/active-memory/index.ts:933, 24bf408e75d8)
PR covers channel metadata stripping: The added test verifies a Discord-style prompt keeps channel/runtime metadata in Conversation context while using only the latest user message as the bounded search query. (extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts:2870, 24bf408e75d8)
Session-slot portion already exists on main: Current main already reserves pendingFinalDelivery* session-entry slots, and GitHub commit history attributes that main change to fc7e2a1. (src/plugins/session-entry-slot-keys.ts:69, 8b2bf7b2e9fd)
Linked issue has concrete reports: The linked issue comments include repeated 20-30s Active Memory timeout reports across direct chat, Telegram, models, and versions, plus a prior ClawSweeper note identifying this PR as the active implementation candidate.

Likely related people:

Takhoffman: Introduced the Active Memory recall plugin and later updated the bundled memory_recall/memory_search tool contract used by this PR's recall worker path. (role: introduced behavior and adjacent owner; confidence: high; commits: b83726d13e33, f256eeba431b; files: extensions/active-memory/index.ts, extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts, docs/concepts/active-memory.md)
vincentkoc: Recently maintained Active Memory timeout behavior and authored the already-main pending-delivery session slot reservation carried by this PR branch. (role: recent maintainer; confidence: high; commits: df9d26eb4335, fc7e2a10c8fc; files: extensions/active-memory/index.ts, extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts, src/plugins/session-entry-slot-keys.ts)
hclsys: Recently fixed Active Memory embedded recall channel-context handling adjacent to this PR's channel/runtime metadata handling. (role: recent adjacent contributor; confidence: medium; commits: 081f873162c2; files: extensions/active-memory/index.ts, extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts)
hyspacex: Authored the merged Active Memory timeout alignment/setup work that overlaps the linked recall-latency surface. (role: introduced adjacent timeout behavior; confidence: medium; commits: 891c7d9f1c1f; files: extensions/active-memory/index.ts, extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts)
yelog: Added the Active Memory timeout circuit breaker, part of the current mitigation stack for repeated recall timeouts. (role: recent adjacent maintainer; confidence: medium; commits: 89cd2b63624b; files: extensions/active-memory/index.ts, extensions/active-memory/index.test.ts)

Remaining risk / open question:

This read-only review did not run local tests or a live gateway/provider latency probe; it relies on source inspection, the PR-stated validation, and exact-head GitHub check-runs.
The bounded query is still conveyed through recall-worker prompt text rather than a code-enforced memory tool argument, so live behavior remains the main proof point.

Codex review notes: model gpt-5.5, reasoning high; reviewed against 8b2bf7b2e9fd.

Takhoffman · 2026-05-04T19:56:22Z

@clawsweeper automerge

clawsweeper · 2026-05-04T19:57:33Z

🦞✅
ClawSweeper merged this PR after the passing review.

Source: clawsweeper[bot]
Feedback: structured ClawSweeper verdict: pass (sha=24bf408e75d87081c8736f1df7fd06bc3b4f887e)
Merge status: merged by ClawSweeper automerge
Merged at: 2026-05-04T20:05:16Z
Merge commit: f2efe33afc5d

What merged:

The PR adds a bounded latest-message search-query section to Active Memory recall prompts, regression coverage for metadata stripping, a changelog entry, and pending-final-delivery session slot reservations.
Reproducibility: yes. for a source-level reproduction path: an eligible interactive turn reaches Active Memo ... om current releases, but I did not run a live gateway/provider reproduction under the read-only constraint.

Automerge notes:

PR branch already contained follow-up commit before automerge: fix(plugins): reserve final delivery session slots

The automerge loop is complete.

Automerge progress:

2026-05-04 19:57:32 UTC review queued 24bf408e75d8 (queued)

2026-05-04 20:04:59 UTC review passed 24bf408e75d8 (structured ClawSweeper verdict: pass (sha=24bf408e75d87081c8736f1df7fd06bc3b4f8...)

2026-05-04 20:05:18 UTC merged 24bf408e75d8 (merged by ClawSweeper automerge)

Summary: - The PR adds a bounded latest-message search-query section to Active Memory recall prompts, regression coverage for metadata stripping, a changelog entry, and pending-final-delivery session slot reservations. - Reproducibility: yes. for a source-level reproduction path: an eligible interactive turn reaches Active Memo ... om current releases, but I did not run a live gateway/provider reproduction under the read-only constraint. Automerge notes: - PR branch already contained follow-up commit before automerge: fix(plugins): reserve final delivery session slots Validation: - ClawSweeper review passed for head 24bf408. - Required merge gates passed before the squash merge. Prepared head SHA: 24bf408 Review: openclaw#75200 (comment) Co-authored-by: SYU8384 <[email protected]>

Summary: - The PR adds a bounded latest-message search-query section to Active Memory recall prompts, regression coverage for metadata stripping, a changelog entry, and pending-final-delivery session slot reservations. - Reproducibility: yes. for a source-level reproduction path: an eligible interactive turn reaches Active Memo ... om current releases, but I did not run a live gateway/provider reproduction under the read-only constraint. Automerge notes: - PR branch already contained follow-up commit before automerge: fix(plugins): reserve final delivery session slots Validation: - ClawSweeper review passed for head 24bf408e75d87081c8736f1df7fd06bc3b4f887e. - Required merge gates passed before the squash merge. Prepared head SHA: 24bf408e75d87081c8736f1df7fd06bc3b4f887e Review: openclaw/openclaw#75200 (comment) Co-authored-by: SYU8384 <[email protected]>

Summary: - The PR adds a bounded latest-message search-query section to Active Memory recall prompts, regression coverage for metadata stripping, a changelog entry, and pending-final-delivery session slot reservations. - Reproducibility: yes. for a source-level reproduction path: an eligible interactive turn reaches Active Memo ... om current releases, but I did not run a live gateway/provider reproduction under the read-only constraint. Automerge notes: - PR branch already contained follow-up commit before automerge: fix(plugins): reserve final delivery session slots Validation: - ClawSweeper review passed for head 24bf408. - Required merge gates passed before the squash merge. Prepared head SHA: 24bf408 Review: openclaw#75200 (comment) Co-authored-by: SYU8384 <[email protected]>

openclaw-barnacle Bot added agents Agent runtime and tooling size: L labels Apr 30, 2026

openclaw-barnacle Bot added size: XL and removed size: L labels Apr 30, 2026

SYU8384 closed this Apr 30, 2026

SYU8384 reopened this May 2, 2026

openclaw-barnacle Bot added extensions: memory-core Extension: memory-core channel: discord Channel integration: discord labels May 2, 2026

SYU8384 changed the title ~~Fix active memory timeout startup~~ Fix Active Memory memory-only recall latency May 2, 2026

clawsweeper Bot mentioned this pull request May 3, 2026

[Bug]: Active Memory blocks direct-chat turns for ~30s and times out across multiple model configurations #65309

Closed

fix(active-memory): bound recall search query

051bac2

SYU8384 force-pushed the codex/fix-active-memory-timeout-65309 branch from dac99a2 to 051bac2 Compare May 4, 2026 18:15

openclaw-barnacle Bot added size: S and removed channel: discord Channel integration: discord extensions: memory-core Extension: memory-core agents Agent runtime and tooling size: XL labels May 4, 2026

fix(plugins): reserve final delivery session slots

24bf408

clawsweeper Bot added the clawsweeper:automerge Maintainer opted this PR into bounded ClawSweeper-reviewed automerge label May 4, 2026

clawsweeper Bot merged commit f2efe33 into openclaw:main May 4, 2026
110 checks passed

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request May 4, 2026

📡 Upstream Digest — 2026-05-04 20:59 UTC curtismercier/openclaw-mods#769

Open

SYU8384 deleted the codex/fix-active-memory-timeout-65309 branch May 6, 2026 15:39

clawsweeper Bot mentioned this pull request May 13, 2026

Active Memory with Cerebras gpt-oss-120b times out and can pin gateway CPU #73801

Closed

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Fix Active Memory memory-only recall latency#75200

Fix Active Memory memory-only recall latency#75200
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