Summary

• Problem: Gateway startup did not activate configured speech-provider plugins like Microsoft, so TTS providers appeared loaded in plugin metadata but were absent from the startup plugin set.
• Why it matters: Users upgrading to 2026.5.2 could select messages.tts.provider=microsoft and still get no Telegram voice replies because the Microsoft speech plugin never started with the Gateway.
• What changed: Gateway startup planning now detects configured TTS providers and includes the owning bundled speech-provider plugin, including the legacy edge alias for Microsoft.
• What did NOT change (scope boundary): Provider synthesis, Telegram delivery, plugin install flows, and model-provider startup behavior are unchanged.

Change Type (select all)

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor required for the fix
• Docs
• Security hardening
• Chore/infra

Scope (select all touched areas)

• Gateway / orchestration
• Skills / tool execution
• Auth / tokens
• Memory / storage
• Integrations
• API / contracts
• UI / DX
• CI/CD / infra

Linked Issue/PR

• Closes [Bug]: 5.2 microsoft speech plugin loads but never activates — TTS non-functional after upgrade #76481
• This PR fixes a bug or regression

Root Cause (if applicable)

• Root cause: Startup plugin planning handled configured channels, startup sidecars, memory, harnesses, and generic activation paths, but did not treat configured messages.tts speech-provider ownership as a startup activation signal.
• Missing detection / guardrail: There was no startup-planner regression test for messages.tts.provider selecting a plugin-owned speech provider.
• Contributing context (if known): Speech providers are manifest-declared plugin contracts and can still resolve lazily for local capability calls, which masked the Gateway startup omission.

Regression Test Plan (if applicable)

• Coverage level that should have caught this:
  • Unit test
  • Seam / integration test
  • End-to-end test
  • Existing coverage already sufficient
• Target test or file: src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
• Scenario the test should lock in: messages.tts.provider: "microsoft", legacy "edge", and provider blocks such as messages.tts.providers["tts-local-cli"] include the owning speech plugin in Gateway startup unless explicitly disabled.
• Why this is the smallest reliable guardrail: The bug was in the startup plugin planner, before provider synthesis or channel delivery runs.
• Existing test that already covers this (if any): None.
• If no new test is added, why not: N/A.

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Configured TTS speech providers such as Microsoft and Local CLI are now activated during Gateway startup, so voice replies work after selecting those providers.

Diagram (if applicable)

Before:
messages.tts.provider=microsoft -> startup plan omits microsoft -> Gateway has no Microsoft speech provider

After:
messages.tts.provider=microsoft -> startup plan includes microsoft -> Gateway can synthesize TTS replies

Security Impact (required)

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

Repro + Verification

Environment

• OS: macOS local source checkout
• Runtime/container: Node 25 local dev runtime; npm-installed OpenClaw 2026.5.2 for reproduction
• Model/provider: Microsoft speech provider
• Integration/channel (if any): TTS / Telegram-reported path
• Relevant config (redacted): messages.tts.provider=microsoft, plugins.entries.microsoft.enabled=true

Steps

1. Install/run OpenClaw 2026.5.2 with messages.tts.provider=microsoft.
2. Start Gateway and inspect startup plugin log / startup planner output.
3. Apply fix and rerun the startup planner/tests.

Expected

• Microsoft appears in the Gateway startup plugin set when selected as the speech provider.

Actual

• Before this fix, Microsoft was omitted from Gateway startup even though plugin metadata showed it as loaded/enabled.

Evidence

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

Before fix, local planner repro omitted Microsoft:

startup [acpx, bonjour, browser, device-pair, file-transfer, memory-core, phone-control, talk-voice]

After fix, local planner repro includes Microsoft:

["microsoft"]

Validation run:

OPENCLAW_VITEST_MAX_WORKERS=1 pnpm test src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
pnpm check:changed
pnpm test:changed

Human Verification (required)

• Verified scenarios: startup planner includes Microsoft for messages.tts.provider=microsoft, includes Local CLI for provider-block config, maps legacy edge to Microsoft, and respects disabled provider/plugin config.
• Edge cases checked: disabled provider blocks and explicit plugins.entries.microsoft.enabled=false do not force activation.
• What you did not verify: A live Telegram voice message delivery with a real Telegram bot token.

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
• Config/env changes? No
• Migration needed? No
• If yes, exact upgrade steps: N/A

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk: More configured speech providers may start with the Gateway when they were previously loaded lazily.
  • Mitigation: Activation is limited to manifest-declared speech-provider owners and still honors explicit plugin/provider disablement and deny lists.